I’ve tried ground turkey in chili before, and as with most dishes where it’s not the featured item, it tends to almost completely disappear, flavor and texture-wise. I hate to say it, but ground beef or maybe finely-cut cube steak stands out far more to me and adds a hearty level of flavor that turkey just can’t.

That said, nutritionally I’m not a fan of red meat at all, so mostly I just make veggie chili, with kidney beans usually being the featured player. Still quite delicious when I don’t boof it up, somehow.

I didn’t say “disintegrate.” It’s that the ground turkey just barely registers as an ingredient of the dish.

But, hmm… browning.
I’m not sure I’ve ever tried that, and yet I seem to remember OP talking about that as something that can really boost meat’s flavor, I think?

Every canned or frozen chili around here is absolutely swimming in salt, and only one or two aren’t mediocre or downright weird-tasting (looking at you, Hormel). Plus, they all need to be zipped up with some sauteed onions, garlic, peppers, cheddar, more spices, maybe some cilantro and cumin seeds, etc, to really make the dish pop.

Give me fresh or homemade chili every time, hombre.

To be clear, this is homemade chilli. They “canned” it themselves in Mason Jars. It makes long term storage much easier without a chest freezer.

I’ve had three freezers fail in the last 8 years. Not only is kidding, shelf-stable at room temperature so it doesn’t care about those kinds of things, but it stops it from taking up space in the freezer.

I didn’t say “disintegrate.” It’s that the ground turkey just barely registers as an ingredient of the dish.

But, hmm… browning.
I’m not sure I’ve ever tried that, and yet I seem to remember OP talking about that as something that can really boost meat’s flavor, I think?

Browning meat is an essential step to just about any dish. The maillard reaction does an amazing amount of work.

I thought the maillard reaction was based on temperature and time, not on specific cooking methods.

Applying the combination of temperature and time is method. High temperature over a short period of time results in the creation of “umami” compounds.

Maillard reaction - Wikipedia

(en.wikipedia.org)

Okay, so to be clear-- browning via searing is just one of many, many ways to achieve the result. For example, simply by sprinkling ground turkey in to the chili dish, then cooking around 300°F for an adequate time will produce the maillard reaction in the turkey (plus whatever other ingredients), right?

No, because the meat won’t actually reach that temperature. Anything simmering on a stove will reach a maximum temperature of 212°F.

You could spread the meat on a sheet pan and broil it, form it (perhaps with a binder) around skewers and char it on a grill, or set it on a fireproof surface and take a blowtorch to it, though. But browning in a pan, turning, and chunking can yield a more even browning with an end result of chunks of meat at the desired granularity - plus you can do the onions at the same time.

Ohhhhh…
Well, I’ll be danged. Thanks for the tips and information!

Are you a chef, perchance?

People keep asking me that. Nope, just an engineer who really likes food. By learning first principles, I can understand what causes certain results to come from various ingredients and the methods that are applied there to.

If you want to start going down the rabbit hole, Alton Brown had made a lot of this very accessible, especially in his show Good Eats; if you prefer textbooks, Harold McGee’s On Food and Cooking is a definitive work.

Well, cooking being both a science and a practical matter, it makes much sense to me that being a curious engineer can get you very far as a cook. And I don’t think it’s a major leap in the slightest to observe that even people who frequently cook can have a very limited understanding of the science of cooking… including the likes of me.

Hehe, I do happen to like Alton Brown, but usually just enjoy his occasional stuff I bump in to on YT. Right, then-- I’ve pulled up a bunch of his videos on cooking science and stashed them at the top of my “TV” folder. Bingo.

Hope to run in to you another time, perhaps here or otherwise. I really appreciate how you stayed with the discussion until I properly realised my error. Thank you for that!

It was the last of that sour cream and I wasn’t going to open a new one.

I tried a lot of different chili canning recipes before settling on this one. When reheating I tend to add a teaspoon of chili powder or taco seasoning to pop the flavor.

Chili Mark XII canning batch.
Servings: 12 quarts.
3 tbsp olive oil.
3 onions, chopped.
18 cloves garlic, minced.
12 oz. tomato paste.
6 lb. ground beef.
1 cup chili powder (Alton Brown recipe).
3 tbsp. ground cumin.
2 tbsp. ground oregano.
1 tbsp cayenne pepper (optional).
1 tbsp Kosher salt.
Freshly ground black pepper.
3 (40-oz) can kidney beans, drained.
3 (28-oz) can crushed tomatoes with basil.
3 (28-oz) can diced tomatoes.
Shredded cheddar, for garnish.
sour cream, for garnish.

• In a large pot over medium heat, heat olive oil.
• Add onion and cook until soft, about 5 minutes.
• Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute more
• Add ground beef and cook until no longer pink.
• Drain fat and return to heat.
• Mix in chili powder, cumin, oregano, cayenne, salt and pepper
• then add tomato paste, stirring to combine.
• Stir in kidney beans, tomatoes and crushed tomatoes.
• It’s going to be thick. You are not trying to cook it. You’re just getting it mixed so it can cook in the pressure canner.
• Fill the prepped quart jars leaving jars leaving 1-In headspace and no air bubbles.
• process quarts for 90 minutes.