How to make chili (cowlick or any) less smokey and less salty?

ReignInBBQ

Hi,

Ive used my egg a few times and now want to make some chili - cowlick looked good.  Only cooking for 4 so I thought Id halve everything.  The people I cook for dont like things too smokey - last week I did drumsticks for 45 min no wood and they thought it was perfect, but "wouldnt want any more smoke taste."

So, I think 2 hours cooking on the egg might be too smokey.  My idea was to cook everything and have it sit for 30 min in the egg, then bring it inside on store for remaining 1:30.  Does this work? Shorter/longer?

Also can I cut a lot of the salt?

I know this is a couple of questions and appreciate your help.

Thanks!

SmokeyPitt

Honestly when you cook chili on the egg the smoke flavor is pretty subtle, but if you want to cut it more you could always just add a lid to the dutch oven after some time.   Another tip I'm sure you have heard is give the fire plenty of time to stabilize and burn clean before you add the food.  

I don't think the cow lick recipe is very salty but if you want to cut it I think the biggest bang for your buck would be to use a low sodium beef broth.  The cow lick rub also has salt so you could sub something for that with little or no salt.  Of course, you would have to call it something different .  

Confession: Made cow lick chili several times...usually without cow lick because I didn't have any.  Couldn't tell the difference.  I subbed Kirkland Signature steak rub. 

fishlessman

guiness is a good substitute for the beef broth as well. im betting alot of salt is from the canned tomatoes, maybe just stew some fresh tomatos and cut the canned quantity  in half

Carolina Q

In looking at the ingredients list for Egret's chili, there are a few things that can have a high sodium content; sausage, canned diced tomatoes, Rotel, canned kidney/pinto beans, Cow Lick and beef broth.

Not much you can do about the sausage or Rotel (other than eliminate them or perhaps make your own version of Rotel, looks like it's just tomatoes and chilis after all... and a ton of salt). Never had any Rotel myself.

Canned, diced tomatoes are available with no salt added. Very low sodium. I usually buy Hunt's because they're widely available. Muir Glen has some, but I don't often see that.

Goya has a line of low sodium canned beans, pinto and kidney included. If you drain and rinse, the sodium is even lower. Or, you could cook up a batch of dried beans and use those.

There is no salt free Cow Lick, but Dizzy Dust and Raging River are both available in salt free versions.

Kitchen Basics now has unsalted beef broth. About time! 130 mg sodium per cup. Considerably less than standard versions.

My (relatively) new low sodium diet is a pain! 

As for too smokey, no problem. I don't think I've ever done chili on the egg. Mighty good on the stovetop.

Skiddymarker

Smoke and salt are matters of taste. Egged chili is not all that smokey, I seldom add smoke wood. SWMBO likes egged chili and she is not a big smoke fan. Salt is from what you put in the pot. Low salt rubs, tomatoes, bacon and your own broth can greatly reduce salt in the final product. There are lots of low to no salt rubs out there, choose a profile you like - great thing about chili, pretty much anything goes. It also freezes well, so make a big pot and have a quick meal ready in minutes out of the microwave. 

gdenby

Some years ago, I started cooking for my invalid father, who had to avoid salt. I found that everything at the market, even stuff that is supposedly low sodium, has lots of salt. Tomato product tend to have a lot because it keeps the product red, instead of the brown it would otherwise be. Most, maybe all the broths I've tried have far more salt than necessary, probably because they have so little flavor, even with "flavor enhancers."

Make your beans and tomatoes fresh.

Likewise, beef broth. A market near me sometimes has neck bones, which are exceptionally good. Shank sections are good too. Alternatively, just brown the chuck in a pan, and deglaze. Not quite broth, but it will have good beef flavor.

When cooking in a DO in the Egg, there is not much smoke flavor.

BTW, really early recipes for chili do not have beans or tomatoes. A few did start with browned pork or bacon, to which the beef was added.

Walt2015

Rinsing beans will help take a lot/most of that salt out. You can always add back some flavor with different spices