We’re having a chili cook off at work at the end of the month.  I’m thinking about competing this time around.  I haven’t made much chili in my life.  I wasn’t really much of a fan growing up.  It was probably the kidney beans.

I’ve competed in exactly one chili cook off in my life.  It was about 6 years ago.  Out of 13 contestants, I finished in…

13th place!  That’s not a good track record.  So this time, I’ll have to try something different.

The idea came to me the other day and I made a test batch on Saturday and I like where it’s going.  I’ll make a few tweaks for the final entry.

So what was the big change?  I smoked the ground beef before adding it to the pot.  It added some depth to the flavor profile that I can guarantee won’t exist in the other entries.  Is that enough to make a difference?  I hope so.

There was another benefit to smoking the beef.  It removed most of the fat making it a very lean chili.  I was a little afraid that it would cause the beef to be tough, but cooking the chili for 5 hours after adding the beef kept it nice and tender.

What’s makes your chili special?  What can I do to ensure I don’t finish dead last again?  Leave your comments below!