This week is all about my favorite fall meal, chili! I know its 80 degrees outside, but tomorrow is the first day of October and fall is definitely on its way. I made this for a family football party we had for the Packers- Vikings game, an annual tradition for our family and it always goes better when my Vikings win. SKOL Vikings!
Like I try to do with every recipe, I try to make it my own, which I will encourage you all to do, and chili is no exception. You will typically see some sort of ground meat in there and beans are always controversial. I make mine by taking a chuck roast, smoking it, and then chopping it up to put in the chili. I personally like beans in my chili, but to each their own.
The chuck roast comes from the front shoulder of the cow and usually has really good marbling, and as we all know, fat means flavor. The chuck roast’s are usually 204 pounds and is often called the “Poor Man’s Brisket” because it has a similar flavor profile and marbling to a brisket but not as tender, but exceptions always apply. I got this roast from Walmart, which is controversial as well, but I personally have always had good luck with Walmart meat and will stand by it.
I use my beef rub, which is in the R&D phase right now, and apply a good layer of the rub to the chuck roast and let it sit for a while. While it is sitting, I’ll fire up the smoker. This time I decided to use my Oklahoma Joe’s Bronco Drum Smoker with some Hickory wood chunks. I get the drum dialed in to 250 degrees and put the roast on. I have the ThermoPro Twin Spike wireless temperature probe and put one of these in the roast. The nice thing about these probes is that not only does it monitor the temp of the meat, but it also has an ambient temp monitor as well so I can monitor the temp of the smoker without having to babysit it all day.
A chuck roast will usually take about 6-8 hours at 250 and usually an hour rest will help it retain moisture. Once the roast hit 160 degrees internal I wrapped it in butcher paper until it was probe tender, which for this roast was about 199. After I wrapped it, I got the Dutch oven started and got the chili started so the spices and ingredients can meld and stew. In my chili, I start with olive oil, minced garlic and diced yellow onion and let them get aromatic. Then I add tomato sauce, a large tomato soup can, and spices like chili powder, cumin, and cayenne pepper, oregano, and salt. I let these simmer until the chuck roast is done and rested. At that point I will chop up the chuck roast and add it to the chili pot. I then rinse a can of pinto beans and a can of kidney beans, add them to the pot and let it all sit and built flavor.
You might have guessed by now, but I like my chili with a bit of a kick, and I like it thicker. If you like it thinner, you can add some beef broth, a little at a time, until it at your desired thickness, and you can adjust the cayenne more or less based on the amount of heat you like, or don’t like.
The full recipe is posted below.
Ingredients:
- 3-4 Pound Chuck Roast
- Your Favorite Beef Rub
- 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or minced
- 1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced
- 2- 8oz cans tomato sauce
- 23oz can condensed Tomato Soup, aka family size
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground oregano
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 cayenne pepper
- 15oz can kidney beans, light or dark (optional)
- 15oz can pinto beans (optional)
Directions-
- Coat chuck roast in your favorite beef rub
- Let meat rest, set up smoker for 250 and use favorite choice of wood
- Add roast to the smoker and cook to 160 degrees internal
- Once the roast hits 160, wrap in butcher paper or aluminum foil and continue cooking on the smoker
- After wrapping the roast, add olive oil, garlic, and onion to a pot and cook until aromatic.
- Add tomato soup, tomato sauce, and spices and let simmer until chuck roast is rested.
- Once chuck roast hits 200 degrees internal and is probe tender, pull off the smoker and rest in the butcher paper, and placed in a dry cooler for at least an hour.
- Once roast is rested, chop it up and add to the chili pot, stir.
- Rinse the pinto and kidney beans, and add to the pot, stir again.
- Once beans cook for about 10-15 minutes, the chili is ready, serve, and add any fixings that you prefer.
This weekend we have the Adams Rib Rib & Steak BBQ double rib and steak competition in Van Dyne, WI. Tune into the Lovely Jubbly BBQ Facebook page for updates throughout the day, and competition summary in next weeks blog!
As always, keep cookin’ and Lovely Jubbly!
Lovely Jubbly BBQ 