This may sound strange but...


 
I prefer hamburger to cubed meat in my chili. My method doesn't use the smoker but gives my chili a great grilled flavor and is a lot faster: I grill hamburgers on my kettle and then chunck them up into the chili pot. The grill flavor comes through from the browning/searing of the meat is is still present even in my hottest habenaro chili. I also grill all of the vegetables (onion, tomatos, peppers) so a bowl of my chili tastes like it just came off the grill. I haven't tried using smoke wood because it is a fairly quick process but I'll give that a try and see if there is a difference.

What do you put in your chili that cost's $20!?! I've never added up my costs but I am sure it is nowhere close to that.
 
Russ, I'm cooking my first brisket tonight (packer). I'd never read (or I missed it) separating the point and then putting it back on the WSM. Might not have been your main point but I'll definitely keep it in mind when I pull it off tomorrow (i.e. judging whether the point is really done).

Also never knew about saving the point for chili - sounds like a very cool option. Getting hungry.

Originally posted by Russ Hazzon:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by J Reyes:
I don't think it's worth smoking the meat for chili but that's just my opinion. The flavors of the chili and spices will likely overtake the smokey flavor.
I have to disagree here. Many of us that cook packer briskets like to separate the point from the flat when the flat is done. The point goes back on the smoker for another 4+ hours. The point is VERY fatty with lots of connective tissue and stands up well to the extended cook time. It also soaks up lots and lots of smoke.

Cook it just past when you think it is done. It'll dry out a bit, but mixed in with the chili it'll soften up and share its' wealth of smokey flavor. Now depending on how you cook your chili the smoke might be masked by other spices, but it will still add a flavor layer.

If you haven't yet tried it then you really must! I don't think you'll be disappointed. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
 
Heres what I buy when Im gettin ready to make chili,

1 green/yellow/red pepper
1 onion
1 basket sliced portabella mushrooms
2 cans of mexican style tomatoes(1 stewed 1 diced)
1 can Mrs. Grimes chili beans
1 jar of hot salsa
1 jug of Spicy Hot V8 juice
2 pounds of ground beef
rarely I have added a half pound of bacon, but usually i forget/skip it

I dont use all of the portabellas, more like half of them. And the Spicy Hot V8 juice just fills up the rest of the crock pot. Sometimes I will buy the small cans and it usually takes about three of them. But add it all up and it shoots a hole in a 20 pretty easily. Especially at my local grocery store, where every thing costs 1.5x fareway or hyvee.

Brandon
 
Well I just finished smoking a 2 pound block of ground beef for my chili. It took about 2 1/2 hours and came out ok. I didnt want to over do the smoke so I only used one chunk, I think it would have been better with 2 as it isnt all that smokey. I dont know if it will the flavor will show through or not. I will grill my peppers as well and hopefully that will at the the grilled flavor of the chili. I'll let ya know later tonight when its all finished.

I was wrong! Pleasently supprised that the smoke flavor came through nicely. Its all mixed up in the crock pot now and warming up. When I do my frist brisket (next sunday after my WSM arrives) I will definately be saving the point for my next batch of chili. Thanks again for all your input on my little project!

Brandon
 
Eric;
Am i 180 degrees off! I thought the point on a brisket was the not so fat end??
The flat is the thick part with lots of fat and tissue??
I cooked one when i first got my wsm in May 07
was disappointed in the results. Dry and kind of tasteless!
Jerry
 
No, I was - maybe. Tried to sound smart about brisket. This was my first brisket so I was trying to use the "local" venacular. I was replying via quote to Russ and he described separating the "point from the flat".

My brisket turned out ok. Great ring, great smoky taste but dry - but not so dry that my BBQ sauce couldn't cure it. Chopped and save the "fatty end" - that's the tip (?) the end where it points down as in the shoulder heading down to the leg. Whatever end isn't what clearly is the flat.

I'm going to keep trying the brisket thing. My wife does an awesome job on them pot roast style both in the oven and slow cooker. I'm mean, if Cowboy fans can get it right, certainly a Vikings fan can do it with a little practice.
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Originally posted by Jerry Pollard:
Eric;
Am i 180 degrees off! I thought the point on a brisket was the not so fat end??
The flat is the thick part with lots of fat and tissue??
I cooked one when i first got my wsm in May 07
was disappointed in the results. Dry and kind of tasteless!
Jerry
 
With respect to those that use the smoked brisket point to make chili, I guess I like mine a little spicer than most.

When I make mine I use 5 different chili flavors, dumped in at different times. This give the mix 20+- different chili flavors not including the chorizo seco I use to cook the meat with. As a result the meat soaks up these chili/spicey flavors and I don't notice any taste from the meat, just pure heat and spice.

From my perspective if you're not sweating it's not chili.

John
 

 

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