Chilli in the slow cooker

[Booldawg]

Would you fry the mince off first, before putting it in the slow cooker? I'm just worried about the amount of fat that mince produces, wouldnt be nice in with the chilli. But then again fried off mince may just disintegrate over the 8 hours slow-cooking time.

[katejess44]

Funny you should ask this because I got a slow cooker for Christmas and the first thing I tried in it was Chilli.....I decided to go for the simplest option (and least washing up!) and I simply threw everything in the pot, switched it on and left it for several hours....when I eventually got round to looking at it, it was perfect. There didn't seem to be excessive fat floating on the top and it had a good flavour.....so I don't think there is any real need to fry off the mince first.

[Booldawg]

many thanks, I'll do that tomorrow morning then!

[shaneystar2]

No...I just chuck it all in ..never had a duff chilli from the slow cooker yet .If you fry it off first it will just go hard and lumpy .You need a little fat in the mince for flavour .But I would only use good steak mince though which is not so fatty as cheap stuff.
I only fry off stewing or chuck steak for the slow cooker as this seals in the juices and prevents it going mushy .

[learntojive]

I've never tried chilli in the slow cooker - can someone give me a recipe please

...in fact I've never used it for anything else other than stewing meat in the 16 years I've had it!

[amonty1144]

llb good quality steak mince.
1 red pepper
1 onion
1 packet of passata or tin of chopped tomatoes
beef oxo cube
pinch of mixed herbs
2 cloves of garlic
2 red chillis or dried equivalent

Chop all ingredients and put in the cooker, mix and leave on low for 4 to 6 hours, it doesn't matter if it goes longer.
Before you are ready to eat( about 10 mins) put in your cooked red kidney beans (if you are using them)

They taste fantastic, and not fatty

[indianwells]

Try this, it's a belter!
Half pint of water.
1 can red kidney beans, drained
1 can tomatoes
1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
1 lb lean ground beef, browned and drained
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 rib celery, coarsely chopped
1 small can (3 to 4 ounces) mushroom pieces, drained
1 green pepper, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 can baked beans.1-2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
salt to taste
PREPARATION:
Combine ingredients in slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW for 9 to 12 hours or 4 1/2 to 6 hours on high.

[Booldawg]

Well its been on since 7am and I'm at work now so wont get turned off until 3.30pm! I only had 1 tin of chopped tomatoes and was worried about it being too dry so I chopped up 4 fresh tomatoes and added the salt water from the tin of kidney beans with a tin of sweetcorn. Hope theres enough moisture for it not to dry up.

[katejess44]

I really hope that you enjoy it tonight Booldawg.....as for extra liquid, you'll probably find that it will be absolutely fine.

It's funny - I'm reading through the recipes that the others have posted - we all have different versions don't we!

Here's my version in case anyone is interested in the slightest!

1 big onion, chopped
Garlic (optional)
Ground Coriander
Ground Cumin
Whole Seed Cumin
A couple of OXO cubes
Dried Chilli and/or some chopped fresh chillies
One green, one red and one yellow pepper - chopped reasonably finely.
One tin of chopped tomatoes
A few large dollops of tomato puree
A sprinkle of sugar and a bit of salt
I use a 500g bag of frozen lean mince (I'm not totally mad here, honestly, but the mince tends to cook really nicely and doesn't end up lumpy at all).
Then a tin of kidney beans with the liquid drained off (added toward the end of cooking)

If I'm making a salsa or something and use lemon or lime, toward the end of cooking, I might put the lemon pulp in with the chilli and I often put some fresh coriander in at the last minute.

I've also been known to add coffee to see whether that adds anything or not and as far as I'm concerned, it makes not a blind bit of difference and is one of those pretentious additions that people are so fond of these days (sorry to those of you who swear by it!).

Anyway - that's what I chucked into the cook pot the other day and it turned out rather nicely (even if I do say so myself!).

[learntojive]

I'll give them a go too, thanks everyone.