Why it works: Beans and mustard match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 852 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Baked Beans
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the beans
Soak the beans overnight in cold water.
Drain and cover the beans with fresh water, then drain again.
Boil the beans with enough fresh water to cover and the baking soda.
Drain the beans and rinse them thoroughly in cold water.
Assemble and bake
Place a thin slice of salt pork in the bottom of a bean pot.
Add the whole onion on top of the pork and pour in the beans.
Score the rind of the salt pork and press it into the beans, leaving the rind exposed.
Add salt, ground mustard, and molasses to the beans.
Cover the beans with cold water and bake in a slow oven at 300°F (150°C) for 8 to 10 hours.
As the water boils off, add more boiling water, but do not add water within an hour of serving.
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 + mustardtop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together852 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Onion + mustardtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,259 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beans + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,242 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pork + oniontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,214 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
- Small white beans
- Provide the bulk of the dish, cooking down to a tender, creamy texture during the long bake.
- Baking soda
- Raises the pot's alkalinity, helping the beans soften during the initial boil.
- Salt pork
- Adds fat and savory flavor that slowly seeps into the beans and forms the crisped rind on top.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness and deep color while contributing to the thick, glossy sauce.
The step that matters
Do not add water within an hour of serving. Adding cold water late leaves the beans watery and cools the surface, so the sauce will not thicken or set properly before serving.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beans, pork, mustard, molasses):
- Lettucefits better
- Welsh onionfits better
- Broccolifits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beans, pork, mustard, molasses. 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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