Used to throw everything in one pot for chili... now I brown the meat separately and drain the fat. Game changer last month.

3 comments

3 Comments

Oh man, I feel this on a spiritual level. I used to do the same thing and thought I was making award-winning chili until my brother politely asked if I'd ever heard of a colander. Now I brown the meat first and pour off the grease, mostly because my arteries started filing complaints.

hunt.nora11d ago

Hang on, is this really that big of a deal? I mean, sure, browning the meat gives it a little more texture, but draining the fat? That's where all the flavor lives, man. You're basically taking out the stuff that makes chili taste rich and hearty. I've been making chili for like 15 years, just tossing everything in one pot, raw meat and all, and it turns out fine every time. Maybe I'm just lazy (or set in my ways, who knows), but I don't see the huge improvement. Now if you're talking about those watery chilis people make with ground turkey, that's a different story.

davis.adam11d ago

My buddy Tim used to make chili the exact same way, one pot everything in there raw. Then one year he shows up to the Super Bowl party with this burnt smelling pot of chili and we're all trying to be polite but it was rough. Turns out he'd been using 80/20 ground beef and just never noticed how greasy it got because he didn't brown it first. He switched to draining the fat and browning separate and honestly his chili went from okay to actually pretty good. But hey your mileage may vary, maybe your meat is leaner or you like that extra grease coating your spoon.