Chili

[FallinDeck]

I'm looking for a good chili. I've never tried making my own and was woundering if any of you guys have any pointer? I'm not looking for a HOT chili but just a very small kick as my wife can't handle hot.

[stevo]

Go Texas red. I suggest a beanless chili.
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"BEER"
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[ga.smoke]

Fallindeck, you should have gotten 100's of replies on this one, I think everyone wants to rathole thier secrets. i'll probably make stevo mad but I put red kidney's in mine. I would love to have a recipe for a good red myself, I have never attempted a tejas red but would love to try!
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no such thing as too much smoke.

[Oregon smoker]

i will bite. i use a pretty basic recipe that comes from one of the chili cookoff associations.
brown the meat in batches
figure out your spices
divvy em up into 3 batches
decide if your gonna use tomato sauce and puree
add it to the meat accordingly
make your first dump after all the meat is browned
20-30 minutes later add the next dump
stir and dont let anything burn to the bottom
2nd dump is another 30 minutes later taste the meat. is it tender?
go for another 20-30 minutes and taste and add the 3rd dump if neccessary or add individual spices to finish the last 5-10 minutes.
also at the second dump float a pepper or 2 of your liking then pull out just before the 3rd dump.

best of all experiment. i cook texas red 99% of the time and will be going to contests with it in the coming year.

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[OKBBQEA]

Might want to leave those beans out for your first comp turn in.

Your basic ingredients.

Meat
Liquid
chiles
Spices

The meat can be pretty much anything you want to use. I use beef but I'm pretty sure I've seen some cooks using roadkill. The beef I use varies... Sometimes ground beef, sometimes stew meat, sometimes cubed tri-tip.... Just depends on my mood.

The liquid can be as simple as water, as complex as broth, as exotic as wine.

The chiles.... Well I tend to stick with anaheim and ancho chili powders. Ancho is just a dehydrated poblano.

If you go with a commercial "Chili Powder". Look for something without salt or with salt not at the top of the list of ingredients. That way you can control the sodium. Over salty chili is worthy of a trip to death row.

The spices.... I use onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, and most importanly for a bowl of Texas Red.... Cumin..... Oh I also use oregano... Has to be Mexican oregano though.... Mediterranean oregano will make your chili taste like pizza.... So if you can't verify that it is Mexican oregano.... DON'T USE IT!!!

If I'm in the mood I'll use tomato sauce... If I'm not... I just use beef broth for the liquid.... I've seen people shot for using tomato sauce in chili. So I always make sure I'm wearing a bullet proof vest when I do.

Anything else added to chili is filler.... And there's absolutely nothing wrong with filler in chili.... Unless you are cooking a competition.... But if you're not cooking a competition.... Add beans... add cheese... add macaroni.... Add whatever you like in it.

Chili is as subjective a topic as BBQ if not more. But if you go with the simple ingredients I listed above... You almost can't go wrong.

Oh and one last thing.... Cook it slow like you would BBQ. Any chili cooked less than 3 hours is technically Sloppy Joe. Chili should never come to a boil.... I once had to shoot a man for boiling chili.... I sure do miss my brother sometimes.
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I only believe in two basic food groups... Chili & BBQ
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Brinkmann Duel Zone Pro Charcoal Grill
18.5" Weber Smokey Mountain x2
22.5" Weber Smokey Mountain

[Oregon smoker]

i use beans only to stretch the pot a little further. the difference between peoples choice winning chili and what you turn in to the judges is usually miles apart.

[FallinDeck]

This is a great start thanks guys.

[FallinDeck]

Chili turned out great, thanks to all ya'll for the pointers.

Next question:


I ended up putting beans in and the base was too tomatoie. So I tried to use a little beef broth.

How do I thicken it up??

[r6abusa]

Some good ol masa flour will do the trick.
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WSM, Performer, 22.5 Gourmet Kettle, (2) 18.5" Kettles, Smokey Joe, small imitation weber grill

[Stan41]

Here's my offering:


3-1/2 Lbs. Hamburger Meat
1 Medium Onion, Chopped
2 Cloves Garlic, Minced
3 - 10 oz. Cans Tomatoes, Juice & All
6 Tablespoons Gebhart's Chili Powder
2 Tablespoons Ground Cumin
1-1/2 Pints Water
4 Teaspoons Salt
Hot Pepper if desired

Brown Meat in skillet. Put browned meat and all other ingredients in slow cooker. Mash with
potato masher to crush tomatoes. Cook on low about 4 hours.

[necron 99]

[OKBBQEA]

As mentioned masa works great.... I've also used cornstarch and arrowroot slurries to thicken chili.

Ideally I like to just let mine simmer longer to thicken up but sometimes you just don't have the time or the patience for that.
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I only believe in two basic food groups... Chili & BBQ
- - - - - - - - -
Brinkmann Duel Zone Pro Charcoal Grill
18.5" Weber Smokey Mountain x2
22.5" Weber Smokey Mountain

[doug]

I never make mine the same way twice but are some recipes that might help

http://chili.org/recipes.html
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chargriller offset
brinkman duel zone charcoal
grand hall gasser
wsm 22.5

[Garry]

My chili recipes are on this site, including a great article on Texas Red.

chile.netrelief.com

Garry
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Eat first, ask questions later!

[RDavidP]

I made some of the best chilli I have had in for a long time last night. On Saturday I smoked a brisket that did not come out quite as good as anything I have bbq before. Nothing was wrong with the brisket, just that I did not cook it quite long enough and then sliced it wrong. The brisket was done, just not tender. I also think I put too much rub on it. Anyways, I chopped up what was left and made beanless chilli. Since the beef had so much rub on it, I did not have to add to much else to the pot for seasoning, just some more cumin and chilli powder. Even though the beef was alread done, I let the chilli cook for some time. It was so good with the chunks of smoked brisket. I think from now on I will smoke the meat the day before making chilli.

[1MoreFord]

Here's a couple of places to look for recipes.

http://www.chilicookoff.com/Recipe/Recipe_Home.asp

http://www.chili.org/recipes.html

Remember, these are competition recipes designed to get the judges attention. They may need to be tamed a bit for everyday consumption.

I've seen the Dago Red chili and Bob Coats recipes mentioned favorably on other forums but haven't tried them - yet.
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Joe

[tex_toby]

[JimH]

Pork butt is good in chile too.
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The Demolition Man - Demolition Man BBQ

[doug]

[Trigger243]

brown up 3.5lb of lean with one large onion and 2tlbs of crushed black pepper
after browned, add one can of MGD.
add two large cans of brown beans, 16oz each
add three cans of kidney beans, 8 oz each
2 tbls onion power
2tlbs garlic power
2.5 paprica
about 1.5lbs of mushrooms sliced ( in the last 30 minutes else they disappear)
1tlbs spoon chili powder ( this is the heat controller) more is ok, but over time it heats up the longer you cook it.

I just made this yesterday.. and have 3 who don't like the heat.. so I have to keep the chili powder at 1tbls.

if you like thin chili, serve as is..
I add 2 cups of white flower to add a thickener to it.. like mine to stand up on it's own.

Trigger243