Click here to read about the Zen of beans for tips on working with beans and equivalents for dry, canned, and cooked beans.
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Why molasses?
Molasses is important because in colonial days Boston was a major importer of the sugar syrup from the Caribbean. It was made into rum which was sent to Africa to trade for slaves who were sent to the Caribbean to make more molasses.
The Great Molasses Flood in 1919 killed 21 people and injured more than 100 when a vat exploded and unleashed more than 2 million gallons of the sticky stuff. According to newspaper reports, 30 foot waves of molasses crashed through the streets destroying buildings and sweeping with it horses and wagons.
Molasses are also important because, according to Food Network's Alton Brown, it helps keep the beans from disintegrating. Not sure how this works, but if Alton says so, it must be true.
There are three grades of molasses and any one will work in this recipe. Click here to read more about molasses.
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Boston Baked Beans is the US national bean dish and it is so popular that Boston is known as Beantown. It is the perfect accompaniment for barbecue. Properly made, it includes Navy beans (white kidney beans) sweetened with molasses, studded with fatback, and baked in a stonewear crock or Dutch oven. The recipe is probably descended from the French bean and meat stew, cassoulet.
This recipe below is more Southern than Boston, and will make the best baked beans you've ever had, certain to wow your guests. OK, I know there's a lotta stuff in this recipe, but when you consider that baked beans are really a stew, and stews get complexity from, well, stewing, I say the more stuff, the merrier. The important thing is that it's quick and easy to assemble. Lotsa stuff, little fuss. Besides, nothing that has bacon in it can be bad.
There is an alternative prep, and a lot of rib joints make their beans this way: They take the unsold ribs from yesterday, scrape the meat off the bone, and use it instead of the bacon. Some even add scraps from their other meats. The best ribjoints put their bean pans under the meat in their smokers and let the drippings fall into the stew bringing with them floavor from the rub seasonings, fat, and smoke.
Alert: If you are from Texas, you might not like these beans because they are sweet. That's the way the rest of the nation likes its beans. Sorry.
Recipe
Yield. About 1 quart, about 8 servings of 1/2 cup each
Preparation time. 20 minutes
Cooking time. 45 minutes or more
Ingredients
6 strips of thick cut bacon
2 medium onions, coarsely chopped
1 red bell pepper, coarsley chopped
1 jalapeño, or more or less to your taste, coarsley chopped
1 can (15 ounces) red kidney beans, drained and rinsed with cold water
1 can (15 ounces) white kidney beans, drained and rinsed with cold water
1 can (15 ounces) black beans, drained and rinsed with cold water
1 can (16 ounces) Bush's Original Baked Beans
1/2 cup raisins
1 cup Kansas City style BBQ sauce
4 tablespoons molasses, any grade
1/4 cup Kentucky Bourbon or Tennessee whiskey
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 bay leaf (try not to leave this out)
Option. You can use all one type of bean. The beans in the photo were made with white kidneys only.
Option. 1 teaspoon chili powder or ancho powder.
Option. 1 teaspoon rosemary leaves (not powder).
Option. 1 tart apple such as Granny Smith or Jonathan, peeled, cubed, and add it with the whiskey.
Option. Substitute hot dogs for bacon and you have Beanie Weiners.
Option. Substitute poblanos for bell peppers. Richer flavor and a little heat.
Do this
1) Assemble all your ingredients and measure them.
2) Make sure you are using a 2 quart or larger pot or Dutch oven. Cook the bacon over a medium heat. When it begins to brown, flip it, brown the other side, but remove it before it renders all its fat and gets hard. We want bacon that we can cut, not crumble. You will probably need to do the bacon in two batches. And what the heck, go ahead and cook an extra slice or two and eat it when nobody is watching.
3) Add the onions and peppers and cook them until they wilt.
4) Pour off the bacon fat into a coffee cup leaving behind about 2 tablespoons and most of the brown bits dissolved in the fat. When the fat in the cup begins to cool, but before it hardens, move it to a plastic tub and store it in the fridge. You can use this later for cooking onions or veggies. Nothing perks up broccoli like bacon fat!
5) Add everything else. There are three good ways to cook these beans:
- On your grill/smoker. If you have a smoker, put them below the meat for about 3 hours at 225F. They will collect flavorful, smoky drippings from the meat laden with seasoning from the rub. Just be sure they don't burn.
- In your oven. Put the pot in your oven uncovered for 2 hours at 250F. Stir every 30 minutes to make sure they don't burn.
- On the stovetop. Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat and then turn it back to simmer for 30 minutes without a lid. Stir and scrape the bottom with a wooden spoon every 10 minutes to prevent burning and sticking. Try to keep the bay leaf submerged.
5) Remove the bay leaf. Taste and adjust the flavors as you see fit. If you like it spicier, add hot sauce. Add more molasses if you like it sweeter, or salt if you think it needs it. Cook it longer if you want it thicker, or add water if you want it thinner.
This page was revised 1/15/2009
