I worked at Wendy’s when I was in high school, for 2 years. We used to have the grill covered with hamburger patties, so they could be served as they were bought.
There was a stainless steel container in the cooler where we put the burgers that were never sold, and over cooked (sometimes cremated)
It was company policy, and formal instruction that those leftover burgers were to be ground up by hand and recycled as the beef they use to make the chili with, we used to crumble up the meat, and add the powder, and water, and it went into a slow cooker until it was served.
Needless to say, I never eat Wendy’s chili
Oh thanks for the stomach pain. lol.
For a while there I thought had become a chili snob.
Our family likes to make it ourselves, slow cooking pinto or red beans for hours, adding in the chili powder, tomatoes and fresh beef we browned in a frying pan, and other stuff.
If we are in a hurry we might use cans of Ranch Style Beans to avoid cooking for hours.