Chili with smoked beef recipe wanted

tjr

Sounds real good to me, whens dinner???

That's a real good question. Out-of-town guests are arriving for the weekend sometime Friday night. Could be 6:00 or it could be 10:00, so chili and bread seemed like a good choice.

Plan is to smoke my beef Thursday nite, then crockpot it Friday morning.

I don't see many recipes for smoked-then-stewed meats in the forum, other than poultry soups from Andi. Maybe not a popular technique? Or just doesn't work too well?

I did a sort of similar technique a few weeks ago: Smoked a small pork loin end until reasonably tender, then cut from bone and sort of chunked it. Cooked in crockpot in a sauce of tomato paste, pureed canned roasted peppers, beer, sugar, and spices (kind of like beery catsup) for several hours, mashing the pork along the way. Served hot on buns with slaw on top. There was a little bit of meat and slightly more slaw left over, just mixed them together and ate cold for lunch - surprisingly good.

Evenin',tjr.

Although beef takes up smoke well,smaller pieces will take up more,quicker.

I'd guess 1 inch chunks cooked at 225� with a couple oz. of wood,would be plenty smoked in an hour.

Good luck and let us hear the results.

TJR: I do that all the time. Smoked Chili is great! I use Moose, of course, but beef is cooked just the same. How I do it for chili is take a chuck steak and put it in a 13X9 with a few jalepenos. I smoke that on 250 for 3 hours. The meat ain't done. I cool it off, and do a chili grind with my processor. The jalapenos right in with the meat. Then I crockpot that with the rest of my chili fixins'. Mmmm! Good!

tjr,

They've been doing it with Pork & Beans so why not Pork, Beef, or whatever Chili!!

One point though is not to let the meat get too dry during smoking. I think the suggested one hour will be enough..., have you thought about putting the Chili pot in the smokette to keep it warm with a little smoke now and then? This will work pretty well with guests with an indeterminate arrival time and will probably blow them away when you remove it from the oven ready to serve. Now you've gone and done it..., you've made me hungry by getting me to write about your feast and I'm not invited.

Best, Gilly

When I do chili (ground) I brown it first, Then put it in the smoker, I do not leave the meat in the preheated smoker any more than 2-3 Minutes,

Here is one to try.
--------------------------------------
3 lbs Course Ground or Cubed Beef Roast
(optional 2 1/2 beef & 1/2 ground pork)
1 cup Onion
5 Pods Garlic pressed
2 Ortega Chili Peppers or (1) 4oz can
1 can Chicken Broth
1 can Beef Broth
1 can Tomato Sauce
10 Tbsp Chili Powder
1� Tbsp Cumin
1 Tbsp Hot New Mexico Chili Powder
---------------
Sautee meat (drain)& onions in 1 tsp Wesson oil
Add to the chicken & beef broth Simmer 1 hour
Add: 1 can tomato sauce ,Chili peppers ,chili powders and cumin
Simmer 1 hour and Salt to taste

Thanks, all, for lots of advice and opportunity to learn from others' experience.

I might try using a big casserole in the smokette as a sort of crockpot (assuming I have something that'll fit), without adding additional wood, for the tomato+beef stuff. Probably will pick up a bit of smoke from leftovers of the beef the nite before, altho I may want to cover the casserole to avoid drying out. Guessing around 180F or so? If I recall, that's about how hot my crockpot winds up on Low. Then, when I get home, I'll add the OH NO!!! beans and put it back in to heat through. This is midwestern chili, after all.

Since I can't invite you all - too few bowls -- here's a recipe for home-canned chili mixture from my mom (Michigan, ca 1940)(Michigan was a big tomato state through the 1960's):

• Large quantity canning tomatoes
  
  
• An equal quantity bell peppers - use some green and some red
  
  
• For every peck or so of tomatoes, 1 celery - the greener the better; a good use for home-grown celery
  

Peel tomatoes, cut in large wedges. Place in large kettle. Heat slowly to boiling. While tomatoes are heating, core peppers and cut into about 1" pieces, add to kettle. Clean and slice celery into 1" pieces, add to kettle. Simmer until peppers and celery are soft.

Fill quart canning jars. Add 1tsp salt to each jar. Process as for stewed tomatoes - I'd go about 20 minutes in pressure cooker. Mom used boiling water bath for a little longer. Grandma probably used open kettle method - just fill the sterilized jars with boiling food and pop on the lids.

When hungry for chili, brown about a pound of ground or cubed meat (turkey, beef, pork, pork sausage, etc.). Add a jar of chili mix and simmer for a relatively long time. Add a 16oz can of kidney beans and heat through.


Will let you know how my experiment turns out.

The end of this story: The guests called up to get directions to the house. Menu was discussed, "Oh, we already had chili earlier in the week."

So, I made smoked beef/vegetable soup instead. Just smoked my chuck roast, diced it, simmered with some canned tomatoes, then about 1 hour before serving added diced potato, turnip, carrot, celery, and green beans. About 10 minutes before, I added a couple big handfuls of shredded escarolle. Served with fresh rye bread. Seemed to please!