AI Summary
5 min readIn 2023, a TikTok video showed a man named Zach (username @zach_makes) ladling himself a bowl of broth with corn and a hunk of lamb. He called it an eight out of ten, noting a "slight undercurrent of green chilies." The stew, which he named Stewithius, had been continuously boiling on his stove for over 400 days. He calls himself an "instuencer." The video was gross, fascinating, and deeply confusing—and it was far from the only perpetual stew to go viral online.
The mechanics of a perpetual stew
A perpetual stew, also called a forever stew, is exactly what it sounds like: a pot of liquid kept at a rolling boil for days, weeks, or even years, with new ingredients added as old ones are consumed. The key safety rule, according to food safety experts, is that the stew must stay above 140 degrees Fahrenheit at all times—even overnight. Most people use a crock pot rather than a stovetop burner to avoid leaving a flame unattended. The idea is that as long as the temperature stays high enough to kill bacteria, the stew remains safe to eat indefinitely.
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What you'll learn
- 1 Main Outline
- 2 (01:46) **Producer Takeover & The Perpetual Stew Hook** - Kalyani and Grace introduce the episode, with Kalyani revealing a story about a viral TikTok video that grossed her out and sparked her curiosity.
- 3 (05:13) **What Is a Perpetual Stew?** - The hosts clarify the mechanics: a stew kept boiling continuously, often in a crock pot, and maintained at a safe temperature of 140°F even overnight.
- 4 (07:57) **Annie Roberta and the Bushwick Perpetual Stew** - Kalyani connects with Annie Roberta, creator of the viral 2023 Bushwick Perpetual Stew, who also runs the popular "Depths of Wikipedia" account.
- 5 (10:41) **The Logistics of a Public Perpetual Stew** - Annie details how she managed safety, dilution, and scaling up her stew for public consumption in a park.
- 6 (14:21) **Why Do Perpetual Stews Keep Going Viral?** - Kalyani and Grace offer competing theories about the internet's fascination with perpetual stews.
- 7 (17:03) **A Frozen Remnant of the Past** - Annie reveals she still has a bit of her 2023 perpetual stew frozen in her freezer, preserving a piece of the experience.
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Show Notes
This week on Endless Thread it's a producer takeover with Grace Tatter and Kalyani Saxena serving up some delicious online stories. First, Kalyani digs into why the internet is so hungry for perpetual stews (a stew that is simmered and added on to in perpetuity). Then, Grace dishes on a listener conundrum about whether salty Reddit posts are worse for us than sweet ones.
Show notes:
- ZAQ_Makes' Stewtheus (TikTok)
- Want to try perpetual stew? Some tips for avoiding foodborne illness (NPR)
- r/GirlDinnerDiaries (Reddit)
- Does Venting Your Feelings Actually Help? (Greater Good Magazine)
- Endless Thread Subreddit
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