I finally got around to cooking up batch 10 of my Cincinnati Chili recipe. I threw in a couple new ingredients and it turned out pretty good. It’s still not quite there though. Read on to see the recipe, my notes, and provide your feedback.

Cincinnati Chili Recipe – Batch 10

Ingredients

2 lbs ground beef (85-90% lean)
6 cups cold water

4-6 oz bacon

2 cans tomato paste – (12 oz total)

1 oz bitter chocolate
2 whole cloves
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp ginger
1 tbsp vanilla

1.5 tsp ground cumin
2.5 tbsp chili powder (dark)
4 tsp salt
2.5 tbsp ground black pepper
3 tbsp white vinegar
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tbsp granulated garlic
4 bay leaves
1 tsp onion powder
3 tsp turmeric
2 tsp ground coriander
3 tbsp yellow mustard
1 tsp lemon juice

Cooking Instructions

Dice bacon and cook on medium heat until lightly browned. Turn off burner.

Remove the bacon and let dry on paper towel. Leave the bacon grease behind and let cool partially.

Add ground beef and then turn heat back up to medium high. Stir and chop up ground beef until there are no large chunks left.

When ground beef just starts to get a little color, add the water and stir.

Put on high heat and mix in well — will turn to a thick ugly red liquid.

Do this before adding other ingredients. May need to add water if it’s too thick.

Add other ingredients — mix in and bring to a boil.

Boil for 15 minutes stirring regularly.

Crunch up the cooked bacon into very tiny pieces then add back to chili.

Simmer lightly for 1 hour with lid on or barely ajar. When simmering the fat will float to the top.

Once it has partially cooled, skim the fat from the top.

Remove cloves and bay leaves. Let cool and refrigerate.

When it’s in the refrigerator for a few hours you will likely be able to skim off more of the fat from the top.

Version 10 notes

It’s getting closer. The bacon was an ingredient I noticed in the aftertaste. It might actually be sausage though. Or it may not even be in there. It doesn’t stand out in this batch that much.

Good heat level — maybe a little more (more black pepper?).

While this batch is good — I still think there’s something missing. Time to read up on Greek cooking to get more ingredient ideas.

My notes for next time:

More lemon juice
Trim a little from the sweet spices
More vinegar

I’m going to try to do a side by side comparison to the canned stuff I brought back a month ago. To get some ideas of what to change.

Let me know if you have any thoughts.

Cheers!

2003/4/18 — had some left-over of this that I had in the freezer last night. It’s just not right. If you’re going to try a recipe, I’d suggest starting with number 9 .