Chili Meat?

[Mylegsbig]

Hey guys last time i made my chili recipe i used ground beef. The flavor of the chili was delicious but i want to go on and graduate to the better beef chilis. Only thing is i've never used real steak meat to simmer in a sauce like that. Couple of questions.

Can i use a good Ribeye? Alot of the recipes say cut meat into 1/2 inch cubes, or 1/4 inch cubes, can't recall. What is the best way to cut the meat like this? Does anyone have any illustrations on how to do it?

Also, when this kind of beef simmers and slow cooks, does it get more tender the longer i cook it?

Because i like to simmer my meat sauces / chilis for around 2 hours or more.

Also any other tips on adding this kind of real steak into the chili would be great.

Thansk in advance.

 

[Alix]

Don't waste a ribeye that way. A blade steak will soften up nicely and have a lovely flavour in the sauce. I am assuming you will be using some tomato sauce in there which will tenderize the meat.

 

[auntdot]

You can use a ribeye, but why?

The best part of the ribeye is that it is very tender, and it has a good flavor.

And it is yelling to be cooked with dry heat.

It makes a yummy steak.

But, IMHO, it has no more flavor than the chuck or round.

And those cuts are a lot cheaper.

And you are going to cook the meat to make chili, which means it will be cooked in fluid, and will become tender after cooking.

You do not need the high end cuts.

I agree, prefer chunks of beef in making my own chili, and not the ground stuff. If it says 1/4 or 1/2 inch bits just cut it in pieces about that size.

Enjoy.

 

[AllenOK]

Save that steak for the grill. Use some beef stew meat, or get a round steak and cut it yourself into stew meat.

If you really want to try something different, find a BBQ restaurant that will sell you a pound or two of chopped brisket. If you can't get chopped, go with sliced brisket, and cut it up yourself.

Proceed with your chili recipe, but since the brisket is already cooked, don't worry about browning the meat, just saute the veggies, add tomato sauce, beer, beans, seasonings, or whatnot. Then, add the beef, stir, and simmer for awhile.

 

[Dina]

I use stew meat on mine. A good steak is usually grilled or broiled in our house with a good wine marinade. I also use a whole bottle of beer to tenderize the stew meat with lots of chili powder, spices, poblano peppers, jalapeños, veggies and fresh cooked pinto beans. It's a long process but so worth it!

 

[Constance]

We like to use cubed venison, good ground chuck, and hot style pork sausage.
I brown off all the meat, drain, set aside, sweat of vegies in same pan, then proceed from there.

 

[Andy M.]

Chili, like stews and pot roasts a made to make use of otherwise tough pieces of meat. Good cuts like ribeye aren't meant for stews and chilis.

I use a chuck roast that I cut into 1/2 inch cubes. It's made for long cooking recipes.

 

[Mylegsbig]

So if i simmer the chili for 2 hours the meat will be more tender than if i simmer it for 30 minutes?

 

[luvs]

don't waste your $$$$, i'd get some low-cost chuck or round & make that into chili. & yep, beef gets more tender as it simmers.

 

[BigDog]

Hmmmmmmmm . . . . .light just clicked in my head (first time for everything).

Stew meat has been compared/labelled as similar if not identical to a round steak. Often times it is cheaper to buy the uncut steak then buy the precut stew beef! Duh! And I keep going to buy stew beef! Argh! What was I thinking?!?!?

I'm all for the chunks of beef versus ground beef. Mrs Big Dog makes a chili con carne with ground beef. It's good, but not very exciting. I'm one for having chunks of beef and veggies (onions, peppers, maybe garlic) with beans, and maybe a few types of beans. One of these days I am going to start trying to make my own chili, but I haven't had the time thus far.

 

[Andy M.]

So if i simmer the chili for 2 hours the meat will be more tender than if i simmer it for 30 minutes?

Assuming you use the cuts of beef recommended above, yes. A 2 hour simmer will give you tender pieces of meat and a flavorful sauce. Thirty minutes will give you meat that's cooked but tough and a sauce that's watery and not as richly flavored.

 

[Constance]

I never buy stew meat. I get a chuck or arm roast and cut my own. I haven't made a pot of chili all winter...next chilly spell, I think I'll do that.

 

[Mylegsbig]

i'ma use sirloin. It's not that expensive. I will let you know how it turns out.

Thanks again as always very helpful.

 

[AllenOK]

Hmmmmmmmm . . . . .light just clicked in my head (first time for everything).

Stew meat has been compared/labelled as similar if not identical to a round steak. Often times it is cheaper to buy the uncut steak then buy the precut stew beef! Duh! And I keep going to buy stew beef! Argh! What was I thinking?!?!?

Now you're thinking!

Basically, the more a piece of of meat is process and broken down from primal cuts, sub-primal cuts, and then to consumer cuts, the more the price/lb goes up. This is why round steaks, per pound, are cheaper than than stew meat. Along the same lines, it's cheaper to buy a whole tenderloin, and peel/cut it into filets yourself, as well as buying a whole Prime Rib Roast, and cutting your own ribeye steaks from it.

The only drawbacks are, you have to spend more, as these bigger cuts of meat weigh more, but if you properly package the cuts and freeze them, you'll do better in the long run. Also, you have actually work a bit to process the meats yourself.

 

[BigDog]

I'm all for bigger cuts of meat, and have a freezer to put 'em in.

Usually, a steak for me is no less then a pound. T'is a rare occassion that I indulge in steak, so in the wise words of somebody, "if you're gonna go, go all out!"

Typically it is a 1.25 pound ribeye, and it is cooked on the GF Grill. Sometimes larger, but I always buy the largest/heaviest rib eye on display. Hasn't ever exceeded a pound and a half, though.

Back to topic, I'm gonna start doing that, not just buying the steak to cut to chunks, but utilizing my Sam's Club membership to buy the bulk meat and break it down myself!

 

[BlueCat]

I've competed in my share of chili cookoffs, and I use good chuck. Sometimes I have it ground, sometimes I cube it. Round isn't a good meat for long cooking times. There's no need to use an expensive cut of steak for chili. You just need to use a meat that will stay flavorful when it's simmered for a long time. Also, stew meat in these parts is chuck. If I can find that cheap enough, I buy that and then cut the chunks into small dice.

BC

 

[Gretchen]

Use cuts like chuck or round for the chili and cut them in small dice. Do not boil, but simmer for a long time. All that said, I just don't care for chili made with diced meat--much prefer ground. Coarse ground pork is also very good in chili as is venison.

 

[AllenOK]

There was an eppy on AB's Good Eat's about chili. I've adopted a few of the things he mentioned in that (using some beer, tortilla chips as a thickener). He also mentioned using several different kinds of meats, and I think maybe different cuts as well. I know it had cubes of beef, and lamb of some kind. I can't remember if he used any ground meats, or pork of any kind.

 

[BlueCat]

Use cuts like chuck or round for the chili and cut them in small dice. Do not boil, but simmer for a long time. All that said, I just don't care for chili made with diced meat--much prefer ground. Coarse ground pork is also very good in chili as is venison.

I prefer chili made with ground meat too, but the championship cookoffs almost exclusively use diced. And no beans. The friendly competitions use ground more than any other kind.

BC

 

[buckytom]

heya legs?

i made chilli last week using veal shoulder chops, and it came out great!
the veal was on sale, about $3.50 per pound, so i bought a whole bunch of packages of regular veal shoulder and round bone veal shoulder chops.

most of them were destined for veal and peppers in tomato sauce, but i used 2 of them, about 1 1/4 pounds each, to make chilli. i pulled the sections of meat apart by their natural seperations in the fat, removed and discarded any silverskin or big chunks of fat, then proceeded to cut it up into 1/4 to 1/2 inch cubes, including the marrow.

they were browned, and used as the base of the chilli, adding (browned)onions, garlic, peppers, canned beans, freshly ground cumin and black pepper, worcestershire sauce, beer, and about 1/3rd of a bottle of goya salsita smokey ancho chilli sauce.

it was the best chilli that i've ever made.