# Real!!!! Baked beans



## summerf (Mar 22, 2011)

Hi,  I am trying to find a recipe for real baked beans and most of the recipes seem to use canned beans.  I tried many years ago to make baked beans in my slow cooker and they were as hard as rocks.  I soaked them overnight and also simmered them for about an hour the next day before I put them into the crock pot.  Go figure!!
I do have an old fashioned bean crock which I could also use so I would appreciate any REAL bean recipes out there.
P.S.  I got replies two weeks ago regarding a baked ham dinner and side dishes with salad (homemade dressing) and I took input from everyone and my dinner was a great success all around.
I enjoy this site so much and appreciate all the help I have received over the years.  I have been married for 45 years but unfortunately my cooking leaves a lot to be desired.  I am great at cooking large meals like boiled dinners, etc. (coming from a large family) but being a part of this site has really helped me improve my cooking abilities and my husband is pleased as well.
Take care and have a great day.
Summer


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## chopper (Mar 22, 2011)

This is one you might want to try.  I also make it using a ham and a bay leaf.  Grandma said that you will get tough beans if you add the meat too soon (wives tale???).  I have also heard that the salt needs to be added at the right time so the beans dont break apart too much (again-wives tale???) You be the judge.  Here it is.  There are so many recipes to try.  Let me know if you need another for any reason, and I will send more.

New England Baked Beans

Rinse 1 pound (2 cups) dried navy beans.  Combine beans and 8 cups cold water in kettle.  Bring to boiling.  Simmer 2 minutes;  remove from heat.  Cover; let stand one hour.  (or add beans to the cold water and soak overnight).

Add 1/2 teaspoon salt to beans and water.  Cover; simmer until tender, about 1 hour or more.  Drain, reserving liquid.  Measure 2 cups liquid, adding water if needed; mix with 1/2 cup molasses, 1/3 cup brown sugar, and one teaspoon dried mustard.

Cut 1/4 pound salt pork in half.  Score one half; set aside.  Grind or thjinly slice remainder.  In 2 quart bean pot or casserolecombine beans; 1 medium onion, sliced; and ground salt pork.  Pour sugar-bean liquid over.  Top with scored pork.  Cover; bake at 300F for 5-7 hours.  Add more liquid, if needed.  Serves 8.


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## jennyema (Mar 22, 2011)

Here's the recipe I use.  It's from Alton Brown and is terrific:

The Once and Future Beans Recipe : Alton Brown : Food Network


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## Andy M. (Mar 22, 2011)

jennyema said:


> Here's the recipe I use.  It's from Alton Brown and is terrific:
> 
> The Once and Future Beans Recipe : Alton Brown : Food Network




The recipe looks good except for the tomato.  As a New Englander, tomato in baked beans is anathema.


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## Rocklobster (Mar 22, 2011)

Over the years, I have found that, although baked beens seem easy enough, there is still a good possibility of failure. You really need to keep an eye on them through out the cooking procedure. Some beans will absorb the liquid way more, or faster than others. You need to be there, and check occasionally, to make some adjustments as the beans cook. Especially in the later part of the cooking process.
I usually keep some stock, or other liquid, handy, so if they seem to be drying out and still hard, you can add it to the beans.


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## Bolas De Fraile (Mar 22, 2011)

Andy M. said:


> The recipe looks good except for the tomato. As a New Englander, tomato in baked beans is anathema.


is anathema a New England  enema


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## Rocklobster (Mar 22, 2011)

Andy M. said:


> The recipe looks good except for the tomato. As a New Englander, tomato in baked beans is anathema.


 
I feel the same way about molasses. Plechh! Up in these parts, lots of people use ketchup, which is something I don't care for.


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## chopper (Mar 22, 2011)

Rocklobster said:


> I feel the same way about molasses. Plechh! Up in these parts, lots of people use ketchup, which is something I don't care for.


 
What do you put in your beans, Rocklobster?


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## Rocklobster (Mar 22, 2011)

Very basic. Beans, beef stock, salt pork or bacon, onions, brown sugar, garlic, salt'n'peppa, tomato paste.


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## Bolas De Fraile (Mar 22, 2011)

Aww come on guys pick on me I'm a Brit and I eat Heinz baked beans cold out of the tin.


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## chopper (Mar 22, 2011)

Rocklobster said:


> Very basic. Beans, beef stock, salt pork or bacon, onions, brown sugar, garlic, salt'n'peppa, tomato paste.


 
That sounds good too.  I have made them that way too.  I usually use what I have available.  You know...throw in this or that.  Usually don't actually use the recipe, just make them like Mom did, and Grandma did, and Great Grandma did...


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## Rocklobster (Mar 22, 2011)

chopper said:


> That sounds good too. I have made them that way too. I usually use what I have available. You know...throw in this or that. Usually don't actually use the recipe, just make them like Mom did, and Grandma did, and Great Grandma did...


My mother never used tomato, molasses or beef stock. The finished product is very a very white bean color. Somehow, they still taste great.  I guess they had less products available to them when they learned to cook. With so much available these days, I just can't help myself with most recipes. But, baked beans are one of those recipes that I try to make with as least ingredients possible.


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## Rocklobster (Mar 22, 2011)

Bolas De Fraile said:


> Aww come on guys pick on me I'm a Brit and I eat Heinz baked beans cold out of the tin.


One place I worked at years ago served those on their breakfast buffet. I opened hundreds of 100 oz cans over the years. They aren't too bad. I prefer a dryer bean as opposed to the saucy kind, though.


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## PrincessFiona60 (Mar 22, 2011)

I use the pan juices from my pork ribs to make my baked beans, plus any pork left over.  Soak the beans overnight, rinse and drain, layer with sliced onions and minced garlic pour pan juices over, add water if needed and cook on low in the crock pot till done.


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## Andy M. (Mar 22, 2011)

Bolas De Fraile said:


> Aww come on guys pick on me I'm a Brit and I eat Heinz baked beans cold out of the tin.




You don't need to be picked on, you need professional help!  If you must eat canned beans, go for the B&M brand.


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## Rocklobster (Mar 22, 2011)

PrincessFiona60 said:


> I use the pan juices from my pork ribs to make my baked beans, plus any pork left over. Soak the beans overnight, rinse and drain, layer with sliced onions and minced garlic pour pan juices over, add water if needed and cook on low in the crock pot till done.


 
Nice one, PF. I've made some with a bit of bbq sauce also, and they can be quite nice.  Especially as a side for a bbq meal.


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## 4meandthem (Mar 22, 2011)

You Brits and your baked beans......


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## Rocklobster (Mar 22, 2011)

..


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## Chief Longwind Of The North (Mar 22, 2011)

G.W.'s Baked Great Lakes Style Baked Beans:

Now we know that Boston is beantown, and that they use mollases exclusively to add that wonderful flavor to Boston Baked beans.  But that isn't the only kind of sweetener that goes well with the little legumes (did you know that in California, beans are sometimes reffered to as "barking spyder eggs).

Here in Great Lakes country, we have lots of maple trees.  So, every now and again, for a treat, we use pure, grade b maple syrup to sweeten the beans.

So here's how I make them.

Ingredients: 
1 quart of either uncooked Great Northern, or Navy beans
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup grade b maple syrup
1/ cup dark brown brown sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tbs. prepared yellow mustard
1 lb. of your choice - maple cured bacon, smoky ham, smoked ham hocks, or jowls, or fresh boston Butt roast, with bone.

Wash the beans in running water and place into a 3 quart pot.  Cover with water so that there are two inches above the beans.  Bring to a boil and let cook for 20 minutes.  Remove from heat and let cool.  Drain.  Add fresh water, again so that it fill the pot 2 inches above the beans and bring to a boil.  Add the salt, cover and let simmer for an hour.  Test the beans.  They need to be soft, not almost soft.  If they are not tender, cook another ten to twenty minutes and retest.

While the beans are cooking, slice the meat into bite-sized chunks and lightly brown them in a pan.  Remove from heat and let cool.

When the beans are soft, drain any excess water from the pot.  Add the remaining ingredients.  Stir, cover and place in a crock pot, or in the oven, covered, and bake or slow cook for about three hours.  Stir every half hour or so.  If you desire, you can add just a bit of liquid smoke to the pot.

After you have made these beans, you can play with the flavors by adding barbecue sauce, or a bit of tomato paste.  Worcestershire sauce also work in baked beans.  Of course you can use molasses instead of maple syrup.  I've had some very good beans that were primarily Boston style, but with a bit of chili powder added.

But whatever flavor you like best, it is essential that the beans be very tender before adding any acid containing ingredients, such as prepared mustard, vinegar, catchup, tomato, etc.  The acid reacts with the protein in the beans to make them hard, and they just won't soften after that.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North


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## jacky77 (Mar 22, 2011)

the baked bean bath made me nauseous...


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## jacky77 (Mar 22, 2011)

i have to admit i had to look up two things on this thread..
anathema-a person or thing detested or loathed...
and 
barking spyder eggs-since i live in California i had to look it up. i didn't find anything on it, but now i have to ask people if they've heard of that term.


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## Chief Longwind Of The North (Mar 22, 2011)

California Barking Spider, aka Arkansas Barking Spider, aka Michigan Deer Camp Buck Snort

See here: Definition of Barking Spider | The Online Slang Dictionary

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North


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## jacky77 (Mar 22, 2011)

lol. ok...now i get it...unfortunately i don't think we really use it that much...i will resurrect the phrase! just you wait and see!


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## taxlady (Mar 22, 2011)

That trick with boiling the beans for two minutes and then letting them sit for an hour before boiling them for real, works amazingly well. Much better than overnight soaking. Learned it here.

The only time I ever enjoyed baked beans was when a friend made them. She used fresh beans from her garden and bear as the meat.


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## jennyema (Mar 22, 2011)

I, for one, could eat baked beans at every meal.  I did last night.

Even though I've lived in Boston fir more than half my life, I still don't like a really heavy molasses bean.

And don't believe anyone that says not to add salt till the end if cooking.  Salt doesn't inhibit softening


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## Alix (Mar 22, 2011)

Found it! I happen to have some beans that are going to get the GW treatment this week.


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## Barbara L (Mar 22, 2011)

summerf said:


> Hi,  I am trying to find a recipe for real baked beans and most of the recipes seem to use canned beans.  I tried many years ago to make baked beans in my slow cooker and they were as hard as rocks.  I soaked them overnight and also simmered them for about an hour the next day before I put them into the crock pot.  Go figure!!
> I do have an old fashioned bean crock which I could also use so I would appreciate any REAL bean recipes out there...
> Take care and have a great day.
> Summer


If this was addressed, I missed it. If there was tomato or ketchup (anything with tomatoes) in it, that could explain the hard beans. For some reason beans cooked in a slow cooker with tomato often turn out hard.


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## polly479 (Mar 22, 2011)

I hardly measure anything, just taste, but I add onions, brown sugar, mustard and ketchup. I mix it all till it tastes just right to me, brown ground beef, drain and add bean mixture, put all in baking dish, lay strips of bacon over top and bake at 350 degrees. I have always made them like this and EVERYONE asks for the recipe. My daughter in law recently took them to a church dinner and said they were a huge hit! May not sound too good, but I swear, they are delicious, better than any I've had anywhere.


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## CWS4322 (Mar 22, 2011)

I make mine similar to RockLobster BUT I use maple syrup (okay, I'm rubbing it in--we are evap'ing 40 liters of sap tonight...that is TODAY's haul from our 6 taps). The forge has been going 24/7 since yesterday.


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## taxlady (Mar 22, 2011)

CWS4322 said:


> I make mine similar to RockLobster BUT I use maple syrup (okay, I'm rubbing it in--we are evap'ing 40 liters of sap tonight...that is TODAY's haul from our 6 taps). The forge has been going 24/7 since yesterday.



Doesn't 40 litres of sap give 1 litre of syrup?


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## Zhizara (Mar 22, 2011)

jennyema said:


> I, for one, could eat baked beans at every meal.  I did last night.
> 
> Even though I've lived in Boston fir more than half my life, I still don't like a really heavy molasses bean.
> 
> And don't believe anyone that says not to add salt till the end if cooking.  Salt doesn't inhibit softening



The need to salt at the end is because of evaporation.  Salting just 20 minutes before the beans are done will result in too salty beans.

I learned it the hard way.


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## CWS4322 (Mar 22, 2011)

taxlady said:


> Doesn't 40 litres of sap give 1 litre of syrup?


 
Yup--that's what they say. It takes about 24 hours to evap 40 liters to 1 liter of syrup. And it you don't watch it during the "finishing stage" you can end up with sugar--which is less than 1 liter of syrup. 

Good news--the "lake" is now just a swamp. Only about 6-10 inches of water to wade through to reach the sap buckets.


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## CWS4322 (Mar 22, 2011)

Swedish brown beans--taxlady, what kind of beans are used? Do you have a recipe for these?


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## polly479 (Mar 22, 2011)

Ooooooh, yes, maple syrup is good!  I often use molasses, which I failed to mention.


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## Rocklobster (Mar 22, 2011)

CWS4322 said:


> I make mine similar to RockLobster BUT I use maple syrup (okay, I'm rubbing it in--we are evap'ing 40 liters of sap tonight...that is TODAY's haul from our 6 taps). The forge has been going 24/7 since yesterday.


I was supposed to help my father in law tap this past weekend at his place up near Algonquin Park. He went ahead and did it without me, so I guess I'll just head up tomorrow and help him where ever he needs me.


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## taxlady (Mar 22, 2011)

CWS4322 said:


> Swedish brown beans--taxlady, what kind of beans are used? Do you have a recipe for these?



Never heard of them before, but apparently they are called, "bruna bönor". According to Swedish Wikipedia, they use "brown beans". 







It says that outside of Sweden and Finland these beans are used a lot in the U.S., especially for "chile con carne".


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## justplainbill (Mar 23, 2011)

Goodweed of the North said:


> California Barking Spider, aka Arkansas Barking Spider, aka Michigan Deer Camp Buck Snort
> 
> See here: Definition of Barking Spider | The Online Slang Dictionary
> 
> Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North


AKA whistleberries


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## jennyema (Mar 23, 2011)

Zhizara said:


> The need to salt at the end is because of evaporation.  Salting just 20 minutes before the beans are done will result in too salty beans.
> 
> I learned it the hard way.



The issue is proper seasoning.  Food needs to be seasoned up front at the beginning of the cooking process and only adjusted at the end.  Beans should be salted as they begin to cook.

There is a "kitchen myth" that salt prevents dry beans from softening.  This isn't true.

Acid and old beans are the likely cause of beans not softening.

If one insists on salting at the end you won't end up with beans that are too salty -- like all cooking just salt to taste.   But what you will end up with is a pot of beans that won't taste as good because the seasoning hasn't been cooked in.


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## Alix (Mar 28, 2011)

Just reporting back. Mine were fantastic! I boiled in plain water for an hour, drained and cooled for a couple hours (outside on the deck), then I simmered in the ham stock stuff I made the day before and let them absorb all that yummy goodness. At the end I tossed in a small tin of tomato paste, a handful of brown sugar and waved the molasses carton at the dutch oven. Then I chopped all the leftover ham (and crumbled the last of the bacon) and tossed it all in. Nirvana. They were without exception the best beans I've made. 

I didn't realize that the soaking step could be replaced with boiling and cooling. This was MUCH better and my beans were uniformly soft and tender. Thanks everyone!


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## CWS4322 (Mar 28, 2011)

Unfortunately, kidney beans are NOT Swedish brown beans. I assumed they were common in Denmark as well (maybe now that the bridge is built, they will become incorporated into Danish cooking...). Of course, having a recipe wouldn't help if I can't find a source for the beans <g>. Although, I see I can order them online. I am hoping I can find them in MN so I don't have to order 10 lb. I am already envisioning my re-entry into Canada with spices from The Spice House, wild rice, some of the Mexican food ingredients...good thing Porter Air allows two bags...one's going to be full of foodie stuff <g>.


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## jennyema (Mar 28, 2011)

CWS4322 said:


> Unfortunately, kidney beans are NOT Swedish brown beans. I assumed they were common in Denmark as well (maybe now that the bridge is built, they will become incorporated into Danish cooking...). Of course, having a recipe wouldn't help if I can't find a source for the beans <g>. Although, I see I can order them online. I am hoping I can find them in MN so I don't have to order 10 lb. I am already envisioning my re-entry into Canada with spices from The Spice House, wild rice, some of the Mexican food ingredients...good thing Porter Air allows two bags...one's going to be full of foodie stuff <g>.


 

You might find them in Ikea's food market.


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## CWS4322 (Mar 28, 2011)

jennyema said:


> You might find them in Ikea's food market.


 
I'll have to check. The Ikea in Ottawa (closest one) has been "under construction" as it is being made bigger (read that, huge!). I have been avoiding it because of the parking mess.


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## taxlady (Mar 28, 2011)

CWS4322 said:


> Unfortunately, kidney beans are NOT Swedish brown beans. I assumed they were common in Denmark as well (maybe now that the bridge is built, they will become incorporated into Danish cooking...). Of course, having a recipe wouldn't help if I can't find a source for the beans <g>. Although, I see I can order them online. I am hoping I can find them in MN so I don't have to order 10 lb. I am already envisioning my re-entry into Canada with spices from The Spice House, wild rice, some of the Mexican food ingredients...good thing Porter Air allows two bags...one's going to be full of foodie stuff <g>.



Why don't you just get wild rice from Ontario?


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## CWS4322 (Mar 28, 2011)

Because I like MN wild rice better; it is a lot cheaper in MN than it is here <g>, and I know the lakes where it grows.


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## Selkie (Mar 28, 2011)

I saw Andrew Zimmern on his TV show, "Bizarre Foods," collecting wild rice from a row boat on a reservation in Minnesota once. It looked very tedious.


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## CWS4322 (Mar 28, 2011)

Selkie said:


> I saw Andrew Zimmern on his TV show, "Bizarre Foods," collecting wild rice from a row boat on a reservation in Minnesota once. It looked very tedious.


 
It is--a friend of mine in HS had a license (permit). We went out on Cass Lake in MN and gathered wild rice...separating the chaff from the grain is even more work (I guess a fanning mill would've helped--we tossed it in large baskets in the air). And, to harvest on lakes where it is truly wild (not cultivated) you had to have "status" to get the permit. Don't know if it is still true. I am still partial to "wild" wild rice and not cultivated.


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## CWS4322 (Mar 28, 2011)

Selkie said:


> I saw Andrew Zimmern on his TV show, "Bizarre Foods," collecting wild rice from a row boat on a reservation in Minnesota once. It looked very tedious.


 
Bizarre? We ate it instead of potatoes...


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## CWS4322 (Mar 28, 2011)

Selkie said:


> I saw Andrew Zimmern on his TV show, "Bizarre Foods," collecting wild rice from a row boat on a reservation in Minnesota once. It looked very tedious.


 
And that is why it is so expensive in other areas. I can get it for $1.99/lb in MN. It is over that for 100 g here in SE Ontario. Having harvested it, I do have an appreciate for why it is so expensive. Ditto for maple syrup and morell mushrooms.


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## CWS4322 (Mar 28, 2011)

Invite me for dinner, and I often bring an lb of MN wild rice as the hostess gift <g>.


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