Why it works: Beans and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,733 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Pork and Beans
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the beans
Pick over and wash the pea beans.
Soak the beans overnight in cold water.
Add 2 cups of water and cook for 10 minutes.
Stir in the baking soda.
Skim off the froth.
Drain the beans.
Bake
Place them in a pot with a fitted cover.
Mix 1 pint of boiling water with the salt, cayenne, and sugar or molasses.
Pour the mixture over the beans.
Cover the pot.
Bake in a moderate oven (350°F / 175°C) for 3 hours.
Add the washed salt pork.
Press the pork down to be even with the beans.
Dust with black pepper.
If the water has cooked away, add just enough boiling water to cover the beans.
Bake uncovered for another hour.
Cover and cook until evening, without adding more water.
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 + 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).
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Pepper + porktop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,121 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beans + sugartop 26% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,587 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Pepper + sugartop 32% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,401 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Pepper and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,401 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Pea beans
- Form the bulk of the dish and soften into a tender, creamy base during long baking.
- Salt pork
- Adds savory fat and flavor that seeps into the beans as they bake.
- Sugar or molasses
- Adds sweetness and deepens the color of the baked beans through caramelization.
- Baking soda
- Raises the pot's alkalinity, helping the beans soften more quickly.
The step that matters
Keeping the beans covered with liquid. Beans that are exposed to air during long baking can dry out and toughen on top. Adding just enough boiling water, rather than cold, keeps the cooking temperature steady and the beans moist.
Swap the beans
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, sugar, pork):
- Beansthe original
- Chestnutfits about as well
- Sesamefits about as well
- Black-eyed peafits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, sugar, pork. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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