Best way to brown meat for chili?

Question

I am making slow cooker chili today and I have a question about browning the meat before hand... I want to try something new.

How do you brown your meat?

Some people brown it on high heat, some on medium. Some also use bacon grease to brown it in, some use none at all...

Also, would you put the onions and peppers in before the meat or after the meat has been browning for a little while?

And one more question, for jalepeno's, should I brown those separately, throw them in with the meat and onions, or just cut them up and put them right in the slow cooker?

Thanks for any answers... I'm just trying to make my best chili even better!
:)

Answer 1

I usually brown mine in oil or butter with the onions. Try to use as much heat as possible without the oil or butter breaking up. But high heat is better.

As for the peppers, you can put them in at different times. I usually put half of them in with the chicken broth, after the meat is browned. Cover the meat mixture with chicken broth and simmer. It's also at this time that I add the first dose of cumin. I add fresh, diced tomatoes instead of sauce or paste or any other salsa. Trust me. It's MUCH better. You get that nice brown color instead of that brassy red color.

Now I dont cook in slow cookers when I make chile, because it's my opinion that the chile needs some TLC it wont get in the slow cooker. I'd imagine you would add less liquid in the slow cooker than in a regular old pot. A regular old pot o chile takes about three to four hours to cook. I dont know how long it takes to slow cook it.

That being said, about a half hour before the chile is ready, I add the rest of the chiles, more cumin to taste and let it cook down. I also dump in a beer or two at this point. Let it cook down. When it's time to thicken it, I add a couple of tablespoons of Mesa flour. It usually thickens in a few seconds. But that corn flavor is essential to good chile. Mess around with your final spices...cumin, etc.

I just picked some fresh chiles out of my garden. Now I HAVE to make a pot of chile.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

I always brown my meat with the onions mixed together on medium heat. The meat should be brown and the onions should be clear. As for the peppers, they can be sauteed with the meat or can be put directly into the pot. Straight to the pot may be the best but is totally up to which way you would prefer.

Answer 4

I always brown mine on medium heat with both garlic and onion. Never brown it on high it will be grisly and over cooked. I have added a spoonful of bacon grease when I have it on hand but not often. As for the peppers I say just toss them on in.

Answer 5

I brown my meat in a non stick pan on medium heat and that is usually when i add my onion and chili powder before i put it in the crock pot. saute it with a little olive oil and salt and pepper to taste then before its cooked all the way thru add chili powder and onion and green pepper then that way u know the veggies are cooked thru...

Answer 6

I brown my meat with nothing in it. In a seperate pan, I cook the onions and peppers and then mix them into the already browned meat.

Answer 7

I don't know how others make chili but there is a regular way on the stove to brown your meat and really quick way in the microwave to get it done even faster. Once the meat is mixed in with all the chili spices, you really can't tell the difference in how it was cooked. I've used both methods although as long as I have the time, I prefer to do it the stove top method. I brown my ground beef, sometiems useing a combination of ground meats like turkey and pork, in a cast iron skillet because I like the way cast iron cooks thing and using cast iron always puts badly needed iron into your body at the same time. I always brown my meat along with my onions and peppers but I also add chopped celery, fresh sliced mushrooms and grated carrot to the pan as well. Browining them all together is what adds the flavor to the meat and therefore to the chili as well. I've never used jalepeno's in chili but I do know that any hot type of spice will get hotter with cooking so you may want to take that into consideration. I have used bananna peppers in my chili before since my husband loves their flavor but I just make sure I don't add too many in order to control the hot flavor and I put them right in with all the vegetables. I don't use any extra oil or grease since the meat makes its own when frying. I just make sure that the skillet is hot enough before placing the meat into it and I put my vegetables on top of the meat so that they don't burn before their is ample fat from the meat to coat them when I stir the mixture the first time. I add my spices right into that meat and vegetable mixture so that they also cook along with everything for added flavor. I just watch the chili amount at that time so that I don't over add that spice until the chile has been put together. Be sure to add ample garlic too since that really makes the chili have flavor. I usually use minced very fine, raw garlic. I drain the extra fat and juices off the meat mixture when it is about 3/4 cooked so that it can crisp up better (microwave meat mixture won't crisp up of corse) and then whatever fats or juices it finishes creating after that, I just add to my chili. I combine my meat mixture to several types of beans for an even added flavor and that varies as to what mood I am in or what I have on hand. Some times I cook up a bag that comes with a 7 bean combination and other times I cook up what I have in the house which can be anything from kidnes (dark or light), pinto, navy, black, etc. I also keep a variety of those beans on hand that are precanned for a quick chile meal if needed. I make my chile with chopped fresh (or canned if I am in a hurry) tomatoes and add tomato sauce as well to help thicken it. I dont use tomato paste since adding the water it requires to make it the sauce anyway, chances the flavor depending on where you get your water from. All tomato paste is, is a dehydrated tomato sauce anyway. I mix it all together into my crockpot (and then I taste it and add any extra chili powder I need to the chili) and then let it simmer on low to combine all the flavors for about 3 hours or more if I'm not ready to have dinner yet. Longer simmering won't harm the chili.

Chili isn't chili without good old fashioned cornbreat. I use 1 cup of yellow corn meal with 1 cup of unbleached or bread flour, 1/4 cup of sugar, 1 tab of baking soda, 1 tsp. salt. Blend those and then add 1/4 cup of vegetable oil, 1 large egg, 1 cup milk (may need a bit more depending on how you measure your flour). Mix it all together in the same bowl with a whisk making sure that it is not too dry and pour it into a 10" greaced or buttered cast iron skillet and bake it for 20 minutes at 400 degrees. The skillet browns the cornbread really good. Serve with real melted butter and any type of jam or honey but real jam is the best. Mmmm, mmmm, good.