A good bowl of chili hits the spot, but a great bowl of chili
Well, that's an art form in itself. You won't believe what just one special ingredient can do to bring it to the next level
Sounds most promising. Whether you're deep in the trenches of prepping your perfect grass-fed beef chili for the local cook-off
making a delicious pumpkin and turkey variation, throwing together a hopped-up 90-minute chili in a pinch
or whipping up the most epic Super Bowl snack table around, an award-worthy bowl of chili just so happens to include one secret ingredient
that you may not have thought of. liquid smoke. Yes, you heard that right. It sometimes goes by other names like smoke flavor
or even wood vinegar. But either way, it's all natural. Liquid smoke is an easy and convenient
way to add that signature smoked for hours flavor to your dish with minimal effort. Since it's a
highly concentrated liquid form of actual smoke, you don't need to use much of it when adding it
to recipes. A small dash will pack a powerful punch. So one bottle will last you for a considerably
long time. Created in 1895 by a Kansas City pharmacist named Ernest H. Wright, liquid smoke
is made by taking the smoke from burning hickory wood, running it through a condenser, and then
capturing the infused droplets that come out of it. Originally, liquid smoke was used more as a
preservative for meat rather than as a flavor enhancer, with farmers using it to help preserve
salt-cured hunks of ham and pork bellies. Over time, they realized that it gave the meat a
wonderful smoky essence without the need to actually smoke it. While you can add it as an ingredient to meals like a pot of chili baked beans or slow pulled pork you can also use it as a unique cocktail ingredient to bring some woody depth to some of your favorite alcoholic concoctions
like smoked old-fashioned or even infused into ice cubes. Sure, liquid smoke is its own standalone ingredient that you can buy at the supermarket
but it's also often used in any smoked products you see already cooked
like hot dogs, smoked cold cuts, or even canned smoked barbecue beans
Since liquid smoke is so concentrated, you don't need to dump a ton of it into your chili
In fact, doing so will probably ruin the dish entirely. Instead, use approximately one quarter to one half a teaspoon of liquid smoke per pound of meat in your recipe
depending on how smoky you want it to be. If you're browning some larger cuts of meat to chop up and add to your dish
you can even dilute the liquid smoke a bit with some water, oil, or vinegar
and brush it on the meat before putting it in the pan or on the grill. Just make sure you're conservative with how much you use
And don't measure it on top of the dish you'll be adding it to, so you avoid mistakenly adding more in than you were hoping for
There's nothing worse than putting together a perfect pot of chili and then dooming it to the garbage disposal by being careless
Want to keep adding more complexity to your chili? Another trick you can do is to play with unique ingredients
like beer, chocolate, peanut butter, or even coffee. Using these can infuse layers of flavor that will have your guests
wondering what your secret ingredient is while asking for seconds. Whether you want to be generous and reveal the truth or not
is up to you