Not canned Baked beans recipe please (ingredients, pancake, ketchup, brown sugar)

[momtothree]

I thought I strongly dislike baked beans when a close friend mentioned they are very different homemade. Most beans I've tried were doctored up canned baked beans or canned pork and beans of some sort. I made this recently, Southern Baked Beans Recipe - Cooking | Add a Pinch | Robyn Stone

Wow, were they delicious! I want to try making them with dry beans, anyone have a favorite recipe with that? I like them with a touch of sweetness.

[OpenD]

In my mind you cannot get any better than the classic New England baked beans, which are still served all over Maine and other NE states for the traditional Saturday night "suppah."

Originally slow cooked all day in a clay bean pot, buried in the embers of the morning fire, the dish was very thrifty, made from cheap ingredients... dry beans, molasses, bacon ends or salt pork... yet tasty and filling. It is truly a classic of American cooking.

Here's a great article about New England Baked Beans:

Classic New England Baked Beans - Saveur.com

Here's the recipe, kicked up a notch from the basic "receipt":

New England-Style Baked Beans Recipe - Saveur.com

And here's a detailed menu for a full New England Baked Bean Suppah...

A New England Style Baked Bean Supper - Saveur.com

Now do you understand why they do this every Saturday night?

[momtothree]

Are cloves vital to the recipe? Recipe sounds great if I can omit the cloves.

[OpenD]

The cloves are a minor flavor note, so omit if you wish.

[gentlearts]

Originally Posted by momtothree

Are cloves vital to the recipe? Recipe sounds great if I can omit the cloves.

No way do New Englanders put cloves in baked beans, or ketchup or rum either. I'll post a recipe from Yankee Magazine later.
All over the neighborhood, when we were young, the smell of baked beans wafted through the air. So did the sound of the Red Sox game.
Leftover baked beans got eaten the next morning with bacon and eggs...a super combination.

[Dirt Grinder]

My Boston baked beans are a very simple recipe - 1 lb dried navy beans, 3 cups water, 1/3 cup molasses, 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1 1/2 tsp salt, medium onion, 8 oz salt pork or bacon. I tweak the brown sugar to get the proper sweetness. I don't think the effort is appreciated because the best compliment I get is "they taste as good as canned beans."

[momtothree]

Hey Dirt, I think that's an excellent compliment if that's what they like.

Thanks all for recipes and Gentlearts, I will look for yours later as well. I can test a few recipes before my barbeques next month. We have three and hubby has been watching pitmaster shows gearing up for it. He is eyeballing our poor peach trees to cut some of their branches for the smoking.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by gentlearts

No way do New Englanders put cloves in baked beans, or ketchup or rum either.

I know. I said that the recipe I shared was kicked up a notch. It's from a gourmet magazine.

Originally Posted by Dirt Grinder

My Boston baked beans are a very simple recipe - 1 lb dried navy beans, 3 cups water, 1/3 cup molasses, 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1 1/2 tsp salt, medium onion, 8 oz salt pork or bacon. I tweak the brown sugar to get the proper sweetness.

Yeah, this is a good basic recipe. Some of my friends in the region use a bit of maple syrup, too. Personally I like to add some rum to the cook.

I don't think the effort is appreciated because the best compliment I get is "they taste as good as canned beans."

Heathens! Philistines! Still, you have to admit, B&M sure makes some fine canned beans up there in Portland, Maine. That's why I posted a fancier recipe, which is unlikely to be mistaken for canned. I mean, if you're going to go to all that trouble anyway...

[lubby]

I have a recipe from my neighbor, she gave me some to eat and let me tell you I was not gassy at all. This was done in a crockpot.

2 bags dry light red beans ( rinse first)
1 medium onion chopped
1 tbsp. garlic powder
1 cup ketchup
1 small can tomato paste
1/3 cup Worcestershire
1 cup brown sugar (light)
7-8 slices thick cut bacon cut up
water to cover the beans, you may need to keep adding during the cooking process
pinch salt

Place beans in crock pot, add water just to cover beans. In a bowl mix together, ketchup, brown sugar, tomato paste, garlic powder and Worcestershire. Fry bacon pieces in a pan but not until crisp, I would say about 5 minutes on medium . (reserve bacon grease) sauté onion in the grease for another 5 minutes. Add bacon and onions to the pot, then add the sauce. Cook on low 15 - 20 hours. Seems like a lot of time but these beans were the best I have ever had. Keep checking every so often and add water as needed. My neighbor actually cooked this for 15 hours on low the day before the 4th of July, then turned the crockpot on warm and the next morning turned it back on for another 5 hours. The beans were still warm from the night before.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

This is a recipe that I use. In order to make it with dry beans, I cook up a batch of small white beans in the crock pot. When they are tender, I measure them out and then make the recipe exactly as written, only with the cooked dried beans instead of the canned ones. (I'm not a big fan of canned pork and beans)


Southern-Style Baked Beans

8 slices bacon, in small pieces (About 1 inch)
1 medium onion, cut into small dice
1 medium green pepper, cut into small dice


3 standard size cans pork and beans. or 5 cups of pre-cooked tender dried beans.

1/4 cup Sweet Baby Ray's barbecue sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white or cider vinegar
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 glug of good Kentucky bourbon


Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees.



Fry bacon until bacon has partially cooked. You want fat rendered out, but don't get it crisp. Remove bacon from pan and drain on paper towels. Pour off the bacon grease, leaving just a small amount of grease in the pan Add onions and peppers to drippings in pan and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes.



Mix all ingredients together. Pour flavored beans into a heavy weight oven proof pan. Cast iron does the best job. Bake, covered, until beans are bubbly and sauce is the consistency of pancake syrup, about 2 hours. Let stand to thicken slightly and serve.


Cook's notes:


These freeze well and microwave. So I usually make a double recipe.


I've made the recipe with black beans and that makes superb flavor, but doesn't look like people expect. Not bad looking, just different.


Once, when out of Sweet Baby Ray's, I used sweet chili sauce (the Southern style, not Mexican style). It was excellent, but a very different flavor. My family likes the Sweet Baby Ray's better.