Texas Chili - Bottom Round Question

I've been making a pretty solid chili the last couple of years. I cube the bottom round to about half inch cubes and brown them before mixing everything else in.

About half the time the meat ends up a bit tough. Can it be cooked too long? Should I reserve the meat after browning and let the other ingredients cook completely first, then add back in at the end? Is it possible they are toughening up during the browning?

I use chuck not round. Chuck ends up pretty tender. Brown in batches, drain off some fat, then add the liquids and some of the spices. My impression is that if the meat is tough it should cook longer. Or maybe use chuck instead of round? I dont think browning makes the meat tough. Browning is a typical step before a long simmering or braising tougher cuts of meat.

jfibro - when I make chili using cubed bottom round I brown the onions first, then brown the beef and then dump in all the other stuff and let it cook on low for 3-4 hours, just so the liquid is barely simmering. I stir every once in a while, but not too often, and it always ends up tender. This is more like braising and I use a heavy cast-iron pot. I think if you cook it lower and slower for longer, you will be golden. At least that's my experience. I also use the same method when using venison (deer) or elk round for the meat with very little internal fat and it also ends up very tender.

FWIW

Davooda

Gotta agree with champs2005 on this - chuck makes a far more flavorful and tender chile. Round is best ground, IMO.

Pork is better than either, though. Buy a roast, and cut it up. Equally good in either red or green chile.

Cooking tougher cuts too fast will also result in tough meat. So you may be browning it too much half the time. I think the method Davooda mentions is your best bet - make sure you brown it quickly on very high heat (so the interior doesn't cook). You can also set the meat aside in a bowl until you have the liquid slowly simmering.

I use chuck and/or boneless short ribs. Heck, shank works well, too. Those cuts of meat tend to be tough because of all the connective tissue and fat, so typically you want to cook them low and slow for a long time until the collagen is converted into gelatin (yes, those cuts can sometimes be used for steaks and grilled, especially when very thinly sliced, but they tend not to be particularly tender like your typical steak cuts.) When you cook those cooks, they will start off as soft floppy meat and then turn rock hard for anywhere from an hour and a half to three hours or so, before relaxing and becoming tender again. So, when I make chili or stews from chuck, short ribs, or shank, I don't worry if the meat is tough. I just wait a bit and eventually it does become soft, without fail.

However, I don't know how bottom round reacts to a low and slow braise. I know top round works relatively well as a pot roast, so I suspect bottom round would, too.

thanks for the feedback. definitely lookign forward to experimenting.

Cooks Illustrated has a guide to different cuts of meat that is a pretty handy reference. Here is what they write about bottom round: "This cut was the tasters’ least favorite. It was essentially devoid of flavor and had a rubbery, chewy texture. This roast is not worth even the little that it costs." They are more positive about top round.

Like others, my favorite beef cut for braising is chuck.

Last batch of chili I used a two pound package of beef "taco meat" just the right amount of fat and already cut into bite size pieces. An afternoon on low in the crock pot with all the other goodies turned it into tender goodness.
I also agree with Sundevilpeg on the pork thing. If I have the time I will usually cut up a pork shoulder roast into chunks and put em on the weber over hickory to char them up an give the meat a little smoke flavor. Black beans work well with the pork!

JSM wrote:Last batch of chili I used a two pound package of beef "taco meat" just the right amount of fat and already cut into bite size pieces.

I too frequently use "taco meat" for chili and have never been disappointed.

Darren72 wrote:Cooks Illustrated has a guide to different cuts of meat that is a pretty handy reference. Here is what they write about bottom round: "This cut was the tasters’ least favorite. It was essentially devoid of flavor and had a rubbery, chewy texture. This roast is not worth even the little that it costs." They are more positive about top round.

Interesting. What did they write about eye of round? That's the one that I find the most flavorless. Bottom round I've had reasonable luck with doing roast beef style (medium rare) with a deli meat slicer against the grain.

Artie wrote:

JSM wrote:Last batch of chili I used a two pound package of beef "taco meat" just the right amount of fat and already cut into bite size pieces.

I too frequently use "taco meat" for chili and have never been disappointed.

Interestingly, I recently used the "taco meat" for chili. I was disappointed. It had way more fat than I like. I spent a lot of time pulling/cutting hunks of fat off. Next time, I'll have the butcher dice up skirt steak for me, which was my original thought before deciding to try the pre-cut taco meat.

Artie wrote:

JSM wrote:Last batch of chili I used a two pound package of beef "taco meat" just the right amount of fat and already cut into bite size pieces.

I too frequently use "taco meat" for chili and have never been disappointed.

Artie,

This is also my go to meat for chili. But I do miss the coarse grind chili meat from Minyard's stores in the Dallas area. With every package of meat, they added 2 or 3 serrano chilies on top.

Usually when meat is tough it has not been cooked long enough but only if has been cooked in a liquid like chili. When meat is roasted or fryed dry too long it will also get tough. I would cook it longer and also cut it in smaller pieces. I do not like big pieces of meat in chili so its like stew.

Evil Ronnie wrote:

Artie wrote:I too frequently use "taco meat" for chili and have never been disappointed.

Artie,

This is also my go to meat for chili. But I do miss the coarse grind chili meat from Minyard's stores in the Dallas area. With every package of meat, they added 2 or 3 serrano chilies on top.

Ultra Foods,at least the ones in Lansing,Il & Highland,In, always has course ground chili meat that I've been happy with. No chillies on top though

Binko wrote:

Darren72 wrote:Cooks Illustrated has a guide to different cuts of meat that is a pretty handy reference. Here is what they write about bottom round: "This cut was the tasters’ least favorite. It was essentially devoid of flavor and had a rubbery, chewy texture. This roast is not worth even the little that it costs." They are more positive about top round.

Interesting. What did they write about eye of round? That's the one that I find the most flavorless. Bottom round I've had reasonable luck with doing roast beef style (medium rare) with a deli meat slicer against the grain.

Of the Eye of Round, they write "This boneless roast had mediocre flavor and was considerably less juicy than any other roast." The only one they rated lower in their taste scale was the bottom round.

Artie wrote:

JSM wrote:Last batch of chili I used a two pound package of beef "taco meat" just the right amount of fat and already cut into bite size pieces.

I too frequently use "taco meat" for chili and have never been disappointed.

I somehow missed these posts, but the last time I did chili, I used taco meat as about 1/3 of the meat in my chili, and was very happy with it. (The other 2/3 were chuck chopped down to small dice by cleaver, and ground round.) I tend to like my meat on the fatty side, though, and only trim big chunks of fat from my chuck.

Darren72 wrote:Of the Eye of Round, they write "This boneless roast had mediocre flavor and was considerably less juicy than any other roast." The only one they rated lower in their taste scale was the bottom round.

Interesting. I guess I've never had them side-by-side, but my experience is that bottom round was more flavorful and had better texture than eye of round. I occasionally use bottom round for Italian beef, and it works well enough (though I prefer top round. I would never dream of making it with eye of round.) Eye of round is probably my least favorite cut of beef. A lot of people seem to like it well enough, but I have a disdain for the cut. Maybe it's because it just looks like it should taste a heck of a lot better than it actually does.