When there’s fresh snow outside, I often begin to crave baked beans. But not only am I too lazy to cook up a batch from scratch, I see no point in doing so with Bush’s baked beans on the store shelves (and in my pantry).
I usually get a can of Homestyle beans (tangy sauce with bacon and brown sugar) and a can of Maple Cured Bacon (d’uh!). Mix 'em in one pot. Start to warm and add some Worcestershire, A1 sauce, more maple syrup, a little mustard, dried onion flakes, some hot sauce and simmer until lava hot temp is reached.
Serving suggestions: a couple of knackwurst sausages, or pork chops - my fave.
Yeah, Bush’s Homestyle and Grilling beans populate my pantry and I’ll add some brown sugar, ketchup and sometimes some sauteed onion to rpetty much all their flavors. I don’t stir in the ketchup but leave it on top where it gets to a thicker, flavorful set.
I don’t enjoy them, but my family does. When I make them, I start with Bush’s and always add sauteed onion and sometimes, celery; some barbecue sauce, vinegar, hot pepper sauce and plenty of black pepper. Then I bake it in the oven.
Some small apple chunks ain’t bad in there, either.
I don’t lack for real onions but there’s a method behind my dried onion flakes madness. The ones I buy have this toasted flavour that I really like. And when they get hydrated in the sauce, there’s a nice toothy texture to them that I like.
Maple Cured Bacon is the flavour of Bush’s beans. Not actually bacon in a can. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
To be precise, those aren’t baked beans. those are bachelored-up canned beans. A completely different creature. If I am making some, the Bush’s gets hit with a bunch of hot sauce, fresh chopped onions, diced whatever meat I find in the fridge, BBQ sauce, Worcestershire sauce and a couple of grinds of fresh black pepper. Then I eat it with tortilla chips.
Does anyone ever make baked beans from scratch? Every time I ask someone how they make baked beans, it’s always, “Well, first I buy a can of baked beans, and then I…”
Almost forgot the peppers! Can’t have a proper bachelor meal without peppers added to damn-near everything. Dice some of the roasted red peppers from the jar in the fridge.
I actually made baked beans earlier this week, and am having leftovers today, and I did bake them. I started by frying up some chopped bacon, and sauteeing an onion in the bacon grease, plus garlic, cumin, paprika, and a couple of dried chili peppers. Then I rinsed the sauce off a few cans of pork-n-beans, and replaced it with a mixture of ketchup, BBQ sauce, and mustard, plus more garlic (sauteed and unsauteed garlic have different flavors, and I like both). I should have added brown sugar or maple syrup at this point, too, but discovered to my dismay that I was out of both. It still worked out pretty well, though: About 3/4 of them got eaten at the potluck I was at.
My wife and I have a bean pot that my great grandmother owned. We spent the day baking the beans, getting the onions, cutting the bacon, adding the brown sugar, spices etc. and after about 8 hours - they were fine. Got great, but fine. And they were on par with B&M baked beans (the best baked beans on the planet by-the-way).
(As an aside, this made us look for a term for food that when mass produced (a can of beans) is as good as the same food made from scratch for hours (home made beans)). We couldn’t find one. Jiffy corn bread is also in this category.
Ok, so that thread basically negated any possibility of using a crockpot to make baked beans and while I’m enough of a risk taker to leave the crockpot going while I’m at work, I won’t leave the oven on. If I make baked beans on a Sunday, what’s the best reheating method for weekday meals? Back in the oven for 15 minutes? On the stovetop? Just eat them cold and live with my poor choices?
To reheat the next day, I simply add a splash of water to thin the sauce a bit. Reheat on the stovetop on med low, stirring from time to time to avoid burning. Good as the first night every time.
I find baked beans reheated in the microwave to be just as fine as heating on the stove top. There’s so much liquid that it really shouldn’t make a difference.
