The Hack To Prevent Your Spices From Clumping Together In Your Chili

Chili is one of the most comforting foods. It's a great dinner option during the colder months, on those nights when you just want a warm hug in a bowl. Whether you plan to make your favorite regional American chili or go for a new white chicken chili this year, the one thing that no one wants in their bowl is a clump of unincorporated spices. Luckily, there's an easy way to fully mix those dry spices into a pot of chili without leaving behind any annoying clumps. The key is to simply separate some of that delicious chili in another bowl, then add the spices to that, before dumping the whole thing back into the pot.

Separating part of the chili into another container prevents steam from the simmering pot from getting into the dry spices, causing them to clump up before they even hit the liquid. Also, when working with a smaller amount of chili, you can really stir the spices into the sauce to make sure there are no clumps, before dumping it back into the larger pot.

The best thing about this hack is how easy it is to do. To start, take a ladle of chili and pour it into a separate bowl. You want to get mostly tomato juice and avoid grabbing a bunch of beans or hamburger. Then, while the separated chili is still hot, add in all of your dried spices one at a time and stir them in until they fully incorporate and dissolve. If there are any spice clumps, you should be able to easily see them and squish them with a fork and then continue stirring until fully mixed in. Once all the spices have been added, go ahead and pour the seasoned liquid back into the main pot and stir.

The above method works perfectly, but if you are looking for a method that doesn't involve getting another bowl dirty, you can add the spices earlier in the recipe as you would for an Indian curry. In Indian cooking, dry spices are often added to the onions after they have been cooked down and before adding any liquid ingredients. Adding the spices at this point in the chili preparation process allows you to toast the spices with the onions and olive oil to help bring out their aromatic qualities. Also, because there isn't much liquid, you will easily be able to spot any clumps and mix them into the soft onions.

Another benefit of these two methods of adding spices to chili is that they can prevent your spices from clumping and hardening in their jars. This is because the simple reason why jarred spices clump up is that they are exposed to too much moisture. 

If you take a spice jar and shake it directly into a large pot of simmering chili, some steam from the chili will get inside the jar and cause the spice to clump and harden. So, adding your spices earlier — before there is so much steam, or separately in a smaller bowl — are great ways to prevent this.

However, if your spice jars are already clumped up, there's no need to worry. You can easily de-clump spices by vigorously shaking the jar to separate the clumps or by removing the powder and toasting it on an ungreased skillet for a few minutes or until the moisture evaporates. After toasting, simply allow the spice to cool and return it to the container.