Your Slow Cooker Provides The Easy Way To Consistently Make Mouthwatering Chili

Whether you're a chili-cooking novice or expert, the biggest mistake you want to avoid is burning the chili while cooking. Although some pots can retain a consistent temperature throughout your cooking time, others may experience heat fluctuations that could affect the success and taste of your chili. To find out how to avoid that and make consistent, mouthwatering chili every time, Tasting Table spoke with Scott Thomas, owner of The Grillin' Fools and The Cookin' Fools, who reveals that the best tool to use for chili is your slow cooker.

"One of the problems with making a big pot of chili is having the patience for getting that pot to a simmer," Thomas advises. "Seasoned chili chefs will set the burner on the stove to low and allow it to come to a simmer over a long period of time. Could be even an hour." However, if you've never made chili before or are an impatient cook, that can spell disaster for your dish. "People new to cooking large pots of stews (chili is a stew) will turn that burner up to get it to boil faster," Thomas adds, "and this can lead to the chili burning to the bottom of the pot."

The easiest way to avoid this is to use a simple cooking appliance designed for low, slow, consistent heating: the slow cooker. Thomas says that "a good Crockpot" won't risk burning chili at the bottom of the pot. When you slow cook your chili, you're not only giving all of the flavors time to deepen and meld, but you're also ensuring that all of the ingredients become perfectly tender — and without burning. Crockpots and slow cookers may take about four hours to cook your favorite chili recipe, but the ingredients will have the perfect flavor and texture.

Overcooking is one of the biggest mistakes home chefs make with chili. However, burning your chili doesn't necessarily mean that you need to toss the whole meal in the trash. According to Thomas, there's actually a very easy fix — and it won't ruin your chili. "If some of the chili burns to the bottom of your pot, do not scrape it off the bottom of the pot with a spatula or wooden spoon," he advises. You don't want to mix the burnt pieces in with the rest of the chili.

"Avoid touching it in any way," Thomas recommends, adding that leaving the chili as is makes the whole pot "salvageable." Just serve from the top of the pot and don't scrape any of the chili from the bottom. "Once it is scraped from the bottom it will add a burnt taste to the entire pot," he explains.

Another way to salvage burnt-tasting chili is to mask any burnt flavor. You can add a bit of apple cider vinegar or some lemon or lime juice to neutralize unpleasant taste and aroma. Or consider mixing in a few spoonfuls of peanut butter to get rid of any smoky flavors. Adding smoked paprika can make the chili's smoky flavor seem purposeful, while sour cream or Greek yogurt can add some balance to the ingredients. This way, the burnt flavor is less noticeable.