Baked Beans

3 T
4 quarts
1 lbs

¼ lbs
½ medium

2 cloves
5 cups
1 cup
¼ cup
1½ T
1 T
1 t

salt
water
dried beans (see text)

bacon chopped fine (¼ pack)
onion chopped fine

garlic minced or pressed
water
BBQ sauce (I like Stubb’s original)
packed brown sugar
brown mustard
molasses
hot sauce (optional)

• Dissolve salt in water and brine beans 8 to 24 hours at room temperature
• Drain beans and discard brine water
• Fry 2nd set on medium heat for 10 minutes to brown onion
• Toss everything in the pot, scrape up browned bits from bottom of pot, bring to a simmer, and bake 3 to 5 hours at 300
• Check and stir every hour.  Beans are done when they taste right. Add more water as they cook if needed.
• If they are close to done but still very watery, then remove the lid and either continue to bake or simmer on the stove until the sauce is thick.  The taste difference between watery over firm beans and soft beans with a thick sauce is quite dramatic.
• Yield: 10 as a side.  200 calories per 1/2 cup.
• Source: Modified from Cook’s Illustrated
• Notes:  Baked beans are traditionally made with white navy beans. Also known as haricot, pea, and great norther beans. However, many dry beans will work. I've used Hopi Purple/Rio Zape beans from Native Seed Search in Tucson several times. They typically take 4.5 hours to cook. I tried tepary beans once and they never fully softened, even after 9 hours in the oven with a ton of extra water. At the end, you can add more sauce components if you like more BBQ flavor. When scaling up this recipe only add enough cooking water to cover the beans.  For a double batch I use only 6 cups of water.  A double batch fits easy in a 6 qt. dutch.

Category:  American                                                                                                                                                          Modified 1/1/21