3 way = spaghetti, chili, cheese.
4 way = the above with either onions or beans added.
5 way = the addition of either of the above that you didn’t add for the 4 way
the cheese is always mild cheddar. (however, when I make it at home I like sharp cheddar on mine.)
My other half says there’s a “6 way” but I’ve never heard of it. He says it has an addition of garlic. shrug If anyone else has heard of it, could you tell me where to find it? (He’s insisting it’s somewhere in Newport.)
The Ultimate Chili Book, by Christopher B. O’Hara (The Lyons Press, 2001), gives the following recipe (which I’ve never tried) for “Cincinnati Chili”:
4 large garlic cloves, pressed
2 large onions, chopped
1 quart water
2 pounds ground beef
1 (16-ounce) can tomatoes
1-1/2 teaspoons white vinegar
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 large bay leaf
1-1/2 teaspoons ground allspice
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
cooked spaghetti – enough for 6 servings
On the side:
shredded cheddar cheese
oyster crackers
chopped raw onions
kidney beans
sour cream (not “official” – O’Hara just likes it with sour cream)
Sautee the garlic and onions in oil, then add the water and the beef (which is not sauteed or browned, but boiled, “but I guess that’s the way they do it in Ohio.”). Add remaining ingredients and simmer 3 hours. Serve over spaghetti, topped with shredded cheese (never omitted). Can be eaten “3-way” (with cheese on top and crackers on the side); “4-way” (the same plus onions); “5-way” (plus beans); and O’Hara’s unofficial “6-way” (add sour cream).
Oh god, I love that stuff! I’ve tried to get more people in SoCal interested in it, but it’s one of those things where most people have to grow up eating it! I love it because I make a big batch at the start of the week and eat it 2875234 different ways throughout the week. My asian ex used to mix it with rice. 
Oh, and the last time I was in the 'Nati, I went with my family to Skyline and I pulled out the menu. My siblings all laughed at me, but their Greek salad is REALLY good too!
Skyline is by far my favorite. I’ll eat just a bowl by itself, but it’s best with finely shredded cheese on top.
Camp Washington chili is also very good. But as far as I know they only have the one location off of I-75, and don’t sell in the store, so it’s not as easy to come by.
I grew up in Cincinnati, so chili is a large percentage of my chemical composition.
Have you tried the new “Extreme 3-way”? I love the extra spice, but the cheese just simply isn’t as good…I hope the Skyline Chili scientists keep working to perfect it!!
Skyline Chili. The perfect food.
The problem with making your own Skyline chili is not so much the spices (Skytime packets get it about right) but having properly grated cheese and preparing the spaghetti correctly.
The cheese is grated in 3-inch long strips-- I haven’t been able to find a grater that will do that. (If anyone knows of one, please let me know where I can find it.) If the cheese is not grated and placed on the chili just right then the whole dish suffers. The correct “pouffieness” of the chees enables it to stay cool on top of the hot chili with only the bottom melting into the chili.
The spaghetti needs to be be kept (after cooking) in a mixture of water, olive oil and tomato sauce. I know roughly how to make this “spaghetti storage medium” but I would appreciate the exact Skyline recipe if anyone knows it.
Another problem I’ve had is the correct fat content. I prefer to eat very lean beef (90% or so) but I suspect that one must have the right fat percentage to make the chili just right. (60, 70, 80% ???)
I like the idea of refrigerating and then skimming fat the next day, but not at the expense of the perfect chili. (If I wanted low-fat, I wouldn’t be eating Skyline in the first place.)
Any tips on some of these “finer points” of Cincinnati chili preperation would be greatly appreciated by this crazy Skyline fan who lives 2000 miles from a Skyline restaurant.
I almost forgot my favorite “way” to eat Cincy Chili.
Get a bowl of the plain chili. Make a peanut butter sandwich. No jelly, just peanut butter. Dip sandwich in chili and devour.
mmmmmm
Everyone I know thinks I’m nuts for eating it this way, but it’s actually really really good.
Why? Why not just serve it as soon as it’s cooked?
I got addicted to the stuff when I lived in Cincy, and I still love to make it. I love it on Spaghetti or on dogs. I’ve discovered there is no conensus on how to make it, but I generally use cumin, cinnamon, oregano, and paprika in equal portions and one can of diced green chilis.
Gawld, you’ve made me realize I haven’t made any for a while. I’ll have to do it this coming weekend.
BTW, Two n’s, one T. Cincinnati.
There is a relationship. They both get distributed out of the same place. Thunderbird Lane in Fairfield, Ohio. I won’t go all the way out on a limb and say “Yes, they are the same thing” but I wouldn’t be surprised.
The canned chili tastes pretty much dead on the parlor stuff. We usually have a couple cans around here even though we’re right up the street from a real Skyline parlor. (In Cincinnati you eat chili in a “chili parlor”. It’s just the way it is.)
The sad thing is, regular hot dogs don’t make conies as good as those official little ones.
So I finally got to eat the chili I made last night. Dude! Best Cinci Chili I ever made! The recipe posted here is the same one I used, except substitute tomato sauce for the tomatoes, and 1/2 ounce unsweetened chocolate. It’s very easy to find a user-friendly recipe on the net. I just find one there every time I make it.
Isn’t it a rule that you have to cut it into wedges as you’re eating eat and put oyster crackers in the space where you take each wedge out and then eat them?
I’ve never lived in Cincinatti (obviously, sorry about the original spelling), I had a roomate that used to make it and I got hooked on it.
As for the hamburger, the one I used was so low in fat there wasn’t even any to skim off this morning. I used 95%, and I bet coarse-ground beef would be good, too.
Yay for the Chili!
Oops. I spelled it wrong again. Just for that I’m probably going to have to live there someday, as some kind of karmic balancing.
I didn’t mean you have to leave it around for a few hours, I was just saying that in the Skyline parlors they keep their spaghetti in a water/olive oil/tomato sauce mix and I want to know the recipe for it.
The “mix” gives the pasta a special coating that makes the whole dish work better.
You can put your pasta in the “mix” right after you cook it and then serve, but maybe it needs to soak in there a bit (?)
Any secrets from Skyline workers would be much appreciated!!!
A food processor’s grating wheel seems to do the job just right. I’ve never gotten close with a hand grater.