Why it works: Beans and tomato match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,713 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Baked Beans
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Soak and parboil
Wash and soak the beans overnight in plenty of cold water.
Wash the beans.
Place the beans in a kettle.
Cover with cold water.
Bring to a boil.
Add the baking soda when nearly boiling.
Boil for a moment.
Drain the beans in a colander.
Return the beans to the kettle.
Cover with freshly boiled water.
Simmer until the skins crack when blown on.
Assemble and bake
Pour the beans into a bean pot.
Bury the scored salt pork in the beans.
Mix the molasses with a quart of the bean water.
Pour the mixture over the beans.
Sprinkle with pepper.
Add tomato sauce if desired.
Cover with the remaining water.
Reserve some water to add later if needed.
Bake covered in a moderate oven (350°F / 175°C) for 6 to 8 hours until just moist.
Alternatively, use a fireless cooker and brown in the oven for 20 minutes.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Beans + tomatotop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,713 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pork + tomatotop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,843 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Beans + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,733 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beans + porktop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,000 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- White navy beans
- Form the bulk of the dish and become tender during long simmering and baking.
- Salt pork
- Adds fat and savoury flavour that slowly seeps into the beans as they bake.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness and dark colour while helping the beans brown during baking.
- Tomato sauce
- Adds acidity and body to the sauce, deepening its flavour.
- Baking soda
- Raises the pH of the soaking water, helping the skins soften so the beans cook more evenly.
The step that matters
Simmer until the skins crack when blown on. Beans cooked too little stay firm and uneven, while overcooking breaks them apart. The skin cracking when blown on is a practical sign the beans are tender enough to finish baking slowly.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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