smoked brisket chili

njl

I normally make chili with ground beef (brown it, remove from pan, sautee chopped onion, crushed garlic, and a few other things, then add the beef back, add tomato puree, chili powder, cumin, etc. and simmer for a bit).

If I wanted to substitute smoked brisket, is it as simple as just skipping the first step (browning the ground beef) and adding some chopped up sliced brisket?  i.e. Does that "work"?  Do you use flat, point, or both?

StillH2OEgger

Yes, to all of the above. I don't have many rules when it comes to chili and nothing you described above is setting off any alarm bells for me. I hope you'll let us know how it turns out.

SmokeyPitt

It is just that easy and it works great. I like to use both flat and point. When I make brisket I serve the fresh brisket sliced, then I chop up all the leftovers and mix it up and food save it. That way I have a good mix of fat and lean for chili, sandwiches, etc.  The last brisket I made was a 15 lb packer and just my wife and I ate some slices and the rest turned into leftover brisket chop. 

Cornholio

Last time I used brisket in my chili I used the leftover part of the flat I trimmed off unsmoked.  I usually use a ground beef and beef chunk mixture for meat in my chili so I just brown brisket meat like I do the ground beef and steak chunks.  I do season the meat while browning and then I let my chili simmer for a good 3 hours plus which is plenty to cook the brisket.  I also use coffee in my chili rather than add any water and that adds a hint of smokey flavor.

saluki2007

This should help.  It's a forum favorite.

https://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1163322/award-winning-smoked-brisket-chili-from-salado-eggfest-after-party-2014/p1

njl

saluki2007 said:

This should help.  It's a forum favorite.

https://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1163322/award-winning-smoked-brisket-chili-from-salado-eggfest-after-party-2014/p1

That's a way more complicated recipe than what I do for chili.

1911Man

Last two batches of chili I made, I smoked some beef on my BGE first. First batch I cubed it up (as small as I could). Second batch I ran it through my meat grinder. I like the texture I get when it's ground up. It pretty much disappears into the chili but you get the flavor throughout. I didn't use brisket in either batch, but the meat you pick is up to you. I would advise going heavier on smoking the meat you're going to use. Since if you don't, there's a good chance the rest of the chili will take more away from that aspect than you want. Of course, you can always make more batches, tuning it along the way. Such a burden to have to eat the batches. Well, it could be a burden to those around you. Once I get low enough on my current batch, I'll be making another. I'll be going heavier on the smoke since I want more smoke flavor to it.

I always use the most coarse grinding plate when doing things like this. Even when I would grind up raw meat to toss into a batch of sauce. I find it is easier to get it incorporated that way.

The only time I buy ground meat is for burgers these days. Even then, it's mostly to get the fat content I want without going to a lot of work (dietary needs call for more lean meats).

Surveyor_Egg

Chili is fairly forgiving with the ingredients list.  My chili usually has cut up steak tips as the meat.  If I have leftover brisket then I would generally use that too. 

Webass

I buy Costco chuck roasts 2 pack and egg'em to 200-205.  I break them into "soup size" portions and vac seal.  For chili, I'll heat the chuck in boiling water or sous vide, chop and add to the hot meatless chili.  After 30 minutes or so it'll continue to shred into small pieces.  Can't tell the difference between chucky and brisket.   Chuck is actually about a buck more per lb. but easier and less time than brisket.

grillman14

Definitely try it!

https://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1217406/left-over-brisket-prime-rib-chili#latest