Brisket Chili, Two Ways

JohnInCarolina · February 2021

This is kind of a long story, but I'll be smoking a brisket tonight for the sole purpose of making a couple of batches of chili tomorrow. Sacrilege, I know, but... let me explain.

A bunch of us have been volunteering to make meals for an area family in need. The parents have a daughter who is in school with our youngest, and the mom is quite sick. She has cancer that's pretty far along, and it unfortunately hasn't been responding to treatments so far. I think she is by all accounts in good spirits and feeling as well as can be expected under the circumstances, but a bunch of us who know them are pitching in by making meals. And this weekend brings our turn with us set to deliver a meal for them this coming Tuesday. It's pretty cold and rainy here and what better to give them than a big batch of brisket chili (we did check first, and no dietary issues here)? I'm planning on handing a bunch to them in containers that freeze well so that they can stock it away for later as needed.

So I'm going to do a usual batch of the award-winning Salado recipe that just about everyone here uses, because it is for sure a winner. But for some time now I've wanted to try a different brisket recipe just to have another point of reference, because the Salado one is actually the only one I've ever made. I found this recipe online and it looks pretty good:

https://www.vindulge.com/smoked-brisket-chili-recipe-and-video/

I mean, it's got the additions of bacon and beer. Who doesn't like those things? So I'm going to make two big batches of two different brisket chilis and do a side by side comparison. As the kids these days say... watch this space.

shtgunal3 · February 2021

Good on you for doing this John. I look forward to seeing the results. Kids these days also say.... “You don’t want none of this smoke!” Have you heard that one?

dmchicago · February 2021

JohnInCarolina said:

This is kind of a long story, but I'll be smoking a brisket tonight for the sole purpose of making a couple of batches of chili tomorrow. Sacrilege, I know, but... let me explain.

A bunch of us have been volunteering to make meals for an area family in need. The parents have a daughter who is in school with our youngest, and the mom is quite sick. She has cancer that's pretty far along, and it unfortunately hasn't been responding to treatments so far. I think she is by all accounts in good spirits and feeling as well as can be expected under the circumstances, but a bunch of us who know them are pitching in by making meals. And this weekend brings our turn with us set to deliver a meal for them this coming Tuesday. It's pretty cold and rainy here and what better to give them than a big batch of brisket chili (we did check first, and no dietary issues here)? I'm planning on handing a bunch to them in containers that freeze well so that they can stock it away for later as needed.

So I'm going to do a usual batch of the award-winning Salado recipe that just about everyone here uses, because it is for sure a winner. But for some time now I've wanted to try a different brisket recipe just to have another point of reference, because the Salado one is actually the only one I've ever made. I found this recipe online and it looks pretty good:

https://www.vindulge.com/smoked-brisket-chili-recipe-and-video/

I mean, it's got the additions of bacon and beer. Who doesn't like those things? So I'm going to make two big batches of two different brisket chilis and do a side by side comparison. As the kids these days say... watch this space.

I seriously doubt kids these days say this...

Anyway, nice gesture and good luck!

lousubcap · February 2021

Great gesture right there for all who are pitching in. For that sort of thing there is no doubt that the brisket gods would completely endorse.
Looking forward to your review of the second recipe.
I have no clue what kids say these days...

caliking · February 2021

you're a good egg. Despite hating America, and ruining the forum.

caliking · February 2021

if you're making a shite ton of brisket... brisket spaghetti sauce is pretty damn good, too. Freezes well, and you just need to boil pasta to have a meal.

But, yeah, its kinda close to chili.

smbishop · February 2021

Thank you for sharing the recipe. I always use Kelley's recipe, however this one sounds like a good one to try. Also, one of my student's mom is going through the same thing, so thank you for your support of the family!

JohnInCarolina · February 2021

vindulge recipe is simmering

Legume · February 2021

Looks great, I wish I had a pot of chili bubbling on the stove right now.

JohnInCarolina · February 2021

Salado batch coming together:

SGH · February 2021

JohnInCarolina said:

The parents have a daughter who is in school with our youngest, and the mom is quite sick. She has cancer that's pretty far along, and it unfortunately hasn't been responding to treatments so far.

I know it is only words but I am truly sorry to hear this. I hate to hear it for anyone.

JohnInCarolina · February 2021

The house smells amazing, lol.

dbCooper · February 2021

@JohnInCarolina

Thanks for sharing the story and the cook. That's some admirable work you're doing.

JohnInCarolina · February 2021

The wife and I both sat down tonight for our Valentine's Day dinner. We each had some of the two brisket chilis and she had the rest of the wine that goes with the Salado recipe (I am dry these days). We had each one with some cheddar cheese on top and a dollop of sour cream.

One caveat before I issue our review: I cut the heat on the Salado recipe in half, on both the chile powder and the cayenne. It still has a solid kick to it, but since we planned on gifting most of one of these to the family I mentioned, I wanted to dial back the heat quite a bit. In the end it's still got more heat than the vindulge recipe, but not by much.

Our verdict is that it's a toss up. Not very exciting, I know, but that's the straight truth. The two recipes are different, but there's plenty in common, and in the end the flavor profile isn't terribly different. I mean they're both great, and it's hard to beat brisket chili on any day of the week. But in this particular matchup it was hard to declare one a clear winner over the other. So it mostly comes down to personal preference. We thought the corn and green chiles in the vindulge recipe made it a tad bit more interesting, so we'll be gifting a big batch of that to our friends in need.

Were I to do the vindulge recipe again, I'd probably double the amount of bacon and the green chiles. The bacon in the end is barely noticeable. The green chiles are there but a bit more would make it more interesting.

I'll do this again some day, probably venturing out even further on the brisket chili landscape to try and find something truly different. In any case, thanks for coming along with me for the ride.

bubbajack · February 2021

All around a really cool cook!

CTMike · February 2021

JohnInCarolina said:

The wife and I both sat down tonight for our Valentine's Day dinner. We each had some of the two brisket chilis and she had the rest of the wine that goes with the Salado recipe (I am dry these days). We had each one with some cheddar cheese on top and a dollop of sour cream.

One caveat before I issue our review: I cut the heat on the Salado recipe in half, on both the chile powder and the cayenne. It still has a solid kick to it, but since we planned on gifting most of one of these to the family I mentioned, I wanted to dial back the heat quite a bit. In the end it's still got more heat than the vindulge recipe, but not by much.

Our verdict is that it's a toss up. Not very exciting, I know, but that's the straight truth. The two recipes are different, but there's plenty in common, and in the end the flavor profile isn't terribly different. I mean they're both great, and it's hard to beat brisket chili on any day of the week. But in this particular matchup it was hard to declare one a clear winner over the other. So it mostly comes down to personal preference. We thought the corn and green chiles in the vindulge recipe made it a tad bit more interesting, so we'll be gifting a big batch of that to our friends in need.

Were I to do the vindulge recipe again, I'd probably double the amount of bacon and the green chiles. The bacon in the end is barely noticeable. The green chiles are there but a bit more would make it more interesting.

I'll do this again some day, probably venturing out even further on the brisket chili landscape to try and find something truly different. In any case, thanks for coming along with me for the ride.

Great thing you’re doing John. Oh, since you’re dry, please feel free to send me your bourbon collection, I’ll be sure to give it a good home. 😀

northGAcock · February 2021

CTMike said:

JohnInCarolina said:

The wife and I both sat down tonight for our Valentine's Day dinner. We each had some of the two brisket chilis and she had the rest of the wine that goes with the Salado recipe (I am dry these days). We had each one with some cheddar cheese on top and a dollop of sour cream.

One caveat before I issue our review: I cut the heat on the Salado recipe in half, on both the chile powder and the cayenne. It still has a solid kick to it, but since we planned on gifting most of one of these to the family I mentioned, I wanted to dial back the heat quite a bit. In the end it's still got more heat than the vindulge recipe, but not by much.

Our verdict is that it's a toss up. Not very exciting, I know, but that's the straight truth. The two recipes are different, but there's plenty in common, and in the end the flavor profile isn't terribly different. I mean they're both great, and it's hard to beat brisket chili on any day of the week. But in this particular matchup it was hard to declare one a clear winner over the other. So it mostly comes down to personal preference. We thought the corn and green chiles in the vindulge recipe made it a tad bit more interesting, so we'll be gifting a big batch of that to our friends in need.

Were I to do the vindulge recipe again, I'd probably double the amount of bacon and the green chiles. The bacon in the end is barely noticeable. The green chiles are there but a bit more would make it more interesting.

I'll do this again some day, probably venturing out even further on the brisket chili landscape to try and find something truly different. In any case, thanks for coming along with me for the ride.

Great thing you’re doing John. Oh, since you’re dry, please feel free to send me your bourbon collection, I’ll be sure to give it a good home. 😀

Last I herd, he was drinkin mini bottles of bourbon before giving it up. Hardly worth asking for.

EggObsessed · February 2021

So happy to hear you are still enjoying and sharing our Salado Smoked Brisket Chili recipe! I really like the interesting ingredients in the Vindulge version. The addition of the corn, to me, almost takes it in the direction of Brunswick Stew, which is always delicious too. I would definitely give that recipe a try myself. Thanks for sharing the idea and recipe. It's ALWAYS fun to try a new twist on chili!

Brisket Chili, Two Ways

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