Back before ground beef doubled in price I would make a huge batch of chili for canning. I did the math in January of last year and it worked out to a 28% savings over buying it but the downside was that it cost $50 to make the batch.

Of course the upsides were knowing every ingredient and here I am two weeks short of a year later eating chili that now costs way more to make because of beef cost increases.

This time I added a can of black beans during the reheat because I didn’t feel like making corn bread.

Cost per person: $3.06

Wtf is a quart? Isn’t there a larger unit for 12 of them?

It’s not recommended to can in anything larger than a quart for food safety reasons. A quart is .94 liters

It’s cheaper than pork. But I’ve never been a fan of ground poultry other than in Asian foods.

It’s cheaper than pork. But I’ve never been a fan of ground poultry other than in Asian foods.

I wish ground turkey was cheaper than pork here. Pork is the cheapest meat I can get where I am. Here are the current cheapest prices I can get shit per pound.

Ground Turkey - $3.78

Ground Chuck - $5.22

Chicken Breast - $3.77

Chicken Thighs - $3.83

Chicken Drumsticks - $.98 (last package I bought had an actual meat yeild that made them $2.70 w/o bones. etc.

Whole pork loin - $2.48

That was the total amount canned. They didn’t can 3 gallons of chili in one container.

A quart is a bit larger than a liter. Four of them make a US gallon.

Back before ground beef doubled in price I would make a huge batch of chili for canning. I did the math in January of last year and it worked out to a 28% savings over buying it but the downside was that it cost $50 to make the batch.

Of course the upsides were knowing every ingredient and here I am two weeks short of a year later eating chili that now costs way more to make because of beef cost increases.

This time I added a can of black beans during the reheat because I didn’t feel like making corn bread.

Cost per person: $3.06

I’ve found that ground turkey makes a great substitute for ground beef in dishes like chili where the meat isn’t the main flavor (also see meatballs and meatloaf). It’s cheaper, lower in cholesterol, and a little more sustainable to boot.

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.

Not sure what you’re doing to cause the meat to disintegrate, but I’ve never had an issue with the texture. I do try to get a nice deep browning on each side of the flat of ground meat before turning, and cook the onions with.

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?