I substituted the apple cider vinegar with a small jar of Silverskin onions. I drained the jar of vinegar, filled the jar with water and shook a couple of times then drained the onions and added them. Tiny little sweet/sour flavour bombs when you come across them later! I’ve done this a couple of times now with different recipes and it’s gone down surprisingly well all round. The secret, IMO, is to let them just warm up thoroughly rather than cook them so they don’t lose their crunchiness.

Are you asking about when we mix the hamburger with baking soda and water? If so, we didn’t drain it then at all–it just absorbed in nicely. Then, because we’ve used the baking soda in the meat, it doesn’t shed very much moisture when it’s browning.

(America’s Test Kitchen says that the baking soda raises the pH of meat so that it’s able to hold on to moisture better throughout the cooking process.)

We didn’t have any problem with the grease from the hamburger when cooking in the Instant Pot. The 20-minutes in the baking soda really makes a big difference on how much liquid the ground beef releases. If you’re concerned about the fat, you could drain some after you brown the hamburger but before you add the spices. However, since most of the spices are fat soluble, you’ll lose a lot of flavor from the dish.

Hi Conni,

I haven’t tested it with the powder, but Cook’s Illustrated recommends: “For every teaspoon of adobo sauce, combine 1/8 teaspoon chipotle powder with ½ teaspoon vinegar and ½ teaspoon tomato paste.”

However, since there are so many other flavors going on in this chili, you could keep it easy and start with the 1/8 teaspoon and increase it from there until you reach your comfort level with the spice.

If you try it, let us know how it works!