A couple/few weeks ago we tried Bear Creek ‘Darn Good’ Chili mix. I added a pound of browned ground beef and a can of Rotel salsa. I wasn’t expecting much from a dry chili mix, but I have to say it was ‘Darn Good’. Not as good as homemade chili, but as good as chili you get in the Pacific Northwest from non-Mexican restaurants. (Hm… That makes it sound not very good. 
) Anyway, it’s quick, easy, and tasty, and better than the canned chili that’s available here. It costs $4.99 at Fred Meyer.
Dried Chili Mixes often are pretty good. There are a lot of good homemade chili recipes that only use dried ingredients other than the meat, and I refuse to pretend there is a fundamental difference between opening 12 boxes and bags and jars,dumping them into a pot and calling and it homemade and good, opposed to opening a single box dumping it into a pot and calling it packaged and bad.
I do usually prefer a few fresh chilies and tomatoes mixed in with the dried for optimal chili.
The best dried chili mixes we’ve found are Carroll Shelby’s, Wick Fowler’s, and Morton’s. I think I’ve seen Bear Creek at a local grocery. Now we’ll have to try it.
Christopher Kimball of Cook’s Illustrated swears by McCormick brand chili powder, which can be used instead of pounding your own chiles. Aside from chile it also includes granulated garlic, oregano, and probably something hot, like cayenne.
This is NOT a mix. You still have to add your own beef, onion, tomato, and cooking liquid. And I definitely use more garlic and oregano. But I have used McCormick, and it’s been pretty good.
Christopher Kimball wouldn’t know chili if it reared up and bit him on the ass. Man has a naugahyde palate when it comes to spices and flavor. Comes from living in New England his while life.
Gephardt’s is the the chili powder. Accept no other. But still add shit.
I have a couple of bags of chiles, ancho and guajillo. One type was a little too ‘moist’ to make into a powder, so it ended up as flakes. Next time I make chili I think I’ll try to dry them in the oven for a while. Stemming and seeding was a PITA for both types, but I guess it has to be done. I’ll use the food processor instead of pounding.
No need to seed, just destem and process. If you are really going to puree, you don’t even need to destem much.
I’m a little confused by your penultimate remark–I don’t know of a mix where you don’t have to add your own beef, tomatoes and cooking liquid. Some mixes do have dried onions in them already, to be sure, but the other three things you listed seemed like strange things to list in order to show that it’s “not a mix”.
12 boxes, bags and jars?? If I’m calling chili “homemade” I’m opening some canned tomatoes and maybe jarred hot peppers.
I almost always exclusively used dried chiles in my more traditional chili, so I have no problem with mixes whatsoever. I tend not to like fresh chiles in red chili.
I’ve looked at that mix in the store, I seem to recall that its pretty much beans and salt.
Try Borracho Beans from Santa Fe Bean Company. I got them by accident when ordering their dehydrated refried beans (which are also excellent) and they make a good base for a “beany” chili.
Well, let’s define our terms. I’ve never used one-package “chili mix,” so what makes it different than chili powder?
Chile powder - dried ground chiles
Chili powder - chile powder augmented with cumin, oregano, granulated garlic
Chili mix -
(Chili con carne, easy version - put 1 lb. beef, onion, garlic in pot. Add salt, pepper, 1/4 cup “chili powder,” tblsp dried oregano, tsp cumin. Sauté, then add 8 oz crushed tomato (tomato juice, tomato sauce) and liquid to taste. Cook until done, adding a can of kidney beans at the last half-hour. Can be varied in a thousand different ways.)
How is using a “chili mix” different? Why does “chili mix” exist?
It’s often more customizable, and contains several spice packets to be dumped at various times. Many will contain masa for thickening, and it looks like the brand the OP mentions has beans, as well.
As a young bachelor learning how to cook, I tried Wick Fowlers 2 alarm chili kit, and it was quite good. The ingredients are packaged separately, and this way I learned what the basic ingredients were. It even has a packet of masa flour, to be mixed with water and added toward the end. This gives the whole thing a wonderful corn tortilla kind of undertone.
masa flour ninja’d
I used to use those McCormick chili seasoning packets and ground beef, topped with shredded cheese and chopped onions.
You are aware, sir, that this is the most controversial post you’ve ever made on this message board? 
God, yes. I’ve stayed away from chili threads here for years.
The above version was not meant to be a standard for all chili-makers, just the simplest chili any half-literate mook would make in his home kitchen. If you want to name it, I suggest “Doofus Chili.”
It’s actually a pretty reasonable recipe, with a good amount of chili powder. At least it doesn’t have celery or mushroom or other weird stuff in it. 
If I were giving a basic chili recipe for the type of chili most people I know are used to, I really couldn’t do much better than that.
That recipe is an Abomination!
Only 1 tsp cumin? It needs a lot more than that!
It’s in that 1/4 cup of chili powder. (Seriously, though, for one pound of meat and that amount of chili powder, 1 tsp seems just about right to me.)