Over-the-top chilli on a kamado

Published 11 September 2026 · Last updated 11 September 2026 · By Ben Austen

Ingredients

• 1 onion
• 2 carrots
• A couple of sticks of celery
• 1 bell pepper
• About 3 cloves of garlic
• 3 tablespoons of bacon jamMine is homemade, and you do not need it. It went in for a bit of fat and a bit of sweetness.
• About a tablespoon of confit garlic butterGarlic bulbs cut across so every clove is cut through, a bit of oil, wrapped in foil and cooked on the barbecue for an hour. Squeeze it out, mash it with a fork and beat it through butter with salt and a packet of parsley. I do 4 bulbs to 250g of butter and keep it in the fridge.
• 500g of beef minceMine was from HG Walter.
• Salt and pepper
• About a teaspoon of ground cumin
• About a teaspoon of ground coriander
• Half a teaspoon of hot smoked paprikaRestrained because the children were eating it.
• 2 stock pots
• About 750ml of water
• 2 tins of kidney beans
• 2 tins of chopped tomatoes
• A teaspoon of tomato purée
• 2 or 3 capfuls of cider vinegarOff the heat, to taste.
• A teaspoon of maple syrupOff the heat, to taste.

Equipment

• A barbecue you can run direct at about 150°C with the lid down for two and a half hours.I cook on my Big Green Egg Large with the ConvEGGtor (ceramic deflector) taken out. Any kamado or charcoal kettle that will hold 150°C direct with the lid on will do the same job.
• A pan that will sit over live fire for the whole cook.Mine is stainless steel. I had meant to use a Le Creuset casserole and picked up the steel pan instead, and it did the job without complaint.
• A wire rack tall enough to stand over your pan.Mine stands on the cooking grate and straddles the pan, so the ball is above the pot rather than in it.
• An instant-read thermometer.
• A couple of oak logs.

Method

1. Build the base in the pan before you light anything
2. Get the fire going with the deflector out, and put a couple of oak logs on
3. Pan on the grid, and leave it to soften
4. Season the mince and shape it
5. Ball on a wire rack over the pot
6. Leave it alone for about two hours
7. Build the pot up underneath while the ball is still on
8. Pull the beef at about 63°C and put it in whole
9. Break it up in the pot with a wooden spoon, then give it another good hour
10. Off the heat, then balance it

Key takeaways

• Most over-the-top chilli is cooked indirect. This one is not. The deflector stayed out for the whole cook and everything ran straight over live coals.
• There is half a teaspoon of hot smoked paprika in the whole pot and no chilli powder at all. That was because the children were eating it. Anyone who wants it hotter adds that at the table.
• The base does not stop cooking when the ball goes on. It carries on underneath for another forty minutes or so, taking the fat that comes off the beef.
• I pulled the beef at about 63°C and put it into the pot whole. Then I broke it up in there with a wooden spoon and gave it another good hour.
• It wanted sweetening at the end, and there were two reasons for it. The smoke, and how acidic tinned tomatoes are. A teaspoon of maple syrup and two or three capfuls of cider vinegar did it.

The cook

• Build the base in the pan before you light anything. Onion, carrots, celery, bell pepper and garlic, all chopped, into the pan with the bacon jam and the confit garlic butter sitting on top. Mine went together on the kitchen worktop and went out to the barbecue raw. Nothing gets cooked indoors.
• Get the fire going with the deflector out, and put a couple of oak logs on. Mine settled at about 150°C (300°F) and held there all afternoon. The deflector stays out for the whole cook, so the pan is sitting over live coals the entire time.
• Pan on the grid, and leave it to soften. About twenty minutes. It does not need much stirring.
• Season the mince and shape it. Salt, pepper, the cumin, the coriander and the half teaspoon of paprika, worked through 500g of mince. I shaped mine closer to a rugby ball than a round one.
• Ball on a wire rack over the pot. The rack stands over the pan on the cooking grate, so the ball sits directly above the base. Everything that renders out of it goes into the pot rather than onto the coals.
• Leave it alone for about two hours. The base keeps softening underneath in the fat coming off the beef. Mine had about forty minutes of that before I touched anything.
• Build the pot up underneath while the ball is still on. The stock pots, the water, the tins of tomatoes, the purée and the kidney beans all go into the pan while the beef is still above it. By the time the ball comes off there is a proper sauce in there.
• Pull the beef at about 63°C and put it in whole. It goes straight into the sauce in one piece.
• Break it up in the pot with a wooden spoon, then give it another good hour. It carries on cooking in there while it breaks down.
• Off the heat, then balance it. Two or three capfuls of cider vinegar and a teaspoon of maple syrup, then more salt and pepper. Taste it before you decide you are done.

What to serve it with

I served it with pasta. We had the rest another day with rice and a salad.

What I learned

I would have told you the base had forty minutes on the grid before the ball went over it. It did not. The photographs put it nearer twenty, and the forty minutes was the time it spent underneath the ball afterwards, which is a different thing and probably the more useful one.

I broke the beef up in the pot with a wooden spoon. Next time I would chop it instead, because I think it would come out better that way.

The other thing is the pan. I meant to cook this in a Le Creuset casserole and ended up with a stainless steel one instead, which sat over live fire for two and a half hours and was fine.

Variations

You could make this BBQ chilli recipe with beef mixed with pork or turkey if you want it leaner. I have not cooked it that way, so take that as a suggestion rather than something I have tested.

Related

• Big Green Egg Large review — the unit this was cooked on.
• Charred tomato salsa — cooked on the same fire the same afternoon.
• Best UK kamado — if you’re still choosing one.

FAQ

Do you cook this indirect?

No. The deflector stayed out for the whole cook and the pan sat over live coals the entire time. Most over-the-top chilli recipes run indirect; this one does not.

What does the mince ball sit on?

A wire rack standing over the pan on the cooking grate, so the ball is directly above the base. Not in the pot, and not straight on the grate itself.

Is the chilli spicy?

No. There is half a teaspoon of hot smoked paprika in the whole pot and no chilli powder at all, because the children were eating it. If you want heat, add it to your own bowl at the table.

Do I need the bacon jam?

No. Mine is homemade and there is no recipe for it on the site yet. It went in for a bit of fat and a bit of sweetness, and the chilli works without it.

Do I need a cast-iron casserole?

I meant to use one and ended up with a stainless steel pan instead. It ran two and a half hours over live coals and was fine.

Disclosure and provenance

This recipe comes from a single cook on my own Big Green Egg Large on Monday 24 August 2026. The BGE Large was a Christmas 2025 gift from my sister, originally supplied to her by Big Green Egg as part of a paid content partnership that has since ended. I own the unit outright. Smoke and Lump has no commercial relationship with Big Green Egg, and no commission, payment, or other consideration was received in connection with this recipe.

Sourced from the 24 August 2026 cook log — an over-the-top chilli cooked direct on the Big Green Egg Large with the deflector out, alongside a charred tomato salsa on the same fire.