Chili with ancho chilies?

I’m making a pot of chili today. Five quarts of chili usually has five large cloves of garlic. I bought some ancho chilies. Never cooked with them before. Do you think replacing the garlic cloves with the ancho chilies would produce a chili with good flavor? Replace two garlic cloves with two ancho chilies to avoid a ancho dominant chili?

I would add them all (garlic and anchos). Its chili. :+1:

What kind of anchos are they? Are they canned in the adobo sauce, dried, or are they fresh? I find them to be a little like jalapenos, where they are hot, but have a really nice ‘smoky’ heat, not just straight up capsaicin. The canned ones in adobo sauce (blended in a blender/FP) are a staple in any enchilada sauce i make and in every KC-style BBQ mop I make.

These are the dried anchos. I minced two rehydrated chilies and lightly sauteed with the onions. All the garlic is also in the pot. I tasted the chilies after they rehydrating. Very smoky, but not much heat.

ah, you used good judgment then, those are strong. For our mop sauce we typically reconstitute those (or guajillo) in cider vinegar, then blend with sauteed onions as you did.

You can also use those to make your own chili powder, chili paste (add stock), or chili roux (add stock, starch and a fat). Cut into slivers, toast (in a pan or broiler), then powder in a blender/spice grinder.

Jealous!

Aren’t Ancho and poblano pretty much the same? They’re the ones used for the mexican chili powder right?

I think the Anchos are smoked and dried Poblanos. It can also be like the definition of herring or tilapia. It is no longer a certain species but size or method of processing. I’ve found conflicting information.

Just added the meat to the pot so it doesn’t over cook. Added a tablespoon of sweet paprika an hour ago also. This is going to be a good one. Just a hint of smoke and just enough heat from the combination of peppers.

I will always keep anchos on hand. Might add a nice touch to my smoked ribs.

Yea I dry and powder my peppers for seasoning and dry meat rubs.

What kind of meat did you use @flars?

I use ground beef in chili for economy. Lightly browned before adding to take out some of the fat. Add back in the juices that come out with the fat.

I have a bunch of peppers strung up now. How do you powder them. Or smoke them for that mater.

I’ve used a food dehydrator to dry jalapeno peppers. I sliced the peppers into discs before dehydrating. I crumbled the peppers by hand to keep some size. Just had the idea it may be a better way to add when there will be an extended cooking time. There is still the option to powder the peppers in a food processor if this doesn’t work well

I’ve only had a smoker for a couple of weeks. May be next year before I get a chance to smoke and dry peppers.

I don’t have a smoker. I’ve been thinking it might be a good father’s day gift this year.

I hang and dry them the old school way. Then I’ve crushed them by hand with a rolling pin and have used the food processor once too. Powder might be exaggerating the state but it’s close.

I just made chili last Sunday. I usually make two pots, one with meat and one veggie or with turkey for my wife who doesn’t eat red meat. This time I made it with ground turkey breast and chicken andouille sausages. Turned out pretty darn good actually…I do miss the beef and/or pork flavoring though. Kinda like making gumbo with the chicken andouille sausage…just some small bit of flavor missing…

Get a Big Green Egg! Easily the coolest thing I own.

We have been trying to eat a lot more vegetarian, some things work amazingly well and I really don’t miss the meat. Chili is not one of those things (yet). I generally do ground pork and ground beef (and usually some sort of bacon ,at least bacon fat to sautee the veggies.

My wife said the chili was good, but lacked the normal pepper kick. Was sweeter tasting than peppery. I think the paprika, with two anchos, muted the chili powder and cayenne pepper. Next time I’ll use one whole ancho, butterflied, and skip the paprika.

I have a stone bbq lined with firebrick. I’m thinking of closing it in and putting a chimney on it with a damper. Then I could use it as a smoker and wood fired pizza oven.