Baked bean 911

Why don’t my beans come out right?

Last year I decided to get myself a beanpot, but since then I have not made a batch that turned out right. Then are too aldante, too white, and don’t have that rich dark taste. The are boston baked beans, by the way. What am I doing wrong?

This is a small beanpot, 3/4 quart I believe. I use:

2/3 cup white beans
2/3 cup bean water (that the beans softened in)
1 onion
2 slices bacon
1 tbs molasses
1 tbs brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt (I think)
1/4 tsp dry mustard

This recipe is the very definition of bland. The other day I tripled the molasses and sugar, and the beans came out cloyingly sweet, and yet still bland.

My beans have added Worchestershire, a few splashes of pepper sauce, and more onion. I also spread them into a casserole dish and bake/broil them at the end.

Use more molasses and not quite so much brown sugar.

I definitely can’t use more onion, as I can’t even fit a whole one in the pot.

Do your beans turn color? Mine are still white. How long do you bake them?

4-5 hours, usually. I have a much bigger pot, so my measurements, such as they are, are based on that. That breaks down to say 5 hours in the pot, then a half hour to an hour in the pan uncovered for browning. I rarely time it, to tell the truth. I make beans like I make beer, strictly Jedi.

The beans will remain “mostly” white, depending on the kind of white bean you use. Standard “White Kidney” beans will stay fairly white, with just a light brown hue.

Chili beans, or Pinto beans are already a bit brown, and will look better. (and some swear by them) Great northern beans are white, and do in a pinch…

but…

My wife uses Navy beans, which tend to absorb the color well, and have a soft translucent shell when fully cooked. These are the bean of choice for the Butler household, and used in my FIL’s recipies from his Navy days (USS Saratoga, mid 60s. The fried chicken in the enlisted messes was his recipe if any dopers were onboard at that time.)

No cover on the beanpot, top with liquid as needed to keep the right amount in there. I’d also be using a bit more mustard powder, bacon (including a lump of salt pork, partly rendered, and floating on the top) and mollasses. [at least double each quantity] Cook them until the top ones are almost a bit hard on the outside (carmelization)

Everything I ever wanted to know about beans…

I’ve never had a bad batch with Alton’s recipe.

I do use a cast iron dutch oven, and follow the recipe to the letter in all other respects as well. I’m not even a huge bean fan, and these are delicious. Note he includes both jalapenos and some cayenne, so this may be what you’re looking for. Though I haven’t really noticed heat per se. Mostly they taste sweet and savory and rich.

Ditch the bacon and use a big ol’ hunk of salt pork cut into pieces. Then, add some maple syrup. Then add more. :wink: Maybe some more salt? 1/2 teaspoon seems like a small amount for a whole bean pot full.

My recipe is similar to the OP’s, though the amounts are different…but then the OP is using a smaller beanpot, too. But the important thing is the last line of the recipe…“Uncover last 1/2 hour to brown if necessary.”

In my experience using this recipe for the past 40 years, no browning takes place until that last half hour. I use navy beans, too.

Here’s my recipe, for comparison. They are not spicy, but I wouldn’t call them bland, either.

Boy Scout Baked Beans

1 lb. navy beans, dry
1/4 lb. salt pork
1/2 T. salt
1 small onion, diced, or 1T dry minced onion
1/4 c. molasses (unsulfered)
1/4 c. dark brown sugar
1/4 t. dry mustard

Soak beans overnight. Parboil 10 minutes or until skins pop, with 1/2 t baking soda added to the water. Rinse in cold water.

Mix all ingredients together, bake in covered pot at 300’ or less for 3-6 hours. Add hot water as needed. Uncover last 1/2 hour to brown if necessary

This recipe sounds kinda hickish, but it makes the best baked beans I’ve ever had.

A few cans of pork and beans–any brand
Onion
Ketchup
Brown sugar
Bacon

Some of the bacon should be crispy and some of it cooked, but still soft. Sautee the chopped onions in with the crispy bacon. Put the beans in a casserole dish and add the bacon mixture, including some, but not all of the grease. Then add ketchup and brown sugar. I’m not sure of the exact measurments, you have to eyeball it and then taste it to make sure you have the right amounts of everything.

Stir that up and stick it in an oven set to 350 for about a half hour with the lid on, then take the lid off and bake for another 15 min. or so. That’s another thing you have to eyeball. It should be bubbly and hot, but be careful not to overcook.

Good beans take a while to master. Its the kind of dish you can tinker with, adding your own ideas into it (ham instead of bacon, or white sugar combined with the brown sugar). I never stray from the original recipe though, because IMO it is perfect just the way it is.

I forgot a recent addition to my wife’s recipe. Beer. A good one, in place of the water.

FIL thought that was an amazing addition to his tried & true recipe, and added into the “master copy.”

This idea intrigues me. One would think that they’d get dried out that way, and only the top would brown.

I’m totally thinking that Baked Bean 911 could be a new reality show. “Watch as our celebrity baked-bean experts bring recipes – and relationships – back from the brink of disaster!”