I just made a relatively elaborate (for me, anyway) chili recipe yesterday, and the end result was really disappointing. The chili had kind of an off flavor, almost bitter. It was only palatable by crushing about 20 Ritz crackers into the bowl, which is not what I consider an optimum chili experience.
I used a recipe that called for grinding your own chili powder out of dried chiles. So I toasted and then ground up about three ancho chiles and about three regular red chiles. The anchos were bought just a few months ago, but the red chiles have been hanging around the pantry in a Ziploc baggie for about two years. I dunno if that could have been the problem. I was careful to de-seed them before grinding.
Cumin and oregano also went into the chili powder mixture. The other ingredients were crushed tomatoes, chopped garlic, onions, and jalapenos, cubed beef, and… I think that’s about it. I think the problem was in the seasonings, though, but I can’t quite figure out what could have caused that bitter off-taste. Did I have bad chiles? Was the combination of chiles I used bad? Or what?
All I know is that I like the concept of grinding up chiles to make chili powder with, but if the results always taste this crappy, I’m going back to using the McCormick stuff that comes in a jar. Any advice would be welcome at this point.
Hard to say, since I am not there to taste either the chili or the spices you used, but I will tentatively go along with stale peppers…although it could be that the proportions of the spices you used may not match the flavor profile of your favorite chili powder.
to be sort of honest, when I make chili, I dont use chili powder, but use fresh ingredients, and go way light on cumin and cilantro as I really don’t care for either of those flavorings…
You might try getting a jar of your chili powder, and get the ingredients listed on the lable and try making a new batch. I find that a pinch of salt in my mortar makes grinding a touch easier, and you can start with [for example] a single pepper of each type, dried and grind it, then add a pinch each of cumin and cilantro[dried] and grind, tehn sniff and taste, and adjust from there.
welp… judging from the description alone, I would have to say:
Yup, it surely does suck like a hoover.
As for WHY it sucks I would need more data.
I personally always uses store-bought spices (but not the pre-mixed “chili mix” stuff) and my chili rocks!
maybe it is a confidence thing… tell people how awesome it is (and mean it) and they are afraid to contradict.
Off the top of my head, I’d say you added too much powdered chiles. You have to be very careful, because each chile pod tastes different. Commercial chili powder mixes many spices and chiles together for a uniform taste. The way you stored your chiles seems fine. We store our dried chiles in sealed bags in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator. Next time, cook and combine your base ingredients, then add each spice and stop when it tastes right.
Another thought is that you over toasted them. Or you could have cooked the oregeno too long. But a quick fix is to add a little brown sugar to the chili to take the edge off the bitter taste.
My first thought was, given the description of your fix (lotsa Ritz crackers, which are salty), that you didn’t add enough salt. I didn’t see it mentioned in your recipe, either.
My next thought was, “too much cumin?” Cumin is very bitter, and too much can make food taste spoiled, almost.
Finally, I thought “did she deseed the chiles?” But then noticed, yes she did.
If it was burned chiles, you would have noticed a distinct, acrid bitter flavor, not fixable by crushing up some Ritz.
Perhaps it was one bad chile. The rest of your ingredients seem right. I wouldn’t add jalapenos until the end, personally, but that wouldn’t have done your batch in.
I’d go with either too much cumin (a little goes a long way) or a bad chile, possibly combined with not enough salt…
Hmm, thanks for the replies so far, guys. bughunter, the Ritz helped, but they didn’t totally get rid of the off flavor, so it’s definitely possible that I over-toasted the chiles. I also didn’t measure the cumin, but just tossed some in, so it’s very possible that I used too much cumin, also. And, finally, now that you mention it, I did forget the salt. So maybe some combination of those three things?
Next time, try not toasting them. Instead, just de-seed them, tear the flesh into smallish pieces, and soak them in hot water for about 20 minutes. Then dump it all (chiles and water) into the blender and puree them. Don’t use a plastic blender container unless you want it stained permanently orange. Use the resulting chili sauce where you would normally add your chili powder.
I tried putting fresh chiles (jalapeno or serrano) in the blender, but that resulted in an unpleasantly strong vegetable flavor, so I just dice those and saute them with onions, garlic, etc. earlier.
Ditto on the salt comment, too – no salt = awful flavor for just about any food.
Another contributing factor can be overcooking of tomatoes, or cooking tomatoes in a reactive pot. Both can cause bitterness. Sometimes a couple tablespoons of sugar can help, but if it’s bad you’ll have to toss it out.
My best guess is that you slightly burned your spices somewhere along the line. Chile peppers and paprika are particularly sensitive to heat, and become bitter when burnt. Whenever I add chile powder or paprika to hot oil, I take the pan off the heat to prevent the spices from burning. (Unless I plan to presently add an ingredient with high moisture content.) It’s good to dissolve your spices in oil (especially peppers), but be very careful not to scorch them.
Another problem is that your peppers are really, really old. Two years? While not unsafe to eat, they’ve lost a significant amount of flavor over that time. I’m not sure whether it would cause bitterness, but it’s a reasonable guess.
Well, my first response was going to be “because you are in Ohio,” but that would be mean, so I won’t.
Dump the McCormick’s, and hie thee to the market for some Gebhardt Chili Powder. I stopped grinding my own chili powder when I discovered this stuff. You can bolster the heat with some hotter chilis, but this will give you the backbone of flavor you want. Happy cooking!
You seem to be a fussy enough cook that I can find no fault with your chili methods.
As a fussy cook, you KNOW that no dish turns out the same way twice.
I’ve prepared fabuloso chili and shit chili in my time, because my technique has varied so – grinding chiles, soaking chiles, using powdered chile, varying amounts of cumin and oregano and minced garlic, onions or no onions, tomato quantity, ratio of ground beef to minced beef, bacon fat or olive oil or canola – and I will probably compose chilis of all degrees of deliciousness from now until I die.
The last chili I made was nothing to write home about. But it was pretty darned good two months later, taken out of the freezer and melted down in a saucepan and spooned over frankfurters in rolls.
Your chili sucked? Make another pot of chili next week. It may be worse. But it’ll probably be better.
Just chiming in to say that my all time favorite chilli powder is Chimayo (maybe I should restate that as “powdered chili” instead of “chilli powder”. There is a difference). Comes in a variety of heat levels, and is available from many sources on the web. I like it because it has a lot of flavor, not just heat.
Check out Penzeys Spices, about halfway down the spice list for chilis and chili powders. There products are very fresh and top quality. Been using them for many years.
