“Over the Top” Smoked Chili

We here at tEGGsty LOVE trying new and interesting recipes on the Big Green Egg especially when it involves smoking a giant meatball over a pot of chili which is where we find ourselves today.

Recently there has been a lot of chatter surrounding a particular method of making chili amongst a Facebook group of dedicated Big Green Eggers.  The recipe provides plenty of wiggle room on ingredients and dials in on the unique method of preparation. The main character of this chili story is to mix the meat and spices into a giant meatball or loaf and smoke over a dutch oven containing the remaining ingredients. Once the meatball has reached a certain internal temperature it is broken up and returned to the chili.   Brilliant!

It’s like dinner and a show!  Nothing adds flavor to the dish quite like a story and if a recipe is calling for one to “smoke a giant meatball” how could it ever be bad?   It’s as much a feast for your eyes as it is for your mouth.  If preparing this dish for guests at a party one may have to schedule waves of ‘chili showings’ or ‘lid openings’ and spread them out so as not to allow the temperature to get too high. That is very much anecdotal – the point being that cooking this chili can be just as much fun for everyone as eating the chili.  It is a true experience and that is what we love about it.

Youtuber Damon Brown did a full video of this method staying much closer to the original recipe and it looks amazing. We swung the bat taking a few more liberties as we adapted our original basic Smoked Chili recipe and married it with the preparation goodness found in this new method to create the adaptation below.  We love peppers and onions in our chili and typically try to sauté in the dutch oven prior to adding the additional ingredients.  Due to the lower cooking temperature of this recipe we opted to sauté the onions and peppers on the stovetop first before adding to the dutch oven.

Enough of the blah blah blah… here’s what we did:

Recipe

• 2 onions chopped
• 5 bell peppers chopped
• 2 cloves garlic chopped
• 2 tablespoons. olive oil
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
• 2 pounds ground beef (Not too lean. 80/20 or 75/25)
• 1 cans (28oz) whole peeled tomatoes
• 1 cans (28oz) diced tomatoes
• 1 can red kidney beans

Prepare the Egg

• Set the Egg for indirect cooking with a platesetter.
• Set an uncovered dutch oven on the platesetter. Be sure to use spacers if your dutch oven doesn’t have legs. You can use rolled up aluminum foil or Nuts to lift the dutch oven off the platesetter.  If the DO sits flat on the platesetter the chili will burn to the bottom.
• Bring the temperature up to 300 degrees.
• Add a few hickory chunks for smoke.

Kitchen Work

• Add the olive oil to a large pan over medium high heat.
• Add the garlic and allow to cook stirring occasionally for 1 minute or until aromatic.
• Add the onions and allow to cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions begin to soften – about 5 minutes.
• Add the peppers and continue to sauté until the onions begins to caramelize and brown and the peppers are soft – about 8-10 minutes.

Meatball Time

Let’s pause for a moment and appreciate that we have a section listed as ‘Meatball time’ in the recipe. Okay – let’s continue…

• Take the ground beef and work in the spices with your hands – being careful not to overwork.
• Shape the meat into a ball or loaf.

Back to the Grill

• To the dutch oven add the sautéd garlic, onions and peppers.
• Add the tomatoes and beans

• Place a cooking grid directly on top of the dutch oven
• Place the giant meatball on the cooking grid directly over the center of the dutch oven

• Allow to cook until the meatball reaches an internal temperature of 150. (~ 3 hours)
• Remove the meatball and break apart with a spatula into smaller bite-sized chunks. (Notice the smoke ring!)
• Return the meatball pieces back to the chili and mix well.
• Continue to cook for 2 hours or more stirring occasionally to allow the flavors to blend.

Serve hot.

Serving Suggestions

Be sure to serve with your favorite chili accoutrements.

• Shredded cheese
• Sour cream
• Avocado Slices
• Tortilla Chips
• Pasta/rice – Hello Cincinnati!

Don’t have a Dutch Oven?