Do I have to brown the meat first for crockpot chili?

[shirl]

I like cooking in my crockpot mainly for the ease of use - I can generally dump everything in it and turn it on. For crockpot chili, the recipes instruct you to brown the meat and onions first. Has anyone ever just dumped everything in the crockpot uncooked? How did it turn out? Is it safe to cook it this way? Thanks!

[Vicanddi]

I have a chili recipe, my favorite actually, that says to just crumble the uncooked ground beef into the crockpot. The texture of the meat is slightly different, but the chili turns out great. It is a great step-saver! But, you do get a little more fat this way, because when you brown the meat, you drain the grease before adding it. I think that is the only negative to using uncooked ground beef.

[naomike]

I have read recipes where you can just throw the meat in uncooked as long as it's lean. I've never done this--just seen the recipes. If the meat is fattier, I would brown it first to drain off the fat before putting it in the slow cooker.

HTH.

Naomi

[fudi2000]

Chili is one of the few things I make in my crockpot and I never cook the meat. (one less pan, one less dish to wash i say). It all cooks the same.