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Can we talk about how freezing chili makes it BETTER and not just surviveable
My buddy Dan swears fresh chili is the only way and says leftovers taste like 'warmed up regret,' but I started making a 6 quart batch every other Sunday back in January and portioning it into quart bags, and by day 4 it tastes deeper and smokier than the day I cooked it. I think the spices just keep soaking into everything in the fridge, so the bowl on Thursday beats the bowl on Sunday every single time. Am I crazy here, or does anybody else plan for the leftovers to outshine the first meal on purpose?
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amy_west23d ago
My husband Rob does the same thing with his venison chili and he freezes it in those red plastic containers from the deli. The trick I learned the hard way is to cool it fast before it goes in the freezer, so I set the pot in a sink of ice water and stir it every few minutes, otherwise the middle stays warm too long and the texture gets grainy. Day 1 chili tastes flat to me now because the spices haven't had time to settle into the meat and beans yet. Day 4 is where it hits, and I've actually started cooking on Saturday just so Wednesday dinner is the good one. Your buddy Dan is missing out because freezing doesn't kill flavor, it just pauses the clock while everything melds. One thing that helps is to leave out a little of the salt and add it when you reheat, since frozen chili can taste dull right out of the bag.
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