Cincinnati chili is the first cousin of a Greek meat sauce that has also inspired Detroit's Coney Sauce and Rhode Island's Hot Weiner Meat Sauce. It's thin, fine-textured, built on warming spices like cinnamon that sit in the background instead of running the show. Skyline made it famous. We made our version and added a new layer of flavor: smoke.

This chili has two key components. First, beef never gets browned — it goes into cold water raw and gets mashed into a slurry so it breaks down into tiny, tender bits instead of crumbles. That fine texture is exactly what you want in a hot dog chili, and we'll never make one another way again. You are going to have a strong urge to go a different direction here and brown the meat. IGNORE THAT URGE!

Second, the pot goes on the smoker. Three hours over Bear Mountain Tailgate Blend — hickory, cherry, oak, and maple — and the chili reduces down while it takes on real wood-fired smoke. The smoke is bold and fruity, but balanced. Smoky chili on a smoky dog is the new way.

One thing that'll freak you out around hour two: it looks like there's way too much fat pooling on top. Leave it. As the water cooks off, the meat pulls that fat back in, and what you're left with is rich and glossy, not greasy.