Chili Cook-Offs

[crin63]

Hey All! It's been years since I posted on here. I mostly just stopped by to see if everyone was still here and doing ok. This seemed the most benign way to do it. Looks like the gang is mostly still here. I'm glad to see that.

All is well here in Los Angeles. I'm still at the same church I've been at for 20 years. I'm still married to my wife of 21 years. My kids are pretty much grown. My 20 year old daughter starts Chiropractic college is September. My younger son spends his time hanging out with celebrities and people of influence around the country plus he is developing an app and has an IT business. My older son is still managing a store. I bought and sold 2-1/2 years later a vacation rental cabin in ski resort town.

While I have only entered 2 larger Chili Cook-Offs it is my plan to enter several next year. I won People's Choice at a city wide event last year. I then joined the International Chili Society and competed against approximately 16 world champions (their wins in red chili, green chili and salsa) where I scored 5 points with one judge giving me a 1st place nod and two other judges giving me 3rd place nods. It wasn't enough points to place but it did get me a round of applause from the whos-who of chili. I learned a lot and had a great time with my wife as my sous chef. Now that I know what the judges are looking for I expect to make it to the world championship next year after I win a regional event.

Any of you all compete in Chili Cook-offs?

[BJ_WA]

Nice to meet you. I'm a new and infrequent poster here.

I did my church (new member) chili cook off last winter. I made a traditional all meat chili with a bit of fire (medium) to it. All the winners were the vegetarian (lentil) and strange white chicken & white bean versions. Mine was the only one that was completely devoured. Go figure.

Have a good one. BJ

[Voted4Reagan]

I dont know you Crin63....

But you like Chili and thats good enough for me......

Welcome back

[crin63]

Thanks! Nice to meet you guys.

Real chili is red chili with meat. No beans, No pasta.

My chili is made with tri-tip and pork. It has a bite that sneaks up on you. It starts out almost sweet and then grows into burst of spice that has just enough bite to get your attention but doesn't hurt you.

[AllieBaba]

Now I want chili.

[Rat]

Love chili. More spicy the better.

[jimnyc]

Hey All! It's been years since I posted on here. I mostly just stopped by to see if everyone was still here and doing ok. This seemed the most benign way to do it. Looks like the gang is mostly still here. I'm glad to see that.

All is well here in Los Angeles. I'm still at the same church I've been at for 20 years. I'm still married to my wife of 21 years. My kids are pretty much grown. My 20 year old daughter starts Chiropractic college is September. My younger son spends his time hanging out with celebrities and people of influence around the country plus he is developing an app and has an IT business. My older son is still managing a store. I bought and sold 2-1/2 years later a vacation rental cabin in ski resort town.

While I have only entered 2 larger Chili Cook-Offs it is my plan to enter several next year. I won People's Choice at a city wide event last year. I then joined the International Chili Society and competed against approximately 16 world champions (their wins in red chili, green chili and salsa) where I scored 5 points with one judge giving me a 1st place nod and two other judges giving me 3rd place nods. It wasn't enough points to place but it did get me a round of applause from the whos-who of chili. I learned a lot and had a great time with my wife as my sous chef. Now that I know what the judges are looking for I expect to make it to the world championship next year after I win a regional event.

Any of you all compete in Chili Cook-offs?

Just wanted to say that it's good to see you, been a bit. Hope all's well!!

[crin63]

Just wanted to say that it's good to see you, been a bit. Hope all's well!!

Thanks Jimmy! I've been keeping up with a few of the old timers :cool: on Facebook.

Things are good. How you doing?

[jimnyc]

Thanks Jimmy! I've been keeping up with a few of the old timers :cool: on Facebook.

Things are good. How you doing?

Not bad at all, I guess I can't complain. Glad to hear things are good on your side too! What do we need to do to keep you from disappearing again? Maybe tie a rope? :)

[crin63]

Not bad at all, I guess I can't complain. Glad to hear things are good on your side too! What do we need to do to keep you from disappearing again? Maybe tie a rope? :)

I'll look around a bit but I probably won't engage in the discussions.

[jimnyc]

I'll look around a bit but I probably won't engage in the discussions.

I applaud you for your honesty, but not the answer I was looking for! :) Still damn good to see you. Take care of yourself so that hopefully we can convince you otherwise in the future! :beer:

[Jeff]

Crin Stone Mountain has a big Chili cook off every year, the first year I moved down here I went to it and man they had some of the best chili I have ever tasted and some of the worst :laugh:

But it's a pretty big competition, the year I went they had the Marshall Tucker band and 38 special playing, it is a all day thing ( for most of the cooks it is a all weekend thing ) but look it up, heck maybe you can make it out this way.

[Kathianne]

Nice to meet you. I'm a new and infrequent poster here.

I did my church (new member) chili cook off last winter. I made a traditional all meat chili with a bit of fire (medium) to it. All the winners were the vegetarian (lentil) and strange white chicken & white bean versions. Mine was the only one that was completely devoured. Go figure.

Have a good one. BJ

I don't care for the lentil ones either, though my roommate makes them often enough. I eat them, but just ok. I do like white chili, though I'd say it's more a soup or stew than chili. ;)

[jimnyc]

All this talk about Chili...

While in NJ, I ate at Wendy's a few times. I had burgers and a chicken sandwich. Maybe I should have had some chili, but it was too hot out. Their chili is good. I say that, as I'm not a fan of chili. I hate them effing beans. I like beanless chili. :)

[BJ_WA]

I like beans but prefer the ranch style rather in chili.

One day I'll take a stab at chicken chili. I dunno?

[crin63]

So I competed against a bunch of world champions 3 weeks ago. 22 competitors total. I didn't even make it to the final table.

I cured the oily problem with my chili this time, but it was still too sweet. I cut back on the sugar significantly but still not enough. A couple said it tasted like BBQ sauce. In local competitions (not official) it's the sweet start with the following bite that people really like about it. It just doesn't work at official events.

Out of 22 competitors, and 10 judges I had 2 judges put me in 1st place. So I improved from my last time up against these people. Still not good enough but my and I have a good time competing. She loves serving the chili to everyone and talking to them.

Next competition is May 7th. I have to practice a couple more times before then.

[Abbey Marie]

Hope you win in May! :thumb:

[crin63]

Hope you win in May! :thumb:

Thanks Abbey! I'm trying to get my banners and signs made. I just had my logo done.

[Black Diamond]

I love these things.

[indago]

It's all a matter of taste. You could present the same chili to several different competitions with differing results.

[crin63]

It's all a matter of taste. You could present the same chili to several different competitions with differing results.

The official ICS (International Chili Society) judges go to school in Vegas for 2 weeks to learn ICS judging. They have strict judging guidelines and most judges are cooks also.

[Gunny]

Thanks! Nice to meet you guys.

Real chili is red chili with meat. No beans, No pasta.

My chili is made with tri-tip and pork. It has a bite that sneaks up on you. It starts out almost sweet and then grows into burst of spice that has just enough bite to get your attention but doesn't hurt you.

U-h-h-h-h ... you call THAT chili? Disgusting. Someone needs to teach you Californians how to cook. :laugh:

[crin63]

Ok, so I spent the last week between physical therapy and getting ready for the chili cookoff. I didn't do as well as I had hoped but the pro next to us gave us tips and great info all day. It will really step up my game. He said you can make chili you like or play the game and make chili to win. 30 minutes of setup time, hang around for 2 or 3 hours, 3 hours of cooking, an hour of hanging around waiting for results.

My wife has so much fun out there that she wants to do a green chili in competition. We will need a 3rd person to do that.

My booth is still a work in progress.

[crin63]

U-h-h-h-h ... you call THAT chili? Disgusting. Someone needs to teach you Californians how to cook. :laugh:


That's Texas chili Gunny! All the rules are from Texas chili.

[jimnyc]

Ok, so I spent the last week between physical therapy and getting ready for the chili cookoff. I didn't do as well as I had hoped but the pro next to us gave us tips and great info all day. It will really step up my game. He said you can make chili you like or play the game and make chili to win. 30 minutes of setup time, hang around for 2 or 3 hours, 3 hours of cooking, an hour of hanging around waiting for results.

My wife has so much fun out there that she wants to do a green chili in competition. We will need a 3rd person to do that.

My booth is still a work in progress.

Now I know where your avatar came from! I thought you were just a fan of some unknown hot sauce.

[crin63]

Now I know where your avatar came from! I thought you were just a fan of some unknown hot sauce.


Yeah, it's $25 logo from fiverr. 2nd draft. 1st one the 2 chilis were so close to each other that their elbows overlapped and ended up looking like they were holding each other by the crotch.

[crin63]

So I made chili on Saturday for a birthday party. Worked out some of the bugs in the tips I got from another competitor. It had 1 tablespoon too much chili powder and needed just a bit more salt and jalapeno. Other than that I was ready for the next cook-off until I made chili today.

I made eatin' chili today for my doctor and her office. I played around with the recipe a bit more and tried a couple more new things. This was my best pot chili yet for eatin' chili. My wife thought it was too spicy (gave her hiccups) but everyone else thought it was just about right.

Between the 2 batches of chili, I'm ready to go compete but it probably won't be until October now and that's the beginning of the next season.

[GravyBoat]

There's a sort of delicatessen in town that has various ghost pepper salsas for sampling (along with over 100 other sauces), they have little pretzels and corn chips, it even has a big warning signs about the heat. Still, the paramedics get called all the time, because someone eats too much and thinks they're having a heart attack. I've seen guys try to act cool with their friends, laughingly they take a huge scoop, then keel over. That ghost pepper salsa, a dew drop size of it will burn your tongue for an hour.

I want to be one of those official chili and BBQ tasters.

[Gunny]

There's a sort of delicatessen in town that has various ghost pepper salsas for sampling (along with over 100 other sauces), they have little pretzels and corn chips, it even has a big warning signs about the heat. Still, the paramedics get called all the time, because someone eats too much and thinks they're having a heart attack. I've seen guys try to act cool with their friends, laughingly they take a huge scoop, then keel over. That ghost pepper salsa, a dew drop size of it will burn your tongue for an hour.

I want to be one of those official chili and BBQ tasters.

I love spicy food. But if you can't feel your tongue after the first bite, I don't see the point. I like to taste the rest of the plate and got nothing to prove. This whole ghost pepper think is just crap to me. Maybe back in my 20s. I live in the SW. I can get any of that stuff.

I'd prefer to not dance around for half an hour acting like an idiot. And I've seen more than a few do it. :laugh: