Chili questions for those with more experience than I.....

[Jester]

With two chili cookoffs looming on the horizon next weekend, and a full schedule at two jobs and some volunteer work, plus trying to squeeze in talking to a fellow about yet another job (don't ask!), I am going to be hard-pressed to find time to actually make this damn chili. In the past, I have made it, let it simmer for a little while, then let it sit in the fridge for a day or less. This time, I want to make it, let it simmer for several hours, and then let it sit in the fridge for several days getting even happier.

That is the plan.

But I have a couple questions for those of you who have cooked chili more than the measly three times I have.

1. I am eliminating my beloved beans from this chili. I don't know if this will make it better, but I'm giving it a shot, as I am still tweaking the recipe. My question is, will removing the beans (black and pink) make the chili somewhat spicier, since about two pounds of non-spicy stuff will be gone?

2. Can I leave the pot on the stove simmering at a low heat while I leave the house? It is an electric stove, and my roommate will be home (albeit asleep), so I am having trouble seeing the major problem here. Alternatively, I can let it simmer while I am gone but he is here and awake....if he doesn't work this Wednesday night and doesn't decide to go out the 3.5 hours I'll be gone that night. But does it really make a difference if it is just on low heat?

[Bella_Vixen]

Can't tell you about the beans, but leaving it on the lowest possible heat should be fine. Or maybe get/borrow a slow cooker?

When I make my chili, I tend to let it simmer for at least 6 hours, and even if I'm home and awake, I prefer it in the slowcooker...but I tend to be paranoid.

[trailerparkmedic]

Yes, removing the beans should make it spicier.

I wouldn't leave the house with the stove on but I'm pretty sure that's just me being paranoid. I leave a crock pot on all day at least once a week, and that's not really any different than an electric stove, right?

[Jester]

Or maybe get/borrow a slow cooker?

I have a slow cooker. A lovely crock pot. Which will hold probably half a batch of my chili. And I'm making a double batch, since I have two cookoffs in two days. Now, I do math pretty well, and a double batch simply won't fit in something that is filled by a half batch.

Yes, removing the beans should make it spicier

YES! (*fist pump*) I was worried I wasn't tweaking the recipe enough, but the damn thing is so close to where I want it to be already....

[MaggieTheCat]

I also wouldn't leave anything on the stove while I wasn't home and someone wasn't around to keep an eye on it. A stove has an open heating element, as opposed to a slow cooker, which has its heating element enclosed. If you don't have a slow cooker, I'd say leaving the chili in a very low (200-250 degrees, maybe) oven would be safer than leaving it on the stove, but I still don't really recommend that.

[Jester]

I wonder if maybe I can have a friend come by and pot sit while I am out and about taking care of my other commitment. The problem with that is that my tv is in my bedroom, not in the living room, and right now my bedroom is not a place anyone really wants to be. Yes, I need to clean it, and I will, but that is probably not going to happen before I start cooking. And I don't know if any of my friends (especially the one I am thinking of) wants to sit in my living room reading for four hours or so. Crap.

Edited to Add: I thought of another possibility, but don't quite know if this will work. What if I brought the oven up to heat (200-250 or so), put the pot in there covered, and turned the oven off while I was gone. Would the covered pot in the still heated (but off) oven do the trick of simmering the chili?

[Eric the Grey]

If you can aford to purchase a larger one, and/or borrow one, it would be better than leaving it on the stove while untended.

I picked up one of these with my tax return. I used my little crock pot (about half the capacity of this one) all the time, and now I can not only make larget batches for game night, but carry it to game without worrying about it spilling.



Eric the Grey

[TheSHAD0W]

Try blending up the chili peppers and leaving them in the fridge for a couple of weeks. The taste changes. (And it gets MUCH hotter.)

[Food Lady]

I'd feel a lot better about leaving the oven on low than the stove, just because of the heating element not being out in the open. If it's an electric stove. I'd never leave a gas stove unattended. If you can't borrow a crockpot, do that.

[Becks]

Don't ask me, Bella always makes it. (I'm still trying to talk her into letting me put a jar of medium or hot salsa in the chili to see how that works out...)

I need to clean it

Again or still?

[ArcticChicken]

Unless your stove is right next to a wooden counter top, or you have pets, it shouldn't really be a problem.

[Jester]

Try blending up the chili peppers and leaving them in the fridge for a couple of weeks. The taste changes. (And it gets MUCH hotter.)

Not workable this time around, since the cookoffs are this coming weekend, and I plan on cooking the chili Wednesday or Thursday night. Probably Wednesday.

Again or still?

Yes.

Unless your stove is right next to a wooden counter top, or you have pets, it shouldn't really be a problem.

Typical formica countertop. No pets, unless roommates count. Not that I ever let the roommates off their leashes, mind you.

[Eric the Grey]

Try blending up the chili peppers and leaving them in the fridge for a couple of weeks. The taste changes. (And it gets MUCH hotter.)

Take a tip from my friend (same one) and don't use a coffee grinder for this. Unless you never plan to grind coffee in it again..



Eric the Grey

[Jester]

I don't drink coffee, so I don't have a coffee grinder. If I did have one, it would be purely for grinding spices.