Slow Cooker Chili, Dried Flat
A pot of beef and bean chili cooked at home, dried thin, and brought back with boiling water.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 4.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 116
- protein
- 34 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 20 min
- cook
- 12 min
- total time
- 32 min
- water
- 400 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Alcohol / Esbit
- Backpacking
- Canoe / raft
- Basecamp
- Winter / snow
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Dehydrate ahead
- Shelf stable
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Lean ground beef | 1 lb | 90/10 or leaner; fat is the enemy of shelf life |
|---|---|---|
| Onion | 1 large, chopped | |
| Garlic | 4 cloves, minced | |
| Green pepper | 1 medium, diced | optional |
| Canned diced tomatoes | 2 cans (14 oz each) | |
| Tomato paste | 1 small can (6 oz) | |
| Canned sliced mushrooms | 1 can | two if you like them |
| Canned beans | 4 cans | black and kidney; lentils or chickpeas work |
| Canned corn | 1 can, whole kernel | |
| Chili powder | 2-3 tbsp | |
| Salt | 1/2 tsp, plus more later | |
| Cumin, oregano, black pepper, cayenne | to taste |
Method
- At home: drain the beans, corn, and mushrooms and dump them into the slow cooker with the tomatoes and tomato paste.
- Brown the beef in a dry pan and pour off every bit of fat. Rendered fat goes rancid in storage and it blocks water from getting back into the meat.
- Add the onion, garlic, and pepper to the same pan and cook until soft. Stir in the chili powder and give it two minutes over the heat.
- Scrape the pan into the slow cooker, add the salt, and hold it on low for four to six hours. Taste at the halfway mark and correct the spices then.
- Spread the chili on dehydrator trays in a layer thin enough to see the tray through. Run it on the highest setting, 8-12 hours, until nothing is tacky and no bean is soft in the middle.
- In camp: put one portion in the pot with 400 ml water and let it sit ten minutes off the stove.
- Bring it to a boil, then drop to a simmer for two minutes, stirring. If the beans are still firm, add a splash of water and give it another few minutes.
This is a home chili with the water taken out of it. Nothing about the cooking is unusual; the trail part happens on the dehydrator trays and depends on two things. Drain the beef hard, because fat does not dry and it is what turns a bag of chili rancid in a pack. Spread everything thin, because a thick layer dries on the outside and stays wet underneath, and that is the batch that spoils.
Beans and ground beef rehydrate at different speeds, which is why the cold soak comes before the boil. Ten minutes in cold water gets liquid into the beans before the heat sets anything, and the simmer afterward is short. Skipping the soak and going straight to a boil gives you hot sauce with gravel in it. Everything here is already gluten-free; check your chili powder if that matters, since some blends carry flour.
Packing
One meal per quart freezer bag, air pressed out. Beans are the slowest thing to come back, so break up any clumps before you seal the bag. Keep the bags in the freezer at home until the trip; they last months at room temperature but longer cold.
Variations
- Skip the beef and add a half cup of dried textured soy protein at camp instead.
- A crushed corn tortilla or a handful of Fritos stirred in at the end thickens it and adds fat.
- Carry a small bottle of olive oil and pour a tablespoon over each serving. The chili itself is nearly fat-free after draining, which is fine at home and thin on a long day.
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