I've been attempting to make my venison chili recipe with beef. I've used only half the meat the recipe calls for. Once I realized that screw up, I thought it was not going to come out good, but I kept on cooking it. There were other small deviations from that recipe. In the end, I don't know what particular change to attribute it to, but this beef chili has turned out to be spectacular. The tomatoes have broken down to give it this sweetness that just made it super delicious. In my wife's words, "We were throwing it in our mouths as if we had not eaten in a week."

1. 2 large chopped yellow onions, in a stock pot, with small amount of olive oil. Cook until they start turning brown.
2. Throw a large handful of cumin seeds into the cooking onions.
3. As onions are nearing completion of their cooking, in a frying pan brown the beef. I used 1.2 lb of 93% ground beef (7% fat). I salted and peppered the beef. After it's browned, put it in with the onions. 
4. Deglaze the frying pan with dry white vermouth and add to the onions pot.
5. Add one can of the Hunt's tomato sauce (about 15 oz, 425 g)
6. Add one 28 oz (794 g) can of Hunt's canned tomatoes (sauce too! Don't throw away the sauce!). I work through the tomatoes to remove the butts.
7. 1 tea spoon of ginger paste.
8. 1 table spoon of garlic paste.
9. A generous splash of Italian (chianti) red wine vinegar. I'd guess 1-1.5 oz.
10. A generous shake of black pepper.
11. While I salted the ground beef, I did not add any more salt to the chili.
12. 1 tea spoon of Spanish smoky paprika.
13. 1 tea spoon of ground cumin.
14. 1/3 tea spoon of chili powder.
15. 1/4 tea spoon of ground chipotle powder.
16. Simmer uncovered at the small flame until liquid reduces.
17. Once the chili starts to stick to the bottom of the pan, cover and cook at the smallest possible fire.
18. Total cooking time is 2.5 hours.
19. At the end add just the beans from 2 cans of dark red kidney beans. Discard the bean can fluid.

This chili was truly so good, I could eat it with a spoon out of a bowl. Cold. Normally I would serve it in nachos.

This time I got a very lean single-muscle piece of brisket. About 5 lb. I used the same rub as before. I started it on Friday morning at 8:45 am.

At 12:15 pm (after 3.5 hours) it was at 145 F.

At 6pm (9 and 1/4 hours) it was at 158 F.

9 am next day it was at 175 F.

11 am next day (after more than 26 hours) it was at 195 F.

It was tender but dry. At a BBQ store it would be classified as "extra-lean". We ate it all, it was good enough to eat.

My second attempt at BBQ brisket was a miserable failure. I bought a very small piece (1.6 lb) of lean brisket and cooked it straight on the griddle. In 4 hours it only reached about 150 F and after 8 hours it reached 175 F. At that point I gave up and took if off. I cut into it and it was dry and chewy like a shoe leather.

My first attempt at BBQ brisket. I wanted to find a very fatty brisket for my first attempt and I found one at The Meat House in Austin. Almost $5 a pound is a bit expensive for brisket, especially considering it's mostly fat, but what wouldn't I do for the science. Sigh.

I used the same rub as I used for my pork ribs. I let it soak into the brisket during the day in the fridge and then smoked the brisket overnight. Final time was 10 hours. It was a bit too long for such a small chunk of meat (just over 5 pounds) and the final temperature was 210 degrees F. The books recommend 195. This did not hurt the brisket, though. It was plenty juicy and tender. I did struggle with cutting off the fat. A big chunk of the brisket was also the part where meat fibers are well covered with fat. I did not eat those parts. I carved out the solid meat pieces. So, while certainly successful, this was not an inexpensive experiment. I maybe got 1.5 pounds of top quality beef out of 5.2 pound chunk of brisket that cost me $23.

To watch the temperature I got this very cool and inexpensive gadget at IKEA. For only $6.99 it doubles as a timer. I liked it so much I got a second one.