How do you all make home made Boston Baked Beans?

[key west chick]

I thought Boston baked beans were those hard crunchy candy thingys?!?!

 

[Rosalind]

No no no. First you must have a Bean Pot. This is a weirdly round yet squat casserole-type covered stoneware pot that magically distributes heat exactly right for baked beans.

The beans do not have to be Northern White. I use whatever grew best in the garden, which this year happens to be scarlet runner beans. Trout beans, pintos, any floury bean will work fine.

I don't eat pork, so my beans have tomato paste, molasses, mustard, maple syrup, brown sugar in addition to the fried onion. You pretty much put it all in to taste, with enough liquid to cover the beans well, then bake the pot kinda slowly, either in the oven or next to an open fire or in a wood-fired bread oven or some such. Sorta like a Dutch oven style hearth cooking method. But a regular oven set to 325 works too. If you use the Bean Pot, the beans get all creamy and evenly cooked. Some strange people like the crusty bits that come from uneven cooking, though.

I don't know measurements, because it depends on the size of the bean pot. Everything's just "some." Brown sugar is probably 1/2 c. but everything else gets measured in dollops.

 

[JennsPeeps]

My dad is a Boston transplant and I have to say that no self-respecting Yankee would ever put jalapenos or cayenne pepper into Boston baked beans!! Nor would s/he use the word "y'all".

An authentic recipe is probably more like this:
4 c small white beans
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tsp dry mustard
1 c treacle (molasses ), the darker the better
1/2 lb salt pork or fatty bacon
2 onions

That said, I like my beans with some zing. That recipe looks pretty bland to me. I throw some BBQ sauce in my beans. But hey, I'm a left coaster, not a Bostonian!

 

[Ottoman]

Quote:
I just read a book called “Soldier Life” by Time-Life books; it is short stories from letters written home by young men during the civil war. From Private William Bircher, 2D Minnesota Infantry 1861, tell how he was invited one night to a breakfast by Bill Hunter
K Company. Private William Bircher describes how, just at sundown Bill Hunter put together a recipe [very similar to the one you posted “banter”,] and placed the covered pot into a 3’X 3’ hole in the ground that had hot colas in it, and covered it and let it baked over night. In the morning Bill Hunter shook Private William Bircher, saying “breakfast is ready”. Private William Bircher said at the end of his letter in 1861 about them “Baked Beans” that; “The proof of the pudding is in the eating.

I am giving this a go!

 

[b-cuz]

Well, y'all, a Yankee friend of mine from NYC (New York City not Chicken) gave me a very good recipe for a crock pot. It's more like a dessert to me, but most Boston Baked Beans are.

1 lb . dry navy beans
1/2 lb. bacon
1/2 C molasses
1/2 C brown sugar
2-3 tsp (heaping) brown mustard
1 ea big squirt catsup
1-2 tsp black pepper
1 ea largest onion you can find
1-2 tsp chopped garlic (optional)
(I like it better without the garlic)

Rinse & pick over the beans.
Boil the beans for 45-60 min. until they are just soft enough to eat, leave them a little on the firm side.
Let the beans soak overnight
Drain the beans well and put in crock pot.
Dump in all other ingredients and stir until evenly mixed
Cook about 12 hours on low

Finished beans will be very thick and dense, much thicker than refried beans or barbecued beans.

(I like to soak the beans for 2 or 3 hours before boiling them which means you boil them for a much shorter time.)

Takes a while, but they are good.

 

[banter]

Personally, I don't think you can go bad with any of these recipes!

 

[chickabator]

I do mine the easy way

4 cans of pork and beans
1 1/2 c. brown sugar
1 onion
1/2 cup ketchup
1 t yellow mustard

mix all together in a baking pan top with sliced bacon bake in a 350 oven for about 2 hours

everyone here in the family or anyone else that has ate them absoloutly loves them. they are even good cold
and a whole lot easier to make

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

My dad is a Boston transplant and I have to say that no self-respecting Yankee would ever put jalapenos or cayenne pepper into Boston baked beans!! Nor would s/he use the word "y'all".

This is sort of what I thought but hey I tried it and it was GOOD! It said it was from Boston. I'm not from Boston so who am I to argue

All I know is I want to make the darn thing every other day.​

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

I thought Boston baked beans were those hard crunchy candy thingys?!?!

I DO remember those things too! They were not my favorite though.​

 

[redoak]

Recipe I use most of the time when making beans:

Boston Baked Beans

2 LB beans
2 large onions
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1 TBSP garlic
1 cup Dinosuar BBQ sauce
1/3 cup homemade maple syrup
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 bay leaves
1 TBSP dry mustard
1 tsp black peppercorns
1/4 LB bacon
1/4 LB salt pork