Pork and Beans

Well they sure look mighty tasty. Like you, I have never tried scratch baked beans......thanks for the motivation. By the looks of that plate, you shurly didn' t go hungry.

I enjoy cooking baked beans from scratch. Frankly, as easy as they are to make I don't understand why people use canned beans (if they have the time to cook). They are a family favorite. Yours look good to me. 

Interesting cook.  I like your pivot moves. End product looks great bro!  

Looks good to me. Try buying a package of "country style ribs" which usually at our butcher is sliced bone in butt. You can get several pounds and the bones pull easily.

northGAcock said:

Any of you posting or reading this thread have a recipe for Boston Style Baked Beans....they are my favorite....and would like to give them a try also.

i grew up with yellow eyes over navy beans in my boston baked, but now use 3 beans, the reds turn into a sauce and the kidney brings texture, yelloweyes bring flavor

yellow eyes have the most flavor and is what i grew up on. i now mix my beans ands use three types, adds a different texture and the smaller beans will add more to the sauce flavor. this is my current version, what ever been you find was traditional to you is what you should use but this is the basic recipe and applies to any maine been. i believe most of maine uses either yellow eyes or great northerns, the smaller navy beans are more local to the boston area. bean pots make great beans, they are not as good coming from a crock pot as the salt pork doesnt brown up properly. google thepotshopofboston they have the right pot to use, the gallon size is the right size to get and comes with a recipe very similar to mine

heres the recipe

BOSTON BAKED BEANS
2 small onions sliced thick
2 pounds beans,mix kidney, yellow eye, red beans (sometimes great northers). of all the beans, yellow eyes have the best flavor IMHO
3 TBL brown sugar
3TBL white sugar
2tsp dry mustard
half pound salt pork
1 cup molasses
1TBL sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1tsp baking soda

soak beans 24 hours in water. bring to a simmer and remove 2 cups water and reserve(dont reserve water after it has the baking soda added). add soda to the beans and simmer 1 half hour, turn off and soak for 1 hour. drain and toss this liguid.
bring other ingrediants and reserved water to a boil. layer onions beans onions beans then salt pork floating on top and add the sauce.add boiled water to cover beans.
in the egg i setup at 250 inderect with no saltpork for the first hour or so, then add the pork and cook for 5 hours covered. remove cover for last hour to brown the pork. total cook time is about 6-8 hours, make sure all ingrediants are hot before putting into the egg. after the beans are softened and fully cooked i add a little more molasses to taste if they are bland

one thing that ive found is that different water supplys make the times different. my water demands that the soak times are long and that simmering first is needed with the beans or they are hard when cooked. ive used other water sources and did not have this problem
i use a bean pot,

This is a great thread! I really love beans cooked on the Egg. I cook mine in a Lodge CI 5 quart DO uncovered. I like to throw a lot of smoke onto the beans. I rarely have the forethought to soak my beans, so I take a shortcut and cook them in the pressure cooker for 27 minutes before assembling them with the other ingredients. I use navy beans and red kidney beans, but I look forward to trying some yellow eyed beans. And instead of salt I use a little bit of Dizzy Dust. If you have any tamarind paste sitting in the back of your fridge, throw a teaspoon or two of it into your next beans!

I don't use any oil or meat when preparing my beans, and they turn out really delicious, even according to my non-plant-based-whole-foods friends.

Without the meat or fat in the recipe, the smoke adds so much richness to the beans. I cook mine uncovered on the BGE at around 250º for about 4 hours. I often add a bit of water at the 2.5-3 hour point. I start with cooked beans, but over the 4hrs in the Egg with the other ingredients the whole thing comes together beautifully. The beans develop a crust on the top that I stir in to integrate at the end of the cook.

Here's my entire recipe (I use 2 cups of navy and 1 cup of red kidney beans cooked for 27 minutes in the pressure cooker for this):

Geez...I don't know. It's a typical electric PC with a stainless steel bowl. The beans have texture when they are done in the PC, and they still have texture after cooking on the Egg.

 I did a huge pot of Boston style great northern beans under a brisket flat for New Years on my LBGE. 2#s beans. 7# flat. It is about time I do another under a pork butt or picnic.

Carolina Q said:

@CtTOPGUN, your's looks much better than mine! Care to throw your recipe into the pot too?

 I used this Youtube vid for the basics. I cook by sight and feel, so I always modify a bit depending on mood or what is in the pantry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKOm_IXi90E

Those beans look great. I may give this a try. 

Carolina Q said:

Interesting. Same guy, different video. Yours still looks better than mine... or his! Thanks!

 Thank you for the complement! I don't always fret over presentation or looks. Would never study classic french methods for appearance. More of a nuts and bolts kinda person. But when it does look good it adds something.

   Jim