How to estimate cooking time for smaller batches of stew

I hate to tell you this, but the stew meat is going to take the same amount of time to simmer to tenderness regardless of whether you use 10 ounces or 2 pounds, really. That's assuming you use the same size cubes in each version. If you cut the cubes down in size, then it will shorten the cooking time. The only way I know of to really shorten cooking time without using small cubes is to use a pressure cooker. Then you can cut the time down to half an hour or so.