Spicy Smoky Joes

Total Time: 8 hrs 45 mins Preparation Time: 45 mins Cook Time: 8 hrs

Ingredients

• Servings: 8
• 2 slices bread, torn into quarters
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 2 lbs lean ground beef (85%)
• salt
• pepper
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 onions, minced
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 cup ketchup
• 1 tablespoon minced canned chipotle chile in adobo
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
• 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
• 8 hamburger buns

Recipe

• 1 mash bread and milk into paste in large bowl using fork.
• 2 mix in ground beef, ½ tsp salt, and ½ tsp pepper using hands.
• 3 heat oil in 12-inch skillet over med-high heat until shimmering.
• 4 add onions, chili powder, and garlic and cook until onions are softened and lightly browned, 8-10 minutes.
• 5 stir in beef mixture, 1 pound at a time, and cook, breaking up any large pieces with wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 3 minutes per pound.
• 6 stir in 1 cup tomato sauce, scraping up any browned bits; transfer to slow cooker.
• 7 stir remaining tomato sauce, ketchup, chipotles, sugar, liquid smoke, and hot sauce into slow cooker.
• 8 cover and cook until beef is tender, 6-8 hours on low or 3-5 hours on high.
• 9 let meat mixture settle for 5 minutes, then remove fat form surface using large spoon.
• 10 break up any remaining large pieces of beef with spoon.
• 11 season with salt and pepper to taste.
• 12 spoon mixture onto buns and serve.