# 'Darn Good' Chili **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 22, 2015, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darn-good-chili/735462 "2015-10-22T15:22:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darn-good-chili/735462/21 "2015-10-23T15:22:03Z")
I just made a huge batch yesterday. We’ll freeze a good bit of it. I always use 4 envelopes of the McCormick HOT chili envelopes as a base, then add my own spices to it, like chili powder, cayenne, tabasco. I always use light and dark kidney beans, because the different colors look nice. It’s always delicious. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darn-good-chili/735462/22 "2015-10-23T15:28:39Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > 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.) 1 tbsp is more the way I roll. You can never have too much cumin in chili. Of course you have a point - it does depend on what the makeup of the chili powder is. And whether it is “chili powder” or “powdered chilis.” ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darn-good-chili/735462/23 "2015-10-23T15:32:05Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > 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.” I’m not making any value judgements. I’ve had chili, chili mac, veggie chili, chili verde and every other conceivable mixture of cubed meat, ground meat, no meat, peppers, tomato, pinto beans, kidney beans, etc, imaginable. They were all good and if the cook wanted to call it “chili” then I smiled and enjoyed my chili. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darn-good-chili/735462/24 "2015-10-23T15:38:26Z")
\ ***Priya:** Would you like some homemade chili? **Sheldon Cooper:** Are there beans in it? **Priya:** Yes? **Sheldon Cooper:** Then it’s not chili. Real chili has no beans in it, but you’re from a foreign land, so your ignorance is forgiven. [Sheldon tries some of Priya’s chili] **Sheldon Cooper:** Mmmm, this is good… whatever it is.\* 😛 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darn-good-chili/735462/25 "2015-10-23T15:38:54Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > 1 tbsp is more the way I roll. You can never have too much cumin in chili. Of course you have a point - it does depend on what the makeup of the chili powder is. And whether it is “chili powder” or “powdered chilis.” Sure. If it’s just pure chiles, you definitely need to add more than 1 tsp. ---
**Author:** ![OffByOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/45deac/32.png) [@OffByOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OffByOne)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darn-good-chili/735462/26 "2015-10-23T15:40:40Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > 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? (Emphasis mine) Kidney beans are the bane of chili everywhere! If you absolutely MUST add beans (illegal in Texas\*!), at least use something more savory than sweet kidney beans. You might as well use lima beans! \*In Texas, the only time you add beans to chili is when unexpected company comes over at dinner time and you need to stretch servings. Or when you are a furriner. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darn-good-chili/735462/27 "2015-10-23T16:03:10Z")
Nah. If you have to have beans in chili, kidney beans are the way to go. The wife uses both pink and red kidney beans in hers, and it’s delicious. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darn-good-chili/735462/28 "2015-10-23T16:06:47Z")
I often use black beans. Just makes it look cool. Lol. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darn-good-chili/735462/29 "2015-10-23T16:27:53Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > 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](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/81aPzkMnOoL._SY355_.jpg)’s is the **the** chili powder. Accept no other. But still add shit. Oh, I missed this. Listen to the man. Gephardt’s is it! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darn-good-chili/735462/30 "2015-10-23T16:48:00Z")
> [@OffByOne](#): > > Kidney beans are the bane of chili everywhere! If you absolutely MUST add beans (illegal in Texas\*!), at least use something more savory than sweet kidney beans. You might as well use lima beans! > > \*In Texas, the only time you add beans to chili is when unexpected company comes over at dinner time and you need to stretch servings. Or when you are a furriner. Yeah, beans in chili can start a shooting war. Personally, I don’t like beans in chili. I’d prefer not to have ground beef in it either, wanting chunks of beef instead. But the fact is, every restaurant I’ve been to that I can remember had beans in its chili. (I only get chili at restaurants if I’m having a chili size, chili dog, or chili fries; except for the rare cup as a side-dish with whatever it is I’m really eating.) It’s either good, or not particularly good. I’ve noticed that in Seattle a lot of places have to put their ‘signature’ on chili, tarting it up with ingredients that sound good, and _are_ good for people who were brought up in places where Mexican food is not a staple of everyday life, but make for something almost unrecognisable to the rest of us. Mrs. L.A., who is also a Southern California native, makes ‘chili’ by pouring various cans of vegetables, Rotel salsa, and a couple of cans of chili into a pot. I call it ‘chili soup’. At the end of the day there are four kinds of chili: The Best Chili In The World that you make yourself because nobody else can do it like you do, The Best Chili In The World from that _one_ hole-in-the-wall restaurant where you used to live, chili that’s good but nowhere near as good as the previous two, and the stuff in the cans. Most of them are good, very good, or excellent – even if they have beans. While I’ll insist chili should have no beans and raise my spoon in a warlike manner, I just like chili. I’m still working on my recipe, and it’s going to be a while before I can make a ‘bowl of red’ I’m really proud of. (A thank-you to **Saint Cad** who started a chili colorado thread, where I’m getting valuable tips.) In the meantime, I’ll enjoy canned chili when I make pepper bellies (‘Frito pie’ outside of the Antelope Valley), the ‘Darn Good’ Chili that started this thread, restaurant chili, and The Missus’s ‘chili soup’. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darn-good-chili/735462/31 "2015-10-23T16:53:09Z")
Oh, damn. This is turning into one of THOSE chili threads… Thanks for the affirmation of the basic procedure, **puly**. And too much cumin in _anything_ makes me feel like I’m licking an Israeli ironworker’s armpits. While I generally prefer eating pinto beans in general, I blushingly admit to using kidneys in chili for the color-coordination. I use so much chili (and so little tomato) that the brick-red meat and gravy match the kidney beans. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darn-good-chili/735462/32 "2015-10-23T16:58:10Z")
OK, now that’s weird… The link in the OP was to Amazon. Now it’s changed to Walmart. I remember, because the Amazon link was for a package of six. Also, I _never_ shop at Wal-Mart unless I absolutely have to. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darn-good-chili/735462/33 "2015-10-23T19:05:53Z")
Now see what you’ve gone and done **Johnny L.A.**. You’ve restarted the Chili War!! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darn-good-chili/735462/34 "2015-10-23T19:10:53Z")
Jacob Goldman: [Max and Jacob are watching TV when the dog passes gas] UGH! What are you feeding this dog? Max Goldman: Hormel Chili. Jacob Goldman: [grimacing] Whoo! Max Goldman: He likes it. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darn-good-chili/735462/35 "2015-10-23T20:28:26Z")
Wrong thread [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darn-good-chili/735462.md?page=1)