Poll of the Day > Today I'm going to try making chili Alton Brown style

(+) Yeah! (+)

With big chunks of stewing meat, salsa, and corn tortilla chips inside to thicken it. I have some chorizo to put in there too. To my personal taste I will be adding beans at the end.

I'm not sure how it's going to hold up in the pressure cooker but I'll see tonight!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/pressure-cooker-chili-recipe-1942714
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That sounds delicious. I hope it turns out well for you.
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Doctor Foxx posted...

With big chunks of stewing meat, salsa, and corn tortilla chips inside to thicken it. I have some chorizo to put in there too. To my personal taste I will be adding beans at the end.

I'm not sure how it's going to hold up in the pressure cooker but I'll see tonight!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/pressure-cooker-chili-recipe-1942714

I've always thought his chili looked really good, I just can't justify buying a pressure cooker just for that.

good eats is coming back btw
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rjsilverthorn posted...

Doctor Foxx posted...

With big chunks of stewing meat, salsa, and corn tortilla chips inside to thicken it. I have some chorizo to put in there too. To my personal taste I will be adding beans at the end.

I'm not sure how it's going to hold up in the pressure cooker but I'll see tonight!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/pressure-cooker-chili-recipe-1942714

I've always thought his chili looked really good, I just can't justify buying a pressure cooker just for that.

Dude you can justify a pressure cooker for the countless other amazing food. I use it for curries, stock, rice, sauces, meats, soups... Anything you would use a slow cooker for you can use a pressure cooker. In pressure cookers you can also make things like cheesecake. And if you get something like an instant pot it is also usable as a slow cooker. 100% worth the money.
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I'm a fan of Alton's (nevermore), but not all of his recipes are great. I don't remember his chili recipe but you certainly don't need a pressure cooker to make a good chili, and if you plan on adding beans, it's generally better to let them slow cook with the meat, onions, bell peppers etc as it make a super delicious sauce.

I'd ditch the pressure cooker and go with something along the lines of this:

First off you wanna saute some onions, bell peppers, and at the end garlic. Add in about and equal amount of beef rib meat (boneless beef ribs...similar to the outside of rib eyes), cut into small cubes. Add in your beans (Whatever kinds you like, I generally go with kidney beans and black beans, but pinto etc works fine, you can even have tons of different kinds if you like.

Add other spices like cumin, chilli poweder, red pepper flakes etc to taste.

I personally like to put in a bit of tomato sauce (you don't have to do this), it helps break things down and meld the flavors. Not too much, just enough to give more of a sauce to the mix (less dry).

Slow cook that beyatch in the oven all day while your at work (if you work) at about 250. When you get home add any other ingrediants you like in your chili (corn, diced tomatoes, more bell pepers (These don't disolve) etc).

By using the rib meat you avoid the possibility of your steak pieces being dry and or tough (or flavorless). Not a big problem when slow cooking with spices etc in the mix, but....this makes the individual steak pieces delicious by themselves without all the flavor from the chili (basically the combo is better). It's almost like having fajita steak in your meat. Btw, depending on sales, you can actually just use rib eye meat/steaks for this (for isntance they where on sale for 4.77 a pound till last wed here).

I don't suggest addint tortillas etc before you actually serve the chili, especially if it's for more then one person (Same with cheese, fresh onions/peppers etc, those can all be added to individual bowls).

You can...short cut....this chili by bbqing your steak and slicing it up once it's already mostly cooked. While doing that sautee the onions/bell peppers etc in the pan, add the canned beans (Already cooked, just need to meld the flavor) and spices in the pot. Add a bit of tomato sauce and then eventually the steak once it's mostly cooked and cut up (make sure to put the steak juices in as well).

It won't taste as great, but BBQ'd rib meat is already delicious, so your just melding flavors here, and getting the rib meat flavor throoughout the sauce. It takes about an hour total (including the grilling time since you sautee and simmer while BBQing and cutting), to make the dish this way.

If you are going to be gone all day though, really no reason not to make the much superior slow cooked version. The rib meat becomes incredibly tender and juicy and the flavor spreads throughout the whole chili.

I left out hotter peppers etc, salsa etc, as you can always do that yourself. Since I have often had a LARGE range in how spicy the people who were eating my chili wanted, I eventually started to rely on a salsa you could add (hot sauce, and even diced pepper grilled seperatly) that I added directly to the bowls of people (like me) who likes it spicey. If your cooking for yourself only, you can of course just make it however you like. Even so, Salsa is often an easy way to add spice to your chili to taste.
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Just saw his show is coming back, that rocks.

Didn't mean to diss his food, for a cooking show, he actually really had good recipes fairly often (unlike so many of the other ones you see). I didn't always agree with him, but I always enjoyed watching him.
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Wolfy, she knows how to cook.
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wolfy42 posted...

If you are going to be gone all day though, really no reason not to make the much superior slow cooked version. The rib meat becomes incredibly tender and juicy and the flavor spreads throughout the whole chili.

Dude I'm not going to reply to all of this but pressure cooked meat comes out better than slow cooked. It's science. The maillard reaction can take place at pressure temperatures (though I prefer to brown first for fond anyway). Spices and other things infuse into the meat far better. And the texture is preferable.

Even when I have all day I'll still pressure cook. Like today. And it will be great. Ps you add the beans at the end after pressure and still let it slow cook for an hour and it's all integrated very well at the end.

You should try ribs that have been dry rubbed and pressure cooked in beer and finished on the grill. Best ribs you're going to get without a smoker.
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lol@wolfy

pressure cooker cooks meat better than a slow cooker could even dream of.
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Shit I think I accidentally consumed several servings of medicated honey. I hope i can keep it together to con this
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helly posted...

lol@wolfy

pressure cooker cooks meat better than a slow cooker could even dream of.

I will fucking fight anyone that thinks slow cookers do it better for meat it's just wrong on so many levels
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SunWuKung420 posted...

That sounds delicious. I hope it turns out well for you.

Thanks man!

SunWuKung420 posted...

Wolfy, she knows how to cook.

Yeah just a tiny bit. Enough to not use a slow cooker. :p

Anyway it's beef browning time



All of that delicious browned goodness stays right in the very pot you cook in. So much extra flavour. I'm going to deglaze with a stout before everything gets loaded in.
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Omg no

Why is there silver skin/skain/whatever you want to call the membrane that makes everything chewy and nasty still on that meat

Omg no

Or maybe it's a trick of the eyes on one of the pieces in the lower left... Idk
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ReggieTheReckless posted...

Omg no

Why is there silver skin/skain/whatever you want to call the membrane that makes everything chewy and nasty still on that meat

Omg no

Or maybe it's a trick of the eyes on one of the pieces in the lower left... Idk

If it's the lower left one that was stirred after barely touching the pot so it's just ghastly undercooked meat colour. You can see the browned bit stuck on top. Membranes are off.
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Hmmm I used extra beer and this seems to be short on liquid. I hope it doesn't scorch!
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Zangulus posted...

When I do pork or beef roasts I always brown it in our slow cooker first. Sooo good.

Yours gets hot enough to brown well? Nice.



Mmm this smelled so umami I'm excited for the finished product. Going to have it with some steamed vegetables and brown rice (rice also done in pressure cooker before chili, always comes out perfect).

I hope this style of chili is really good because I passed up a lot of on sale ground meat to give it a try
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lol@wolfy you dare to have misconceptions about cooking? fucking pleb, get out of here with that shit. this topic is for cooking experts only.
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Greenfox111 posted...

lol@wolfy you dare to have misconceptions about cooking? fucking pleb, get out of here with that shit. this topic is for cooking experts only.

Wolfy can have his own opinions, it was unnecessary to offer that much text to make a recipe worse.

Maybe one day he will get a pressure cooker and see the light. Or taste the tender meat. Either way.
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Zangulus posted...

Nah. We have a stove safe insert. So we can put that on a burner first. Then I take it off and take the meat it and do all the secondary stuff then the meat back on top.

That's pretty smart design!

I'm kitchenless so I'm pretty limited in what I can do but very grateful that I can brown meat right in the pot with no stove.
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it really does look like silverskin though
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helly posted...

it really does look like silverskin though

no disagreement there. I promise it's not. Put red meat in a hot pan for a couple seconds and it will turn that color. I'm pretty meticulous about trimming that stuff and checked every piece cut. There can still be a hint of white even after removing the membrane--but this stuff was already trimmed pretty clean before I got to it.
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nah, i getchu

it's just a combination of it being slightly cooked but not browned, but having the grease juices on it making the light glare off of it
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The initial cook is over. Beans are added.



Thoughts on it: it looked liquidy before stirring. After a few stirs the disintegrated tortilla chips really got to work thickening things up. Now when you stir the food pieces sit wherever you leave them. This is much better than corn starch.

The flavor is nice--not overly tomato-based, nothing overwhelming. It is completely absent of sweetness. I know many chili recipes call for brown sugar or something sweet added, this one does not. It is much more smoky and savory with a nice toasty corn flavor throughout. It's good. Next time I might use pork shoulder instead of just chopped chuck. There's pork in there with the chorizo so ehhh. All the little beef pieces are quite tender and flavorful.

Solid recipe would make again. Pictures and lighting can't do it justice. Thanks, Alton!
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^ that color looks really unappetizing
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I've done it a few times over the years, but I'm told I always make it too spicy (I think it's perfect lol). :x How spicy are you going for?
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Krazy_Kirby posted...

^ that color looks really unappetizing

yeah it's shit lighting with the silver pot and fluorescent it leads to weird white balance settings



Looks better out of the pot

Melon_Master posted...

I've done it a few times over the years, but I'm told I always make it too spicy (I think it's perfect lol). :x How spicy are you going for?

Fairly mild (to me). It has a bit of cumulative heat but nothing overpowering. I am serving some to someone that does not deal with lots of spice well, so can't add too much.
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Doctor Foxx posted...

I am serving some to someone that does not deal with lots of spice well, so can't add too much.

Oh, well then it's definitely good that you watered down the spices.. There's nothing worse than an entire meal of spice critiquing lol.
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