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OT-Boston Baked Beans

I have wanted a Boston baked bean pot for quite a while, but could never find an affordable one. Couple of days ago I stopped at a grocery store that happens to be right next to a Goodwill store. Decided to check it out because one man's trash is another man's treasure. Lo and behold, they had a made in USA bean pot for only $8. Finally!!

As I was paying for it, another customer in line saw what I was buying and said she happened to have one in her car. She no longer used it and it was mine if I wanted it. So, for 8 bucks, I got two bean pots. I cooked beans tonight! 

I have only the two and I have a ways to go to catch up with @fishlessman's collection...

I hate it when I go to the kitchen for food and all I find are ingredients!                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Michael 
Central Connecticut 

Comments

  • mrs_story
    mrs_story Posts: 136
    That's a cool find!  Especially the good fortune of the lady next to you giving you another!

    I only tried to make baked beans once, and they weren't nearly as good as I had hoped for (especially as long as it took to make them).  I think I wanted a nice mix of sweet from the sugar, and salty/smokey from the bacon.  I tasted mostly sweet.  SO I just doctor up canned baked beans the way I like & call it good. 

    You have a tried & true recipe you'd be willing to share? 
  • JethroVA
    JethroVA Posts: 1,251
    So I cheat all the time with baked beans but folks love them.  Cook some bacon and crumble it up.  Chop up some red onion.  Put some Bushs Baked Beans in a baking pan or pyrex thing.  mix in chopped onion and bacon.  Bake for 40 mins.  then put under the broiler for a few minutes to brown the top.  Awesome. Cheap. and Easy
    Richmond and Mathews County, VA. Large BGE, Weber gas, little Weber charcoal. Vintage ManGrates. Little reddish portable kamado that shall remain nameless here.  Very Extremely Stable Genius. 
  • Carolina Q
    Carolina Q Posts: 14,831
    My baked beans are a work in progress. I have tried a couple of different recipes and am still looking for one worth sharing. Today's recipe was "okay", but it still needs something. I actually started with the recipe from The Pot Shop of Boston today. Still tinkering.

    I hate it when I go to the kitchen for food and all I find are ingredients!                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

    Michael 
    Central Connecticut 

  • Carolina Q
    Carolina Q Posts: 14,831
    @JethroVA, I have to watch my sodium intake and I try hard to avoid most canned foods. Bush's beans are out of the question for me. In fact, I have yet to find a canned baked bean I can eat. Wish I could!!

    I hate it when I go to the kitchen for food and all I find are ingredients!                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

    Michael 
    Central Connecticut 

  • GregW
    GregW Posts: 2,676
    JethroVA said:
    So I cheat all the time with baked beans but folks love them.  Cook some bacon and crumble it up.  Chop up some red onion.  Put some Bushs Baked Beans in a baking pan or pyrex thing.  mix in chopped onion and bacon.  Bake for 40 mins.  then put under the broiler for a few minutes to brown the top.  Awesome. Cheap. and Easy
    Bush's is the starter for my baked beans also. I make them pretty much the same way as you do. The broiler at the end really makes them great.
  • ChillyWillis
    ChillyWillis Posts: 893
    edited July 2016
    Here is a link to a thread I made a while ago that has a baked bean recipe in it that originally came from my great grandmother. The recipe card in it is in my Grams handwriting. It's an amazing recipe and I highly recommend trying it out!

    Also, the thread happens to be done somewhat step by step so there are some photos that help to illustrate parts of the cook (like what the beans look like when they are "blow on them and the skin peels done"). 

    Again in I can't recomend this recipe enough.... My family has been eating them for around 150 years (and you'd can be sure a few pots will be cooking up for the big family reunion next weekend!)

    http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1180001/st-louis-ribs-and-my-great-grandmas-baked-beans/p1
  • mrs_story
    mrs_story Posts: 136
    I doctor Bush's baked beans, too.  ;)   I pour off a bit of the liquid, add some bacon, some dark brown sugar, and some mustard powder (not prepared . . . too vinegary for us).  We all like it that way, so I haven't tried too hard to find a scratch recipe. 
  • mrs_story
    mrs_story Posts: 136
    Here is a link to a thread I made a while ago that has a baked bean recipe in it that originally came from my great grandmother. The recipe card in it is in my Grams handwriting. It's an amazing recipe and I highly recommend trying it out!

    Also, the thread happens to be done somewhat step by step so there are some photos that help to illustrate parts of the cook (like what the beans look like when they are "blow on them and the skin peels done"). 

    Again in I can't recomend this recipe enough.... My family has been eating them for around 150 years (and you'd can be sure a few pots will be cooking up for the big family reunion next weekend!)

    http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1180001/st-louis-ribs-and-my-great-grandmas-baked-beans/p1
    I just read that thread and got a little teary-eyed.  Thanks so much for sharing the recipe, with the hand-written card and the wonderful picture of your grandma.  Those things are so special. 

  • ChillyWillis
    ChillyWillis Posts: 893
    My pleasure! She was a wonderful woman and I like to think she lives on through the beans (and the old stories we tell while scarfing them down).  

    I highly recommend trying out the recipe..... I guarantee it'll give those doctored Bush's a run for their money. 
  • blasting
    blasting Posts: 6,262
    @Carolina Q  nice score on the pot.  I had one on my list for quite some time,  and recently found one at an estate sale. 

    I've never made baked beans before, but in looking at the pot, what would the difference be between a bean pot and a enameled cast iron dutch oven?


    Phoenix 
  • ChillyWillis
    ChillyWillis Posts: 893
    @blasting the best way I could put it is that it's much like cooking a spatchcock chicken on the BGE vs another grill/cooker. Will the spatchcock come out good on another grill... sure, and the flavors and spices used will taste about the same. However the chicken coming off the BGE will be juicier, and have a crispier skin if you're doing it right. 

    It's a similar thing with beans out of a bean pot vs a dutch oven. The beans out of a bean pot have a thickness and consistency that just can't be matched by Dutch oven beans. Will beans out of a Dutch oven taste good? Sure. Will they taste as authentic and as good as beans out of a bean pot.... not a chance. 

    Now if you're starting with a good recipe then you're going to get good beans no matter what. But if you want the best beans, find a pot. 
  • SciAggie
    SciAggie Posts: 6,481
    edited July 2016
    I love scratch baked beans. @blasting I can't say if they are better in a bean pot, but I like the way they come out - and I just enjoy the bean pot. 
    In general I always find cooking beans from scratch is well worth the little effort. If I'm making brisket or ribs I'm cooking a long time anyway. 
    @ChillyWillis That's a great recipe and story. 
    I made these just a week or so ago. 

    Coleman, Texas
    Large BGE & Mini Max for the wok. A few old camp Dutch ovens and a wood fired oven. LSG 24” cabinet offset smoker. There are a few paella pans and a Patagonia cross in the barn. A curing chamber for bacterial transformation of meats...
    "Bourbon slushies. Sure you can cook on the BGE without them, but why would you?"
                                                                                                                          YukonRon