How to Make Chili Con Carne (Chili with Meat) (2024)

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How to Make Chili Con Carne (Chili with Meat) - Easily! With Step-by-step Directions, Photos, Ingredients, Recipe and Costs

Yield: 7 to 9 pint jars

Clickhere for a PDF print version

Making and canning your own Chili Con Carne is easy and safe with thisrecipe. It closely follows the USDA's tested recipe for safety, and Iexplain what you can modify safely!

Ingredients

Yield: 9 pints

• 3cups dried pinto or red kidney beans
• 5-1/2cups water
• 5teaspoons salt (separated)
• 3 lbsground beef, chicken or turkey
• 1-1/2cups chopped onion
• 1 cupchopped peppers of your choice (optional)
• 1teaspoon black pepper
• 3 to6 tablespoons chili powder
• 2tablespoons cumin (seed or powder)
• 2teaspoons oregano
• 2quarts crushed or whole tomatoes
• 2tablespoons lemon or lime juice

Modifications You can substitute the spices.For example, You could add 1 tablespoon of Tabasco sauce orother hot sauce, add a couple more tablespoons of chili powder(or use less). You can reduce or omit the onions orpeppers, but don't add more of them.

Equipment

• 1 Pressure Canner (a large pressure pot with a lifting rack to sanitize the jars afterfilling (about $75 to $200 at mall kitchen stores and "big box" stores, but it is cheaperonline; see this page formore information). For low acid foods (most vegetables, you can't use anopen water bath canner, it has to be a Pressure Canner to get the hightemperatures to kill the bacteria. If you plan on canning every year,they're worth the investment.
• Jar grabber (to pick up the hot jars)
• Jar funnel ($4 at mall kitchen stores and local "big box" stores, but it's usually cheaper online from our affiliates)
• At least 1 large pot
• Colander or sieve
• Large spoons and ladles,
• Canning jars (often called Ball jars, Mason jars or Kerr jars) (Publix, Kroger, other grocery stores and some "big box" stores carry them - now about $12 per dozen quart jars (up 50% in 2 years!) including the lids and rings)

Canning Chili Directions - Step by Step

Step 1 - Prepare the jars and pressure canner

Wash the jars and lids

This is a good time to get the jars ready! The dishwasher is fine for the jars; especially if it has a "sanitize" cycle. Otherwise put the jars in boiling water for 10 minutes. I just put the lids in a small pot of almost boiling water for 5 minutes, and use the magnetic "lid lifterwand" (available from target, other big box stores, and often grocery stores; and available online - see this page) to pull them out.

Get the pressure canner heating up

Rinse out your pressure canner, put the rack plate in the bottom, andfill it to a depth of 4 inches with hot tap water. (of course, followthe instruction that came with the canner, if they are different). Putit on the stove over low heat, with the lid OFF of it, just to get itheating up for later on.

Step 2 - Wash and soak the beans

Wash beans thoroughly and place them in a 2 qt saucepan. Add cold waterto a level of 2 to 3 inches above the beans and soak 12 to 18 hours. Drainand discard water.

OR use drained, rinsed canned beans.

Step3 -Chopthe onions, peppers and tomatoes

I dice the onions and peppers into small pieces, about 1/4inch (1/2 cm), and the tomatoes I leave in larger pieces, around1 inch (2.5 cm).

Step4 - Boil the beans

Combine the beans with 5-1/2 cups of fresh water, and 2 teaspoons salt. Bringto a boil.

Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

Step5 -Drain the beans

Drain and discard the water.

Step6 -Brown the onions and peppers

Brown the chopped onions and peppers in a pan with 1tablespoon of vegetable oil, if needed, to avoid burning!

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Step 7 - Add the meat to the pot

Now,brown the meat (ground beef, ground chicken or ground turkey),along with the chopped onions, and peppers, (the onions and/orpeppers are optional), in a skillet.

Step8 -Drainthe fat and add the spices

Drain off the fat (I put it in a colander or sieve and let it drain in apan in the sink). Put the pot back on the stove and add the spices.

Step9 -Add the chopped tomatoes, beans and lemon or lime juice and heat for 5minutes

Put the drained, cooked beans and the drained browned meat ina large pot. Add the, lemon or lime juice and the drained, cooked beans. Simmerfor 5minutes, so everything is heated thoroughly. Caution: Do not add starch orother thickeners.

Step10 -Fill the jars

Fill jars, leaving 1-inch headspace. Adjust lids and tighten the bands,gently, by hand.

Step 11 - Put the lids and rings on

Put the lids on each jar and seal them by putting a ring on andscrewing it down snugly (but not with all your might, just "snug").

Step12 - Put the jars in the canner and the lid on the canner (butstill vented)

Using the jar tongs, put the jars on the rack in the canner. Bynow the water level has probably boiled down to 3 inches. If it islower than that, add more hot tap water to the canner. When all the jarsthat the canner will hold are in, put on the lid and twist it intoplace, but leave the weight off (or valve open, if you have that type ofpressure canner).

Step13 - Let the canner vent steam for 10 minutes

Put the heat on high and let the steam escape throughthe vent for 10 minutes to purge the airspace inside the canner.

Step 14 - Put the weight on and let the pressure build

After 10 minutes of venting, put the weight on and close any openingsto allow the pressure to build to 11 pounds.

Step 15 - Process for minutes

Once the gauge hits 10 or 11 pounds (depending on the type of canner ,see the tables below), start your timer going - for 75 minutes.Adjust the heat, as needed, to maintain 10 or 11 pounds of pressure.

Note: the chart at right will help you determine the right processingtime and pressure, if you have a different type of canner, or are above sealevel.

It is important to learn how to operate your pressure canner by readingthe owner's manual that came with your particular canner. If you cannotfind your owner's manual, you can obtain find one online: Here is where tofind some common manufacturer's manuals:

• Presto cannermanuals

or by contacting the company that made your canner. Give the model numberto the manufacturer, and they will send you the right manual. Click here for more information about pressure canners and a variety of models you can order.

process according to the recommendations in the table appropriate to yourtype of pressure canner below:

Step 16 - Turn off the heat and let it cool down

When the processing time from the chart above is up, turn off the heat, and allow the pressure canner to cool and the pressure to drop to zero before opening the canner. Let the jars cool without being jostled. After the pressure drops to zero (usually, you can tell but the "click" sound of the safety release vents opening, as well as but the gauge. Let the pressure in the canner drop to zero by itself. This may take 45 minutes in a 16-quart canner filled with jars and almost an hour in a 22-quart canner. If the vent is opened before the pressure drops to zero OR if the cooling is rushed by running cold water over the canner, liquid will be lost from the jars. Too rapid cooling causes loss of liquid in the jars!

Step 17 - Remove the jars

Lift the jars out of the water and let them cool on a wooden cuttingboard or a towel, without touching orbumping them in a draft-free place (usually takes overnight), here theywon't be bumped. You can then remove the rings if you like, but if you leave them on, at least loosen them quite a bit, so they don't rust in place due to trapped moisture. Once the jars are cool, you can check that they are sealed verifying that the lid has been sucked down. Just press in the center, gently, with your finger. If it pops up and down (often making a popping sound), it is not sealed. If you put the jar in the refrigerator right away, you can still use it. Some people replace the lid and reprocess the jar, then that's a bit iffy. If you heat the contents back up, re-jar them (with a new lid) and the full time in the canner, it's usually ok. You're done!

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