I’ve never had much luck with chilli from the slow cooker.

Always ends up bland even with heaps of spice in (and what usually tastes good the day after I make it in a pot regularly

Anyone got any decent flavour some recipes for mince chilli ?

One or 2 of these http://au.iherb.com/Frontier-Natural-Products-Whole-Chipotle-Chili-Peppers-75-000-Heat-Units-16-oz-453-g/30864 (pre smoked) for heat and some flavour
Generally start with smoked paprika and ground cumin (lots) for the base heat, then bay, oregano and a cinamon stick for the rest – optional fresh chilli but I much prefer the subtlty of the smoked ones.

Mince?

Wouldn’t bother just make it in a pan.

Brisket or shin etc… cake it in spices including chipotle cumin and corroander fry it in a HOT pan until the smoke detectors go off and you crying.

Dump in slow cooker dump in some ripe tomatoes and onions and cover with water.

Lift off lid to allow thickening.

In the early days I just used to drop the whole lot of raw ingredients in the pot.
Then I started frying the mince & onions first in oil in a frying pan, this resulted in a FAR better flavour.

Edit; I find that this is one of those dishes that taste better when reheated.

I already used the brisket from the butcher basket on Sunday on the bbq 🙂 mince has to be used afore the weekend.

Add a square of dark chocolate..

Dump in slow cooker

😯

Slow cooker resides in the back of the cupboard, next to the juicer and breadmaker, all wallowing in their uselessness.

Do it on the hob, or in the oven, you need to reduce and caramelise to get flavour, the slow cooker does neither.

trademark is spot on too, same as scotch broth, always better the next day IMO.

also some beef stock and beans in right at the end, but the more sensible one is to make it properly then serve it the next day.

Also a mix of cherry toms, fresh corriander, capers avacado, lemon and lime juoce as a salsa works a treat

I posted this thread a while back for chili recipes. Some really good ideas in there.

I put black coffee in mine 2 chipotle chillies 2 ancho chillies, lots of garlic absolutely no tomatoes

I put everything in mine. Lemon juice, extra chilli sauce, worcester sauce, sweetcorn. I then portion it out and add a couple of drops of Dave’s Insanity Sauce onto my portion.

And I have recently started to make mine with a shoulder of pork rather than minced meat.

Sweetcorn? Chorizo for the win.

Sweetcorn?

Yeah, I like the different texture it gives it. And it sort of pops sweetness too. I like it.

Cumin, fresh chilli and chipotle paste in mine. I used to do the dark chocolate trick but dropped it in favour of eating the chocolate.

Large amount of onions to start it off then brown mince (not got round to the shin beef/pork/turkey options yet, add the spices and as many tins of tomatoes and beans will fit in the pan. Definitely better when reheated – as many things are.

I find it’s often improved by a bit of reducing, I usually crack the lid open for the last couple of hours.

Don’t use mince as s start point. Shin, shoulder, any joint really, cook it whole and pull it apart to serve.

I use this recipe, it’s very good indeed.

Be a bit shit to make minced beef chilli without mince wouldn’t it would just be beans and spices. While I accept there are better meats to use I have mince.

Best results for me, use 3 types of chilli heat, normal chopped red chillies, 1 smoked dried chilli, and then a little chilli powder, not to be overpowering, just gives different types of heat at different times.

Plus, and here comes the heresy, a good squirt of tomato ketchup in the sauce, sweetness balances out the heat and meaty flavours.

Yeah I use tommy sauce too. Good call.

some good tips here. Ive never added beef stock before – dont shoot me….

smoked chorizo left overs i found in the fridge from last weeks risotto.

2 fresh chillis chopped , 3 onions – 2 red and a white (im clearing the cupboards out)

lots of ginger and a good smush of garlic too

– mustard seeds , cayenne pepper , chilli powder , cardamom seeds tumeric and oregano and some dark cocoa powder all crushed up with my pestle

all fried in the pan with the mince till browned then moved to the slow cooker.

Then deglazed the pan with 400ml of beef stock with lashings of chipotle smoked tabasco and smoked paprika added.

added that to the slow cooker and put in 2 tins of chopped toms with a little puree to give it that sweetness.

Fingers crossed – even at this early stage it has more flavour thant previous attempts….and theres enough in the pot to last me a fair while …. still got beans and veg to add later on.

Don’t forget to take a dump in it.

Bacon, Chorizo, either or both. Dark chocolate and leaving the lid off can all help. Ultimately I have yet to create perfect chilli from the slow cooker, but many have been good as opposed to bland.

Remember that water doesn’t escape with the lid on, so if it comes out watery you need to reduce the amount in there or allow it to escape. Also mince comes in a few different levels, you need some fat content to caramelise while cooking, overly lean mince will come out dry and boring.

Ginger? No no no no no no no no….

I buy smoked chipotle chillis from ebay, and make this

Chipotle en adobo

Keeps in a kilner jar for months, maybe even years, a teaspoonful in to whatever, chilli co carne, chorizo stew…. it’s the dogs bollocks.

I make it outside mind, unless you want to melt yer eyes and throat!

I can’t be bothered with all this pre-sealing and stuff like that – if I am doing something in the slow cooker I want to be able to just chuck it all in there and forget about it for 10 hours. Otherwise I may as well save on washing up and just cook it all in a big saucepan (well I normally use our huge wok).

all the above sound good but also add some star anise.

I can’t be bothered with all this pre-sealing and stuff like that – if I am doing something in the slow cooker I want to be able to just chuck it all in there and forget about it for 10 hours. Otherwise I may as well save on washing up and just cook it all in a big saucepan (well I normally use our huge wok).

Which is perfectably acceptable, it’s still cooking, but it won’t be as good…

well it was a significant step up from blandness that usually comes from the slow cooker.

propper slow smokey burn as oppose to bloody hot and tasteless.. .

Just what i needed after last nights night ride 😀

Good stuff.

I’ll add to the heresy… I put smokey bbq sauce in mine too…

Heresy here too – I buy kidney beans in chilli sauce, tinned, that all goes in too.

Any other interesting effects from your new chilli ? *trummmmp* excuse me

I buy kidney beans in chilli sauce

Yup – me too. And chopped tomatoes in chilli sauce as well.

i wash all that goop off my kidney beans. they go in clean cant stand that glue they come shipped in.

Likewise. Though I’ve never actually tried not rinsing them, Gloop Of Unknown Origin has no place in my cooking.

Likewise. Though I’ve never actually tried not rinsing them, Gloop Of Unknown Origin has no place in my cooking.

Snobbery fail. 😆

If you wanna be ‘proper’ you’d use dried beans and soak them.

Never seen them in aldi 😉

Coffee reduction and strong dark Ale reduction, no wine

i wash all that goop off my kidney beans

If I use standard kidney beans I wash that gloop off too – it’s revolting.

Slow cooker resides in the back of the cupboard, next to the juicer and breadmaker, all wallowing in their uselessness.

Even better take it to the tip.

My award winning chilli:
500g of pork mince – dry fry in big deep pan, no need for oil it will sweat out its own juices/fats, make sure you keep it moving and ensure you break up all the mince, sprinkle in a teaspoon of cumin, teaspoon of paprika and chilli powder, 3-4 crushed garlic cloves, keep stirring. Next quarter a big onion or half two medium onions also chuck in a chopped carrot and place in a blitzer/blender add a half pint of veg or chicken stock, blitz until smooth and chuck in the pan, give it a good deal of stirring and allow to reach boiling point, turn off the heat and cover. Sort your tin of chopped toms and red kidney beans, rinse off your beans.

About 30 mins before ready to serve bring your heat back up, tomatoes and beans in, simmer for ten mins, ensure beans have softened, enjoy.

Note, the above method is dead good ! ingredient quantities may vary dependant upon enthusiasm and bravery.