S6 E21 : Boston Baked Beans

We're trying Boston Baked Beans this week on the podcast. This American classic is popular at backyard BBQs and potluck gatherings. 

This recipe starts with soaking northern navy beans, and then boiling them in water until they're softened. Meanwhile, the sauce is made with bacon, onions, ketchup, brown sugar, molasses, maple syrup, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. After everything is combined, it goes in the oven for a slow bake (about 3.5 hours). 

You can modify the flavours to suit your palette. We actually felt these beans are far too sweet, and for our tastes, we'd reduce the amount of sugar. And maybe add a kick of spice. It's a fun recipe to try if you enjoy baked beans -- homemade is always better than canned! 

Get the recipe: Boston Baked Beans 

Listen to our interview with The Alberta Pulse Growers Association

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Transcript

Heather (00:13)
Awesome, awesome. Okay, well today I have a recipe which I think will be familiar to lots of people and many of our American listeners will certainly be familiar with Boston baked beans. Ta-da! I don't know why I said ta-da, but I found out the way I said it was like Boston baked beans. Applause, applause.

Erin W (00:27)
I'll bet.

It needed some sort of finale. Round of applause.

Heather (00:44)
Okay, so when I did a little bit of reading up about Boston baked beans, I read Boston baked beans are similar to regular baked beans, but I'm like, well, what's a, what do mean regular baked beans? Like, anyway, I thought that was kind of a strange, anyway. Okay, so apparently the difference here is,

Erin W (01:03)
Yeah, okay.

their accent.

Heather (01:11)
Boston

baked, yeah, Boston baked beans are made with molasses instead of brown sugar to sweeten.

Erin W (01:21)
Okay, that was totally gonna be my guess. After what you told me all about the great molasses, I don't even know if it's a explosion, oozing of molasses in Boston. Yeah, they had to do something with all that molasses, therefore they put it in their baked beans.

Heather (01:23)
Now...

Flood. It was a flood.

The oozing.

They scraped it up off

and scraped it off their shoes and put it in their bean pot.

Erin W (01:44)
Yuck. Nope. Not quite.

Heather (01:47)
and if you don't know what we're talking about, go back down the episode lists. We did a short little episode telling the story of the great molasses flood of 1916, I think it was, yeah, because it was it's the anniversary this year. It's an anniversary. Anyway, okay so earlier than that in the 1600s,

Erin W (02:04)
⁓ okay.

Heather (02:09)
people who were called the Puritans, and I'm not exactly sure who the Puritans are. I didn't go that far. Do you know, are they a religious group of some kind?

Erin W (02:19)
I have a guess that they...

came to North America because they were somewhat

excluded from... they were... more or less, I think is the possible story.

Heather (02:28)
persecuted somewhere, excluded. They were bullied and sent away.

Okay, if I do a quick little search, let's just see what pops up at the top. The search assistant said, the Puritans, we'll see if you're right. The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to reform the Church of England because they didn't like some remnants of Roman Catholicism. So they went to America maybe to have their own.

Erin W (02:41)
Let's see what the search of Aaron says.

Yeah.

Heather (03:06)
Religion, I'm guessing. Okay. Okay, you were right. So apparently these folks would bake large pots of beans on Saturday because they didn't like to work on the Sabbath, which was Sunday. And so they would make the big pot of beans the day before to eat on Sunday. And they cooked the beans in molasses, which was as we've...

Erin W (03:08)
Yeah.

But of course.

Heather (03:31)
mentioned big business in Boston with the molasses that was brought in.

Erin W (03:36)
Even at that point in time,

that surprises me. Maybe it shouldn't, but...

Heather (03:43)
That's a

long time. It was probably not.

Erin W (03:45)
Like Columbus just got

here. ⁓

Heather (03:50)
It was probably

not quite the trade that it became by the time the molasses flood happened, right?

Erin W (03:53)
I assume so. Yeah,

yeah, they didn't have big cisterns looming over their city.

Heather (04:00)
but it does make you wonder where they brought like who was bringing the the was it sugar cane? I'm already like

Erin W (04:05)
Yeah, where were they getting their sugar from in order to

make the

Yeah, I'm curious about how far this goes back. Also, are there tomatoes in these baked beans? Okay.

Heather (04:25)
No, they're not.

and of course this dish contributed to Boston being nicknamed Bean Town. Have you ever heard of Bean Town?

Erin W (04:35)
No.

Heather (04:36)
I haven't either, but I'm guessing people in Boston are aware of being called Bean Town. And from 1883 to 1906, Boston's National League Baseball Team was nicknamed the Bean Eaters, which I thought was kind of fun. Can you imagine it starts out as like a taunt?

Bee eaters bee eaters like a bunch of bee eaters But I'm imagining it must have been affectionate.

Erin W (05:00)
Right? ⁓ no.

I hope so.

Heather (05:10)
if they took pride in this, you know, being known for beans.

Erin W (05:14)
bean culture.

Heather (05:16)
Yeah.

Erin W (05:16)
What

kind of beans did they have?

Because there are a ton of legumes.

What were they using?

Heather (05:23)
Okay, so apparently, traditionally it was Navy beans.

Now modern day recipes say that you can kind of use the beans you like. Great Northern beans and navy beans are both very popular for this recipe. But I imagine a white bean of any kind.

Erin W (05:45)
Hmm.

Heather (05:46)
probably could work.

Erin W (05:49)
Interesting.

Heather (05:51)
Okay, so here's the list of the basic ingredients that go into these Boston baked beans. Obviously you've got your beans, you got bacon, onions, garlic, molasses, brown sugar, maple syrup, and Worcestershire sauce. ⁓ Worcestershire sauce.

Erin W (06:07)
shush shush shush shush shush shush shush or Chestershire

for us linguists

Heather (06:13)
Yeah, when I wrote

this up earlier, I was like, had to remind myself, I'm like, how do I say that again? It's been a while. Worf-tisher?

Erin W (06:25)
Yeah, just, uh, the W-O-R I write down and then just scribble after the end whenever it's on my grocery list, because I don't got time to write all those letters down. I need to get the war shushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushush

Heather (06:37)
Mumble it. Worcestershire sauce.

Yeah, so there you go. ⁓ I feel like there was another note that I had. yes, earliest recipes called for salt pork or salt cured pork belly and now they typically use bacon. So you know I'm going to be using bacon.

Erin W (06:47)
Okay.

Okay.

I was gonna say, I think those are like one in the same. both pork bellies. Salt cured is probably old way of doing it. Now we've got nitrates,

Heather (07:08)
I think.

Yes. Yum yum. All right.

So.

I'll be back to tell you how to make them.

Okay, part two.

Just pulling up my recipe.

Questions already? my God.

Erin W (07:56)
Okay, as we, I know, right?

I am just gonna barge you with them, Heather. So originally we talked about this because you had a recipe from, was it your sister or your sister-in-law family? And it was to can the beans. Is this recipe similar to that or did you go completely down a new track for this one?

Heather (08:02)
shit.

sister-in-law, yes.

I did not make one that was meant for canning. This is a different recipe. And honestly, because I don't have a pressure canner, I don't have pressure canner equipment, I didn't look that closely at the pressure canning recipe to see how different it is. This one is baked. You start it on the stove top and then you bake it in the So it is actually baked beans.

Erin W (08:25)
Okay. Okay.

Okay.

Heather (08:48)
like the Puritans would have done except not on a hearth.

Erin W (08:52)
You didn't build a fire out in the backyard and get your pot hanging over it and put on your cloak and your...

Heather (08:59)
No, but now that you've said that, we have to do this. I really wish I could. that would be so fun. Maybe while camping this summer, make a big old pot of beans. That's if you can handle being in close quarters with your family, having eaten beans for dinner.

Erin W (09:01)
I really wish you had.

Right?

You just get multiple tenths

and you get one just for you.

Heather (09:23)
I'll sleep in my trailer, everyone else is outside.

Okay, okay, so this recipe called for Great Northern, one pound of Great Northern beans as your starting point. I admit that I just rummaged around in my pantry for, of course, I'm not going to go and buy beans if I already had some beans. And I pulled out a bag that I happened to have. I never hadn't opened them.

Erin W (09:36)
yes.

Heather (09:50)
of white kidney beans. And I was like, hmm, I wonder how much different these are. And I had said that you could use whatever white bean. I'm like, I think I could use kidney beans. They're bigger. And this recipe starts out by boiling the beans in water for two minutes.

Erin W (09:51)
okay.

Mm-hmm.

Heather (10:13)
and then let it sit with the heat off for one hour. I feel like the kidney beans need a little more soaking time. I'm not sure about these great northern beans, what, if you were just to go and soak them, how long they would take. But the big kidney beans that I have, the package said eight hours soak. So I was like, I don't think this method is exactly right, but I'm gonna improvise. And so I soaked my beans for

Erin W (10:17)
Okay.

Heather (10:41)
I left them like maybe even more than eight hours. It was like a full day because I thought I just went until they felt kind of soft. wanted, right, you want them kind of softened up. And then I jumped back into the recipe. So you're going to drain and rinse those beans and put them back in your Dutch oven on your stove. I have a large Dutch oven. That's what I was cooking in.

Erin W (10:50)
Okay.

Mm-hmm.

Heather (11:07)
Add six cups of water, and bringing it to a boil again. And cover and simmer for one hour. So I was like, I'm not exactly sure if having done the little bit different first step with my beans, if they needed a whole hour, but I just kind of kept an eye on them to make sure they were soft, they weren't overcooked. ⁓ You know, just if you're using a slightly different bean, just remember to keep an eye on that.

Erin W (11:13)
Okay.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, feel like kidney beans have a pretty hearty case to them, it takes a lot for those to break down, so yeah.

Heather (11:45)
Yeah, so I think it was probably about an hour that I boiled them. Seemed good after having soaked them for a long time. In a large skillet, you're going to cook chopped up bacon until crispy. Take it out, put it aside. Then in your bacon drippings, you're going to saute onion.

two large chopped onions.

Erin W (12:12)
Mm.

Heather (12:14)
I just saw an ingredient that I didn't mention in the first half. That's okay. I'll get to it.

⁓ I'm mentioning it now. Okay. Okay, you're gonna, you're gonna leave those onions in there until they start to soften. Add three cloves of ⁓ minced garlic. Stir that, cook it just a minute or so. Then we're putting in an item I forgot, which was ketchup. I'm guessing the Puritans didn't have ketchup, but this is a, you know, a modern.

Erin W (12:20)
Are you gonna mention it in the second half?

okay.

Heather (12:47)
here molasses

Erin W (12:48)
pretty sure

the Heinz bottle says it dates back to the 15th.

Heather (12:53)
Yeah, everything matched up tomatoes. Hey, and when you asked if there's tomatoes in it, here's your tomato element, ketchup. Okay, so ketchup, brown sugar, molasses, maple syrup, and the Worcestershire sauce, and little salt and pepper.

Erin W (12:55)
Alright.

Aha! Hmm, alright.

Heather (13:10)
so that's all your extra stuff. Meanwhile, you've drained your beans. So keep the cooking liquid that you boil those beans in. Take the beans that are drained and put them in. It says here to put them into a baking dish. So I used a casserole, a casserole dish that I have. Stir in the onion mixture.

Erin W (13:13)
Okay.

Heather (13:34)
plus the bacon and then cover and bake at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for two to two and a half beans are tender and they're at the consistency that you like. Keeping that cooking liquid from the beans is so that as you go, check on them every so often, if it's looking a little too dry, add some of the liquid in.

Erin W (13:56)
Ow.

Heather (13:56)
And I ended up by the end, I just put all the liquid in. was like, well, they weren't gonna be soupy. It wasn't like too much liquid. So I thought I might as just use it. put it all in. And that's it. You're just cooking it all up, baking it together, give it a good stir. And that's how you make those baked beans, Boston baked beans.

Erin W (14:01)
Yeah. Yeah.

All right.

Heather (14:19)
⁓ What did you think of these Boston baked beans, Erin?

Erin W (14:23)
Boston baked beans. Hmm, how do I feel about you? You're not my favourite.

Heather (14:39)
the whole thing. Toss it in the garbage can.

Erin W (14:43)
That's it, I quit. I'm not the biggest fan of a baked bean.

that comes like this, because these remind me of, what are we typically at? Like, Heinz beans, or what's the bean that has the dog that talks in the commercial about the secret recipe? You know what I'm talking about. Bushes baked beans. There we go. my husband likes making them.

Heather (14:59)
⁓ yeah. Yeah, yeah, I know what you're talking Bush. Bush's baked beans.

Erin W (15:10)
He's his go-to, know, franken beans, wieners and beaners, whatever you want to call it in your house. That's his. He likes to do that every time he makes it. I'm like, gross. It's I so liked these beans more than I would a canned bean for sure. My.

Heather (15:16)
Okay. ⁓

Oh no! Is that what you thought of these

Okay.

Erin W (15:34)
thought they were unbelievably sweet. I was like, whoa, pump the brakes. I was like sweating and my heart was racing. I was like, these beans.

Heather (15:38)
Mm-hmm.

Wow.

Erin W (15:51)
I found them really sweet. I thought the bean texture was really good, because I like a good bean. But these flavors are just not my favorite.

Heather (16:01)
Okay, well, I like a baked bean, obviously, or I wouldn't have made the But I agree. I'm not the biggest fan of the ones in the can either. I'm kind of like, especially if they have that little hunk of like fat. What is that pork fat that's swimming in there? I don't like that at all.

Erin W (16:01)
Hahaha!

Okay.

I know.

Yeah, just... about

it. It's just not my

Heather (16:21)
But I did like

these beans quite a bit. And even though they were too sweet, I'll agree with you there. Maybe Boston, Bostonians, those bean towners have sweet tooth. I don't know. I mean, so do we. So I would have thought that we would like something sweet. But in this case, I agree. They're too sweet. ⁓ I would have...

Erin W (16:42)
They over did it with that molasses.

Heather (16:46)
or the brown did you need maple syrup and brown sugar and molasses like maybe maybe it's better to pick one pick a lane here

Erin W (16:49)
Yeah.

would say

like reduce all of those by like three quarters and maybe like the diversity in the sugars is good but I wanted something more bitter in there like in my mind or a vinegar yeah there wasn't enough acid in there also notice that when you explained the ingredients I was like where's your like cider vinegar or

Heather (17:03)
Hmm.

or a vinegary or like acidic or something. Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Erin W (17:21)
there wasn't any acid in there.

Heather (17:22)
something.

Yeah, I kind of thought that too, that I think though, if you do like a baked bean,

Erin W (17:29)
Mm-hmm.

Heather (17:30)
If you tweak that flavor a little bit, I think these could be really good. My husband who is like you and hates those canned beans, thinks they're like the worst thing in the world. He's like, that's disgusting. My kids like the maple kind of flavored ones and every so often camping we would eat them and he's just like, well, that's gross. He loved these beans. I don't know. I can't figure out, they don't appeal to you. ⁓

Erin W (17:34)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Heather (17:56)
They shouldn't appeal to him, but they do. I'm kind of in the middle. It's like, it's all kind of weird. It's all weird. I don't know. served them.

Erin W (18:03)
I would tweak the recipe

differently just because of the yeah like that sweetness was too much. I felt like it needed more vinegar. I don't know what's maybe it's the catch yeah yeah like it

Heather (18:13)
Maybe a little kick of something like a spice,

like a ⁓ something. Yeah. Yeah.

Erin W (18:21)
some chili in there.

Yeah.

Heather (18:25)
Yeah, so anyway, this was an interesting one to try. I still ate them. My mother-in-law and I ate them on toast.

She ate it all up, so it couldn't have been that bad.

Erin W (18:38)
I liked the bean themselves. The flavors in there just don't, don't do anything for me. I'm sorry.

Heather (18:46)
Hey, that's okay. We always say here you can't win them all. Some are winners and some are failures and this one sits somewhere in the middle for me.

Erin W (18:53)
Yeah, and I would say

it's a funny one. And it's again, like it's all just personal preference, right? And apparently baked beans are a really divisive thing.

Heather (19:03)
Mm-hmm.

I guess, I guess

so. I do see the, like, I like the idea of making this big pot one day to kind of like hold you over or like, my kids really like them. So they ate the majority of them just in a bowl with a spoon.

Erin W (19:17)
yeah.

Heather (19:24)
Okay, okay. Well, if you want to learn more about beans and other pulses, legumes, we have an episode for you. We have an episode for everything, honestly, if you want to. Yeah, it was with the Alberta Pulse Growers Association. We'll link it in the show notes for you. We'll learn some more about beans and maybe you'll

Erin W (19:24)
so many bean jokes.

Yes, we really do, yeah.

Heather (19:46)
Learn about some other ways of cooking them that you'll like more than Boston baked beans. done here.

Erin W (19:54)
We're done. That's it.

Heather (20:21)
it going to seem strange that we're wearing the same outfits

Erin W (20:27)
I would have cried.

Heather (20:26)
They win a prize for actually

watching the whole thing.