Addie
Chef Extraordinaire
Boston Baked Beans
Ingredients:
1 Bag of Navy Beans
Some recipes I have seen over the years tell you that you can also use Great Northern. I personally do not care for them. They are just too big.
1 Large Piece of Salt Pork.
I always try to find a piece that has a couple of large streaks of meat running through it.
Approximately 1/3 Cup of Molasses
I always used Grandma’s molasses with the yellow label.
Approximately 1/3 Cup of Packed Dark Brown Sugar.
Dark brown sugar has more molasses thus adding more flavors.
3-4 Tablespoons of Dry Mustard
1 Medium onion cut up into approximately 6-8 pieces. Leave the stem on so that the onion sections will stay together.
Directions:
1. Sort through the beans looking for small rocks or beans that do not look appetizing. Soak them overnight covered completely covered with water. Check on them every couple of hours and replace any water to make sure they are completely covered. I suggest you use a bowl a lot larger than you think you need. The beans swell up during soaking.
2. The next morning drain the beans and do not keep the water. Place the soaked beans in a sauce pan and completely cover with water. Cook the beans with a gently boil. You don’t want to damage the skins while cooking with a hard boil. Make sure the beans stay covered with water at all times. The beans are done when you blow on a bean and the skin splits.
3. Drain the beans and retain the liquid.
4. Take about one cup of the hot cooking water and place the molasses, brown sugar and dry mustard in the hot water. Stir to dissolve.
5. Cut up the salt pork into large bite size pieces. Arrange and line the bottom of the pan or pot with the half of the salt pork pieces.
6. Cover the pork with half of the cooked beans
7. Add all of the onion pieces around the layer and cover with the rest of the beans and salt pork.
8. Pour the mixture of the hot water and seasonings over the beans. Add the remaining hot water from the boil.
9. Add additional water if needed. There should be about 1-2 inches of water over all of the beans.
10. Place the beans in a 250ºF. oven. Cook for 7-8 hours until the beans are fully cooked. The fresher the beans, the sooner they will be done.
11. Check the water level every few hours and replace the water to just cover the beans. They are done when you bite into one bean and there is no small hard little nib in the center.
Notes of Interest:
The sauce should be a bit thick at the end of cooking. So only add water at the end of the last hour with just enough to bring it to the top of the beans.
My kids loved the salt pork. So I always added two large pieces. That way there were no fights over who got the most.
The sugar and molasses are an approximate amount. Some folks do not like their beans too sweet, some do not like molasses. My personal taste was toward more molasses. The molasses give the beans their color. The more molasses, the darker the bean.
You will see some recipes that add ketchup, tomatoes, and every thing else. Put the ketchup on at the dinner table. Forget all the rest of additives. They will no longer be Boston Baked Beans. Just plain bake beans.
My mother also made her own brown bread. She made it in a one pound empty Chase and Sandborn coffee can. It came to the table hot. Place a slab of butter on a hot slice of it and it was delicious. You can buy it in your grocery store or try to make your own.
It is also tradition to serve Cod Fish cakes with the beans and brown bread.
If you don't have a bean pot, you can use an oven safe Dutch oven with a cover or your slow cooker.
A few years back our Legislature passed a bill that stated you could not call them Boston Baked Beans unless they are actually made in Boston. And we the taxpayers pay them for this foolishness. Happy Eating! Enjoy.
Ingredients:
1 Bag of Navy Beans
Some recipes I have seen over the years tell you that you can also use Great Northern. I personally do not care for them. They are just too big.
1 Large Piece of Salt Pork.
I always try to find a piece that has a couple of large streaks of meat running through it.
Approximately 1/3 Cup of Molasses
I always used Grandma’s molasses with the yellow label.
Approximately 1/3 Cup of Packed Dark Brown Sugar.
Dark brown sugar has more molasses thus adding more flavors.
3-4 Tablespoons of Dry Mustard
1 Medium onion cut up into approximately 6-8 pieces. Leave the stem on so that the onion sections will stay together.
Directions:
1. Sort through the beans looking for small rocks or beans that do not look appetizing. Soak them overnight covered completely covered with water. Check on them every couple of hours and replace any water to make sure they are completely covered. I suggest you use a bowl a lot larger than you think you need. The beans swell up during soaking.
2. The next morning drain the beans and do not keep the water. Place the soaked beans in a sauce pan and completely cover with water. Cook the beans with a gently boil. You don’t want to damage the skins while cooking with a hard boil. Make sure the beans stay covered with water at all times. The beans are done when you blow on a bean and the skin splits.
3. Drain the beans and retain the liquid.
4. Take about one cup of the hot cooking water and place the molasses, brown sugar and dry mustard in the hot water. Stir to dissolve.
5. Cut up the salt pork into large bite size pieces. Arrange and line the bottom of the pan or pot with the half of the salt pork pieces.
6. Cover the pork with half of the cooked beans
7. Add all of the onion pieces around the layer and cover with the rest of the beans and salt pork.
8. Pour the mixture of the hot water and seasonings over the beans. Add the remaining hot water from the boil.
9. Add additional water if needed. There should be about 1-2 inches of water over all of the beans.
10. Place the beans in a 250ºF. oven. Cook for 7-8 hours until the beans are fully cooked. The fresher the beans, the sooner they will be done.
11. Check the water level every few hours and replace the water to just cover the beans. They are done when you bite into one bean and there is no small hard little nib in the center.
Notes of Interest:
The sauce should be a bit thick at the end of cooking. So only add water at the end of the last hour with just enough to bring it to the top of the beans.
My kids loved the salt pork. So I always added two large pieces. That way there were no fights over who got the most.
The sugar and molasses are an approximate amount. Some folks do not like their beans too sweet, some do not like molasses. My personal taste was toward more molasses. The molasses give the beans their color. The more molasses, the darker the bean.
You will see some recipes that add ketchup, tomatoes, and every thing else. Put the ketchup on at the dinner table. Forget all the rest of additives. They will no longer be Boston Baked Beans. Just plain bake beans.
My mother also made her own brown bread. She made it in a one pound empty Chase and Sandborn coffee can. It came to the table hot. Place a slab of butter on a hot slice of it and it was delicious. You can buy it in your grocery store or try to make your own.
It is also tradition to serve Cod Fish cakes with the beans and brown bread.
If you don't have a bean pot, you can use an oven safe Dutch oven with a cover or your slow cooker.
A few years back our Legislature passed a bill that stated you could not call them Boston Baked Beans unless they are actually made in Boston. And we the taxpayers pay them for this foolishness. Happy Eating! Enjoy.
Last edited:
As a kid, I always thought the B&M stood for "Boston and Maine railroad. 
