Chili too Sweet - What to do

[Whiskadoodle]

I add a Pinch of brown sugar in my chili and a squeeze of lime for good luck. I like Chili that is more soupier, unless it's being spooned onto a chili dog, so the amount of tomatoes/ liquids in this recipe is not excessive to me, not sure what a can of chile sauce is though. I hope Specmat doesn't think these comments are overly critical. Just know there are other and perhaps better recipes out there that should be reviewed for comparison.

Better Luck with your next batch of Chili !!

 

[Merlot]

I add a Pinch of brown sugar in my chili and a squeeze of lime for good luck. I like Chili that is more soupier, unless it's being spooned onto a chili dog, so the amount of tomatoes/ liquids in this recipe is not excessive to me, not sure what a can of chile sauce is though. I hope Specmat doesn't think these comments are overly critical. Just know there are other and perhaps better recipes out there that should be reviewed for comparison.

Better Luck with your next batch of Chili !!

Same.... I wasn't even going to post for that reason but for me it was just a matter of personal preference.

 

[Jolokia]

I personally love sweet&spicy chili. But I understand there is certainly a point of too sweet. I would add some fruits to complement the sugar but distract from the pure sweetness. My favorite (and the secret to my Super Bowl Chili) is pineapples. I usually add canned pineapples with the juice to purposefully increase the sweetness, but for you, I would add sliced fresh pineapple, so you don't get the extra sugar from the juices and get a really fresh taste to enhance the recipe.
Also, peaches might work. Or both...

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

I've been watching this topic since the beginning and I didn't have much to offer except that sugar like salt is too bad, so sad when you add too much. You are seldom able to correct your mistake except next time you cook it, or making a second batch and mixing them. That is still my feeling. You can to some degree add sugar to counteract the acid in tomatoes (so I'm told and that is my experience) but I've never seen any way to counteract too much sugar, even by adding acid. Nor salt; once too salty the only recourse is double recipe and no salt to the second batch you mix in.

I'm reminded of Lady Bird Johnson's "Pedernales River Chili" recipe. There's no sugar there. The lesson is that seasoning should be reserved until the final stages, until you can taste the cooked or almost cooked ingredients. Perhaps you've added 1/4 or 1/2 of the recipe amounts of salt, sugar or other spices. That's the time when you "season to taste."

I really like Jolokia's suggestions to add sweet fruit to achieve sweetness for those who want sweeter chili. I think it would be really productive to add mangoes. Particularly if you have added onions, and I have no reason why I suggest the mango/onion combination except perhaps intuition plus my liking chutney. Chutney is also a combination of spiciness and sweetness. Perhaps that's my inspiration.


p.s. I too would not add chili sauce or ketchup to chili. Get the tomato taste from whole tomatoes, canned if you want. And also, noting, masa harina is the perfect thickener for chili. I don't know why but it is.

 

[CWS4322]

I add maple syrup or molasses (not a lot, just a splish). Maple syrup because we tap our own trees and have a lot of it. I like to make chili mole as well, but for that, I use bitter or dark chocolate.

 

[Merlot]

I personally love sweet&spicy chili. But I understand there is certainly a point of too sweet. I would add some fruits to complement the sugar but distract from the pure sweetness. My favorite (and the secret to my Super Bowl Chili) is pineapples. I usually add canned pineapples with the juice to purposefully increase the sweetness, but for you, I would add sliced fresh pineapple, so you don't get the extra sugar from the juices and get a really fresh taste to enhance the recipe.
Also, peaches might work. Or both...

I love pineapples with porkchops, it's the first recipe I ever tried that had fruit with meat and it's now a favorite!

 

[derailedbus]

I'm certainly not as seasoned as most of the members here, but I've been perfecting a mean chili recipe (which is always changing). A few times I've added a little brown sugar, but even then it made it a touch too sweet. In mine, the tomatoes and a can of corn add more than enough sweetness. With about 3-4 lbs of beef or beef/venison mix, I've never used less than 4 tablespoons of chili powder. Everyone makes it different, but with mine, I like the meat to bean ratio to be about even, and I do everything I can to make it as thick as possible. I'll be trying a new chili experiment in the next day or so, with Pensey's Spices Chili 3000 powder, a new concoction that has the basics of a few types of chilis, jalapenos, and some citrus notes to supposedly "brighten" up the flavors.