Smoked Venison Chili, Camp Version
Slow-cooked deer neck and dried chilis in a dutch oven over coals. A whole afternoon in camp, on purpose.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 11 oz
- cal / oz
- 47
- protein
- 42 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 45 min
- cook
- 180 min
- total time
- 225 min
- water
- 1200 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
- Dutch oven
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Venison neck roast or shoulder | 2.5 lbs | left whole, smoked at home if you have a smoker |
|---|---|---|
| Dried beans | 1.5 cups | black or tepary; soaked overnight at home |
| Dried chilis | 4-6 | guajillo, ancho, or whatever you have; stems and seeds out |
| Tomato sauce | 1 can (15 oz) | unseasoned |
| Onion | 1 large | diced |
| Garlic | 4 cloves | chopped |
| Venison fat or lard | 2 tbsp | |
| Ground cumin | 1 tbsp | |
| Sweet paprika | 2 tsp | |
| Cocoa powder | 1 tsp | unsweetened |
| Bay leaves | 2, dried | |
| Salt | 2 tsp, plus more at the end | |
| Black pepper | to taste | |
| Water or venison stock | about 4 cups | |
| Sharp cheddar | 4 oz | grated at camp, from the cooler |
| Green onion and cilantro | a handful each | optional, and the first things to wilt |
| Sour cream or crema | 1/2 cup | cooler only, skip it if you are unsure of your ice |
Method
- Build a fire and let it burn down. You want coals, not flame, for three hours.
- Salt the roast on all sides and let it sit while the fire settles. Do not cut it up yet.
- Melt the fat in the dutch oven over the coals and sear the whole roast hard on every face. Whole meat browns; cubed meat steams. Pull it out and set it on a plate.
- Drop the onion into the fat and cook until it goes soft and picks up the brown off the bottom. Add the garlic, cumin, paprika, and cocoa and stir for a minute.
- Tear the dried chilis into the pot. Add the tomato sauce, soaked beans, bay leaves, and about 4 cups of water. Bring it to a boil.
- Cut the seared roast into large chunks and return them with any juice from the plate. Lid on, pot on low coals with a few coals on the lid.
- Simmer three hours, stirring every half hour and adding water when it tightens. Done is when the beans are soft and the meat pulls apart against the spoon.
- Fish out the bay leaves. Salt hard at the end, then pepper. Top with cheddar, onion, cilantro, and crema.
This is a fire-and-time recipe, not a stove recipe. It exists because a basecamp afternoon is one of the few places where three hours of low heat is free. Venison neck is the cut worth hauling out for it — connective tissue that turns to body in the pot, which lean leg meat will never do.
Two details matter. Sear the roast whole and cut it after, because meat in pieces gives off water and steams instead of browning. And the beans go in soaked, from home, or they will still be gravel when the fire dies. The cocoa is not for sweetness; it darkens the chilis and rounds off the tomato.
The cheese and crema ride in the cooler, so this is a car or boat trip meal. Nothing here scales down to a pack.
Packing
Soak the beans at home overnight, drain, and carry them in a bag in the cooler with the meat. Premix cumin, paprika, cocoa, and salt in one jar. Chilis and bay leaves go in a paper bag so they stay dry and do not crumble to dust.
Variations
- No smoker at home? Sear harder and add a pinch of chipotle powder with the other spices.
- Beef chuck or lamb shoulder work the same way and are easier to buy.
- Cooking on a grill grate instead of coals: same pot, same times, just watch the bottom and stir more often.
https://foragerchef.com/smoked-venison-neck-chili