What went wrong with my chilli?

[TieFrontDress]

I followed Jamie Oliver's recipe to the letter but I think I might have cooked it too long... the meat was very mushy.

Sounds like you've answered your own question

Assume you fried the mince off first?

Jamie Oliver has/had a terrible habit of adding tins of water to dishes when they weren't needed, at least in the Ministry of Food book . Perhaps that's the issue?

I did add water!

Did you add a splash of water to rinse out the tin, or a tin of water? Quite a big difference in quantity...

Water? Why?

It was in the recipe!

I added about half a tin.

Extra water never really works well but I wouldn't imagine it turns meat mushy?

www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/beef-recipes/good-old-chilli-con-carne/

It was this one.

It was nice-ish but it could have been better. Is an hour cooking about right then?

I also did not fry the mince off first

Never heard of mince going mushy - did you use very cheap meat or something?

I've done this recipe and I think not frying the mince makes it mushy!

You really need a high heat ifyou are adding half tins of water i add somewater (i dont like wine ) to bolognaise and it is never mushy

No, I used mince from the butcher.

Anyone got a fool-proof recipe?

Ah wellif you didn't fry it off you are going to get mushy mince !

Always fry the mince off first, otherwise you are just boiling it

Just to echo the pp. FRY OF YA MINCE!!!

sorry OP

Frying the mince seals it so it does not/barely takes on any more moisture. Un-fried meat will absorb the liquid it is in and have sponge/soggy texture.

Even when I do mince in the slow cooker I fry it off first not a pleasurable thing to do at 8am.

Okay- so next time, no extra water and fry off the mince first.

Just to eat a whole batch of soggy chilli first!

Thanks everyone.

You can add a splash of water to the tomato tin/jar but like an egg cup full just to get everything out. Frying the mince of is key. Same as if you do chunky chilli which we love more than mince chilli. You fry off the beef chunks first to seal them usually after tossing in seasoned flour.

Hope the next batch turns out better

It would have been the quality of the meat

I followed that recipe and was disappointed too!

All my common sense said to fry off the mince first, but I thought, surely Jamie must know best?! He's a proper chef 'n that. I got the same mushy chilli as you.

I recommend Lorraine Pascale's chilli recipe; never fails and it's really tasty.

We are love hairy bikers chilli from hairy dieters - although as there are not so many of us I halve the mince and onions but stick to the rest.