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Pork and Beans

A slow‑cooked pork and bean dish simmered in an earthen pot with molasses and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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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

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

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

  1. Pick over the beans.

  2. Soak the beans overnight.

  3. Wash the beans.

  4. Drain the beans.

  5. Boil the beans in cold water with baking soda for about 30 minutes.

  6. Drain the beans.

Assemble the pot

  1. Place a slice of pork in an earthen pot.

  2. Add the beans and molasses to the pot.

  3. Place the well-washed salt pork in the center of the pot, scored on the rind.

  4. Season with salt and pepper if needed.

  5. Cover the pot with hot water.

Bake and serve

  1. Bake in a moderate oven (350°F / 175°C) for six hours or longer, adding hot water as needed.

  2. Keep the pot covered to prevent burning.

  3. Remove the cover an hour or two before serving to brown the top and crisp the pork.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Beans + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,733 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Beans + porktop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,000 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Pork + peppertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,121 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Beans + molassestop 26% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together491 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Molasses + peppertop 31% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together897 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Beans
Form the bulk of the dish and, after long baking, become tender and creamy.
Baking soda
Raises the water's alkalinity, helping the beans soften during boiling.
Salt pork
Adds fat and savory flavor that seeps into the beans as they bake.
Molasses
Adds sweetness and deep color while contributing to the beans' browned flavor.

The step that matters

Keep the pot covered during the long bake. Covering the pot holds moisture in so the beans cook slowly without scorching or drying out. Adding hot water as needed keeps the beans submerged while the starches soften.

“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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