Chili is one of those winter and fall staples that are so easy to customize. For this recipe, we smoked the ground beef for the chili right on top of the pot so that all that smokey goodness from the rendering fat dripped right into the chili—a decadent and delicious way to make a basic staple. 

Instructions

• In a large bowl, mix the ground beef and Italian sausage together well.
• Mix in the Paprika, Salt, Pepper, Cayenne, Cumin, Chili Powder, and Onion Powder to the meat. Mix well with your hands or use a mixer!
• Place saran wrap or foil over the bowl with the meat and place in the fridge to relax...
• In a medium/large skillet (I prefer cast iron skillets), lightly oil the skillet and set heat to medium-high.
• Add in your onion and bell peppers and cook until the onions become translucent, and just start to develop some color.
• Add in your 3 cloves of minced garlic. Cook until fragrant.
• Remove skillet from heat and put aside (I dumped the veggies into the chili pot at this point).
• Cook your bacon in the same skillet to your liking... I suggest you don't overcook your bacon. You don't want it crispy for the chili. It will continue to cook once on the smoker/in the cooker.
• When bacon is to your liking, add it to the pot with the onion and bell peppers.
• Add the remaining ingredients to your pot. The cans of beans/tomatoes, corn, beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, etc....
• Time to fire up the smoker/cooker!

• *Pro Tip: Make the meat into a ball by using saran wrap!! So much easier!

• Place the pot on the bottom rack or ash pan grates of your cooker/smoker.
• Place the "meatball" on the grate directly above the pot of chili.
• Cook at 275 degrees F (135 Celsius) until the meatball reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F (74 Celsius).
• Remove both the pot and the meat. Cover the meat loosely in foil to allow to rest and reabsorb all those juices.
• Once rested, break apart and crumble (to the size of your liking) the meatball into the pot of chili.
• Mix well and serve with some shredded cheese and sour cream, perhaps even some oyster crackers!!

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