Mystery Meat Chili


 
J

JohnShepherd

TVWBB Member
I've got an excellent recipe for chili con carne from an old Better Homes and Garden Mexican Cook Book that I've made for years. It's not a "traditional Texas" chili by any means. Uses cubed beef instead of ground, and just kicks butt all around.

Recently I was given a 4lb unlabeled vacuum pac of what appears to be miscellaneous tough beef chunks (or is it horse?), and instead of just cubing it and browning it in a pan, I decided I try smoking it first. I've got it on the WSM 18 now with some mesquite chunks. Once cooked, I'm thinking, I'll chill it for a couple hours in the fridge, then proceed with making the chili as the recipe describes, maybe without additional browning. The beef will simmer in the chili for about 3 hours, so I'm wondering how hi to cook them in the smoker. I've got probes in some of the smaller cuts with alarms set to let me know when they reach 190.

I'm wondering if anyone here might have a better suggestion for how hi I should bring the meat in the smoker. Thoughts?
 
I'd go by time under smoke rather than worry about temperature of the meat. It will be very thoroughly cooked after three hours simmering in the chili so you don't have to worry about it cooking completely on the smoker. I'd think two or three hours of smoke would probably be sufficient.

If it's not too late, I'd also suggest putting the chopped onions and whatever other veg goes in the recipe in a pan under the meat in the smoker, letting the meat juices drip into the pan of veg. You'll get a lot of flavor on the veg that way, plus it will also pick up more smoke.

Finally, mesquite is not a very popular smoke wood. It's said to leave a very pronounced, sometimes bitter smoke flavor on the meat. It's like hitting you over the head with the smoke flavor rather than letting the smoke complement the flavor of the meat. Might work okay since you intend to simmer the meat in a very flavorful sauce. But then there are folks who do like mesquite, so it's a matter of taste. Just something to consider in the future. Maybe you want to try a somewhat more tame smoke wood like oak or most any fruit or nut wood. Cherry is very popular with beef. Not sure what the standard recommendation would be for horse. I love peach wood with pork. I think it complements the pork wonderfully.
 
That simmer in the chili for 3 hours is going to cook the meat. So if you cook on the smoker till done, your meat will likely shred in the chili sauce/cook.

It sounds like you want to add smoked flavor to the meat and then make chili out of it. If that’s the case then add a heavy smoke to the meat for 90 mins and then add it to the chili to simmer and impart the smoked flavor into the chili.

Or you can add the smoked meat into the chili and then put the chili in its container on the smoker (thinking cast iron Dutch oven) and heat it through on the smoker. Now everything will have a smokey flavor.
 
Brett-EDH said:
Or you can add the smoked meat into the chili and then put the chili in its container on the smoker (thinking cast iron Dutch oven) and heat it through on the smoker. Now everything will have a smokey flavor.
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Somebody here suggested the same idea years ago. They put everything but the cubed meat in the Dutch oven, putting it on the lower grate. Then the meat went on the top grate right over the open Dutch oven. When the meat had taken on enough smoke it was stirred into the pot and the rest of the cook could be done in the smoker or inside in the oven or on the stove.

I bought a cast iron Dutch oven just to try that and it's still sitting here unused. I'm going to have to give it a try some day.
 
Thanks for the advice. Based on your suggestions, I pulled the meat from the smoker at about 145-150 degrees, and stuck it in the fridge. I had a small taste, and if anything, it didn't seem to have enough smoke. (I like a strong smoke flavor.) Now that I've run to the store and gathered the remaining ingredients, I'm gonna take a breather, then start chopping and assembling.
 
Don’t laugh, but liquid smoke. Put a bowl of water in your smoker and make smoke. You can then use that water in your chili if you’re starting with dry beans that need water in your recipe. The water will absorb the smoke and will add another layer of flavor. You don’t need a lot of water but pay attention so your water doesn’t all evaporate.
 
JayHeyl said:
Somebody here suggested the same idea years ago. They put everything but the cubed meat in the Dutch oven, putting it on the lower grate. Then the meat went on the top grate right over the open Dutch oven. When the meat had taken on enough smoke it was stirred into the pot and the rest of the cook could be done in the smoker or inside in the oven or on the stove.

I bought a cast iron Dutch oven just to try that and it's still sitting here unused. I'm going to have to give it a try some day.
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This is the only way I do chili, I call it over the top chili.
 
When my wife makes a bbq bean recipe, I put it on the smoker at about 325F for about an hour, while in a restaurant tray. Might be worth a shot with your chili.
 
Jabe G said:
This is the only way I do chili, I call it over the top chili.
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Do you cut the meat into chunks or leave it whole while it's smoking? I often use a chuck roast when making chili. I'm thinking maybe quartering a typical chuck roast would be a good approach and then cut it into smaller pieces when it's done smoking.
 
If you like smoke, cut it up for more surface area. Then cook the chili inside your smoker, open top pot, instead of stovetop. Be prepared to get the pot coated in a layer of the brown resins of wood smoke.
 
JayHeyl said:
Do you cut the meat into chunks or leave it whole while it's smoking? I often use a chuck roast when making chili. I'm thinking maybe quartering a typical chuck roast would be a good approach and then cut it into smaller pieces when it's done smoking.
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Cut it up.
 
Sorry for the late follow up. Lots of great ideas for the next time. This chili was a hit with my wife and my mom. Nice smokey flavor without being overwhelming. Mom says "We like smokey." The meat chunks I had were on average 4x3x1 inches. I didn't think it was worth cutting them smaller to get more surface exposure. And once cubed and simmered in the chili, it was the tenderest I've ever had compared to previous chili batches.

Next time I'll try a milder wood and cook the meat over the pot as suggested. (Just need to convince my wife to let me use her new bright red shiny porcelain-coated braiser in the smoker. It'll clean up, right?)
 
My dad taught me to make chili cutting the meat into chunks like this.
He thought just using ground beef was lazy for chili.
 
JohnShepherd said:
Sorry for the late follow up. Lots of great ideas for the next time. This chili was a hit with my wife and my mom. Nice smokey flavor without being overwhelming. Mom says "We like smokey." The meat chunks I had were on average 4x3x1 inches. I didn't think it was worth cutting them smaller to get more surface exposure. And once cubed and simmered in the chili, it was the tenderest I've ever had compared to previous chili batches.

Next time I'll try a milder wood and cook the meat over the pot as suggested. (Just need to convince my wife to let me use her new bright red shiny porcelain-coated braiser in the smoker. It'll clean up, right?)
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I have a cheap porcelain-enabled dutch oven for the grill so I don't stain the pretty LeCreuset on the pit.
 
I have been making chili with leftover smoked brisket for several years and it’s killer. In fact, I always plan to have 2-3 pounds of brisket left over for just that purpose. Cube it up and use your regular chili recipe. Cook all your spice and liquid ingredients before adding the brisket and cook it for an hour or more. If you used a salt and pepper rub on the brisket, don’t add any more salt to the recipe.
 
Chili is my absolute favorite dish. When I was a sophomore in college down in Texas, I took an advanced speech class and one of our required speeches was a demonstration. My demonstration was a real Machiato (not that crap from Starbucks) but one of my classmates did Texas Red and he had samples. I was hooked. I've spent the last 21 years perfecting my chili recipe.

The way I see it, Chili has two components, the protein and the other stuff (what I call the base). Some people include beans, they are wrong. (I loathed Texas more than anything, except for the prohibition of beans in Chili.) As I've built my chili-making resume, I've developed a standard chili base to which many types of protein can be added. Onion, garlic, chiles, spices, dried orange peel, beef stock. To this I add whatever protein is cheap. Before the current supply-chain issues, chuck roast was a staple. I've also used trimmings from spare ribs, brisket ends, pork shoulder, pulled chicken, minced meat, chorizo. I often combine these to get to 6-lbs. which is what my chili base needs.
 
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