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The Best Chili Ever Recipe A methodical approach to perfecting classic beef chili.
serious eats ^

Posted on 01/31/2022 3:17:16 PM PST by mylife

gotta admit up front: The title of this article is somewhat misleading. Yes, we will discuss chili, and yes, it's the best chili I personally have ever made.

But! To call something "the best chili ever" implies that the recipe is perfect, and perfection implies that there is no room for improvement. I can only hope that others will continue perfecting the chili work that began on the Tex-Mex border, and that I continue testing, well after the last rich and spicy remnant is licked clean off the bottom of the bowl. With that disclaimer out of the way, let's move on to the testing.

My first step was to set up some parameters that would define the ultimate chili. Certainly, there are disputes in the chili world as to what makes the best. Ground beef or chunks? Are tomatoes allowed? Should we even mention beans? But I think we can all agree on a few things.

The ultimate chili should:

Have a rich, complex chile flavor that combines sweet, bitter, hot, fresh, and fruity elements in balance. Have a robust, meaty, beefy flavor. Assuming that it contains beans, have beans that are tender, creamy, and intact. Be bound together by a thick, deep-red sauce.

To achieve these goals, I decided to break down the chili into its distinct elements—the chiles, the beef, the beans, and the flavorings—perfecting each one before putting them all together in one big happy pot.

The Chiles: this important, as is the meat, i add beef chorizo as well

(Excerpt) Read more at seriouseats.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Food; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: chili; food; recipes
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To: mylife

the more chili powder, the better. And cumin. Leave it in the fridge overnight and reheat the next day. Yummm. I’m no cook by any means, but I can make a pot of chili.


81 posted on 01/31/2022 4:51:30 PM PST by hoe_cake
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To: hoe_cake

it’s always better the next day but degrades from there.

you can loosen it up, but it does taste best the very next day


82 posted on 01/31/2022 4:55:01 PM PST by mylife (France? what can you say? How do you rule a land with 246 kinds of cheese?)
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To: mylife

>screw the beans, if you must have them serve them on the side

Got that right.


83 posted on 01/31/2022 4:55:42 PM PST by Captain Compassion (I'm just sayin')
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To: hoe_cake

usually don’t last 2 days, even a huge pot


84 posted on 01/31/2022 4:56:47 PM PST by mylife (France? what can you say? How do you rule a land with 246 kinds of cheese?)
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To: Captain Compassion

yessir


85 posted on 01/31/2022 4:57:32 PM PST by mylife (France? what can you say? How do you rule a land with 246 kinds of cheese?)
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To: mylife
His way..not mine.

I'm guessing he's more known than you...and me.

86 posted on 01/31/2022 4:58:11 PM PST by Osage Orange (1961 VW Two Door Truck)
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To: Osage Orange

like tossing bacon grease in my mind...


87 posted on 01/31/2022 4:59:05 PM PST by mylife (France? what can you say? How do you rule a land with 246 kinds of cheese?)
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To: mylife

do you put beer or bourbon in your chili? I do neither. I might put mase in mine to thicken it up. Serve with oyster crackers and potato salad (made iwth mustard and dukes mayo)


88 posted on 01/31/2022 4:59:52 PM PST by hoe_cake
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To: Osage Orange

btw vw bus guy here, had one with a porsche motor, lotta good times in the mountains, desert the beach in mexico...


89 posted on 01/31/2022 5:01:30 PM PST by mylife (France? what can you say? How do you rule a land with 246 kinds of cheese?)
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To: hoe_cake

no hootch no masa


90 posted on 01/31/2022 5:02:15 PM PST by mylife (France? what can you say? How do you rule a land with 246 kinds of cheese?)
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To: Osage Orange

91 posted on 01/31/2022 5:08:08 PM PST by mylife (France? what can you say? How do you rule a land with 246 kinds of cheese?)
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To: mylife

I am a blaspheming chili heretic and like beans added.


92 posted on 01/31/2022 5:17:20 PM PST by Rebelbase
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To: Rebelbase
I am a blaspheming chili heretic and like beans added.

Me too. I like black beans.

93 posted on 01/31/2022 5:18:37 PM PST by windsorknot
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To: mylife

bkmk


94 posted on 01/31/2022 5:20:28 PM PST by CrosscutSaw
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To: nesnah

Good grief! That would take all day. I use Williams chili seasoning, cumin, ground red pepper, salt, garlic or garlic powder, pureed stewed tomatoes, a little tomato paste, hamburger, and kidney beans. My husband knows chili, and he loves it, and that’s all I care about.


95 posted on 01/31/2022 5:26:39 PM PST by Flaming Conservative ((Pray without ceasing))
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To: CodeToad

When I make chili, about 4 gallons at a time, I add 2 big cans of chili hot beans. But, I take one can and grind it into a paste before adding. All the bean flavor, and it really thickens the chili (I add the ground beans when it’s almost done)


96 posted on 01/31/2022 5:33:35 PM PST by joe fonebone (And the people said NO! The End)
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To: Hootowl99
Whoooaaa! 5 gallon pot! I never made that large a batch, pretty much size my efforts to a gallon or two.

For 5 or so years, I competed in chili cook offs in Texas. Never won the ultimate “grand prize” but won several “most authentic” ribbons. Don't get a statue for that, just a little ribbon.

The recipe in the OP is amusing. It appears to be something that would be in the running for a grand prize. Equally, it would get the cook kicked out kitchen in perpetuity at most SW homes where they use grandma's and great great grandma's passed down recipes that have passed the test of generations.

The secret is not the bewildering array of chili varieties used but the farm field and the region the chili is grown. It's not blending chili flavors but using a dominant high end flavor. The right beer is important as well. Lol..

97 posted on 01/31/2022 5:35:09 PM PST by Hootowl99
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To: mylife

“its just filler, and makes you fart”

Now there is a honest answer I can accept! lol.


98 posted on 01/31/2022 5:39:08 PM PST by CodeToad (Arm up! They Have!)
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To: eclecticEel

“My chili’s about 4 parts meat to 1 part bean,”

Mine is too. I prefer more meat and less beans but I do like the beans.


99 posted on 01/31/2022 5:39:57 PM PST by CodeToad (Arm up! They Have!)
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To: Pox

“Traditional Chili had no beans or Tomatoes.”

The beans thing I can understand but no tomatoes??


100 posted on 01/31/2022 5:40:27 PM PST by CodeToad (Arm up! They Have!)
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