My brother-in-law said my chili tasted like tomato soup, and he was not wrong
He said it at a cookout in Omaha two years ago, and I stopped buying the 79 cent seasoning packets and started toasting whole cumin and chiles from the Mexican aisle instead. My pot still costs about $6 to make, but now it actually tastes like chili and not spaghetti sauce. Anyone got a cheap trick for getting more smoke flavor without buying the fancy dried peppers?