Homemade baked beans

[Camprunner]

Every year the wife and I go to visit an old family friend and she cooks some simple comfort food but always makes her homemade baked beans as a side dish and they are fantastic! Anyone here make homemade baked beans? Is it difficult?

Living in Massachusetts and going to Boston quite often there are several restaurants that make there own baked beans and I always get them as a side dish. This does not seem to be offered in other cities I have visited over the years. I'm guessing homemade baked beans is more of a New England thing?

 

[xBa380]

I make them all the time and just wing the recipe each time, so it's unique. But primarily I will just sauté some onions and sometimes bacon until rendered down, add quantities of ketchup, brown sugar, white and apple cider vinegar, liquid smoke, Worchester sauce, spices (salt/pepper/cayenne/garlic/cumin/etc…). Lastly, the beans… Typically use a mix of black bean, kidney, chickpea, whatever. Then I just tinker until I get the flavor profile I am after. Add more dark brown sugar or molasses if you want it sweeter, or vinegar if you want more acidity tartness. For spice, I have dozens of hot sauces I can use ranging from basics like Sriracha to stuff like Mad Dog 357 and pure Reaper mash.

I have a lot of fun making beans like this… Easy on the stove top and uniquely different each time. Once everything is all happy together, ill simmer on low for 30mins to an hour and call it done.

 

[BigD1]

I don't make baked beans, but I do make chuckwagon beans. Chuckwagon beans are kind of like baked beans, but they have meat(bacon and hamburger), and are easy to make.

 

[gathermewool]

Originally Posted by BigD1
I don't make baked beans, but I do make chuckwagon beans. Chuckwagon beans are kind of like baked beans, but they have meat(bacon and hamburger), and are easy to make.


That sounds freaking fantastic!

 

[53' Stude]

Originally Posted by xBa380
I make them all the time and just wing the recipe each time, so it's unique. But primarily I will just sauté some onions and sometimes bacon until rendered down, add quantities of ketchup, brown sugar, white and apple cider vinegar, liquid smoke, Worchester sauce, spices (salt/pepper/cayenne/garlic/cumin/etc…). Lastly, the beans… Typically use a mix of black bean, kidney, chickpea, whatever. Then I just tinker until I get the flavor profile I am after. Add more dark brown sugar or molasses if you want it sweeter, or vinegar if you want more acidity tartness. For spice, I have dozens of hot sauces I can use ranging from basics like Sriracha to stuff like Mad Dog 357 and pure Reaper mash.

I have a lot of fun making beans like this… Easy on the stove top and uniquely different each time. Once everything is all happy together, ill simmer on low for 30mins to an hour and call it done.


I'm going to have to try making them your way

Thank You

 

[TheLawnRanger]

I hear that homemade baked beans are good for the heart. The more you eat, the more you enjoy them.

 

[earlyre]

baked Beans were always one of Mom's Staples at family picnics. as we got older a couple cousins asked for her recipe and were astonished how simple they are to make, they thought she started fully from scratch, with dried beans and whatnot. Far From it.

recipe as follows:
in an appropriate sized crockery (i swear it's the crock that MAKES the dish)
combine 1 Medium-large can (some where in the 30-45oz range IIRC) VanCamps Pork and Beans. (I cannot stress hard enough that it must be VanCamps.)
a few tablespoons of brown sugar( to taste really, maybe 1 TBS per 15 oz of beans?)
2-3 strips of bacon on top.
bake @350 for 60-90 min, depending on size of batch.
there will be an obvious but slight darkening, and the sauce will start to thicken when done.
if the bacon doesn't look cooked, park the whole thing under the broiler for a few minutes to finish it off.

so simple, yet folks will swear you've been slaving over a hot stove all day.

it's seriously just that easy.
Pork & Beans, Brown Sugar, Bacon. Bake.

some times i make a batch just for me with the small 15 oz can, in a small cast iron skillet. works almost as well as the crockery.

 

[BigD1]

Van Camps has changed the recipe. They don't taste the same. They don't even have a chunk of pork fat in them now like they did have. Showboat is better, and they still have the pork fat.

 

[earlyre]

Showboat? Never heard of that brand...have to look for it...

 

[BigD1]

Showboat is made by Busch's.

In a recipe like you posted, Van Camp would be OK I reckon. I sure would not turn it down!

Some times I just like to warm a can of pork and beans, grab a pack of Zesta crackers, and eat me some beans. That's when I noticed Van Camp was not the same. It's been a few years ago I think when Con Agra changed the Van Camp recipe. It's sweeter, more soupy, and no chunk of pork fat. Showboat is thicker, less sweet, and they come with pork fat.

 

[jhellwig]

I love me some good homemade baked beans. I need to learn how to do it. I never could get pork and beans to turn into good baked beans without being a soupy mess. Bucshs canned baked beans are barley tolerable in my opinion. Heinz makes good canned baked beans.

The best baked beans I ever had were from my high school cafeteria. I am sure they came from a can but they were good.

 

[NYEngineer]

My dad makes killer baked Lima beans. I really should get the recipe from him...

My mom used to make a baked bean thing that's more like the chuck wagon beans BigD1 mentioned. They're awesome. I have that recipe if anyone wants to see it.

Hey, it's in my phone... Here it is.

1/2 pound hamburger
1/2 pound chopped bacon
1 chopped onion
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup bbq sauce
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons prepared mustard
2 tablespoons moleasses
1 teaspoon chili powder
salt and pepper
16 oz can red kidney beans
24 oz can pork and beans
16 oz can butter beans
Brown beef, bacon and onion and drain.
Add everything except the beans, mix. Add beans. Mix.
Bake at 350 for one hour.
Serves 16-20.

 

[hatt]

Anyone making them with dried beans?

 

[JLawrence08648]

America's Test Kitchen has a recipe using Busch's, saying they couldn't make it work using dried beans, whether soaked, pressure cooker, or.....

 

[hatt]

I've had good luck with dried beans in chili. I actually bought a 5lb bag of navy beans a couple months ago to make baked beans but haven't gotten around to it.

 

[Shannow]

If using dried beans, make sure that you soak them and soak them to remove the antinutritive alkaloids.

(You can use the soaking water to kill fleas on your dogs)

 

[Silk]

The first food I learnt how to cook. Open a can, put in a pot and heat...butter some toast and pour it on.

 

[Shannow]

I lob in a half teaspoon of curry powder if I'm feeling flash.

 

[hatt]

Originally Posted by Silk
The first food I learnt how to cook. Open a can, put in a pot and heat...butter some toast and pour it on.
I thought beans and toast was just something Peppa Pig ate.

 

[Jarlaxle]

My mother has made them...but honestly, for New England baked beans, B&M original is maybe 90+% as good as homemade.

My mother calls me a heretic for it, but I also like the tomato-based sauce baked beans...the original is Campbells, but I found Walmart's house brand is just as good.