Venison Chili

I was gifted 3 lbs of ground venison from a student.  Turns out that we were having a chili cook off in my wing of the building, so what better way to spread the love of game meats?  Knowing that venison hasn't a lot of fat in it, I knew pork would have to be added.  Other than that, this is entirely a riff I made up on the fly.  If early tastes are any indication, this one is going to make them sweat.

Here we go.

Ingredients:

6 strips of bacon, fat rendered, bacon removed

2 lbs. ground venison

0.5 lbs. ground pork sausage

1 large yellow onion, diced

3+ tablespoons chili powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

1/2 bottle Schalfly's coffee stout

2 cans (small) Rotel tomatoes and peppers (Original) 10 oz?

1 large can Brook's chili beans (mild) 29 oz.?

16 oz. Hunt's tomato sauce

Directions:

In a large cast iron skillet, cook the bacon over low heat until crisp.  Retain fat, remove bacon and set aside.  Saute onion in bacon fat until translucent, about 3 mins.  Brown venison and pork with onion until brown.  Do not drain.  Add chili powder, salt, pepper, garlic powder, cayenne, and mix well.  Move mixture to slow cooker.  Add 1/2 bottle of beer, Rotel, chili beans, and tomato sauce.  Cook over low for 8-10 hours.