I was a little skeptical about this recipe for starters because I've never cooked with alligator. Also I thought V-8 juice cinnamon and ginger were odd indgredients for chili but I believe if you are going to use a recipe you should try to make it as exact as possible on the first try and then change it if you think it needs it. I put the cinnamon in with a wince on my face but I have to say I liked the final flavor quite a bit and it smelled devine. The only things I did differently was that the store didn't have ground alligator but frozen slabs in packs so I had to chop it up after thawing in the refrigerator overnight. Also I don't see any reason to cook canned beans for three hours so I added those in the last 30 minutes. Probably most important I cooked it with the lid off. When you have this many spices the evaporation process is what causes the melding of flavors that you want. You would just need to add some water but I didn't find I needed any. The most important reason to cook it with the lid off though is that you don't want to confine that smell. The main reason I am not giving five stars is not the recipe itself but that I'm not sure I like the taste of alligator that much. It's not bad at all just not special enough to justify the price which was 9 a pound. And it doesn't taste like chicken. I saw another reviewer compared it to rattlesnake meat. I've never had rattlesnake but this is what I would imagine it would taste like.