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Pork and Beans

A baked dish of beans with salt pork, optionally sweetened with molasses or brown sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Beans and pork are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,000 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Pork and Beans

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare the beans

  1. Soak the beans overnight in soft water.

  2. Change the water in the morning for warmer water.

  3. Boil the beans in cold water until soft. Ensure beans are soft but not overcooked.

  4. Drain the beans well.

Assemble

  1. Place the beans in a deep dish and sink the parboiled salt pork into the middle, leaving the top of the rind visible.

  2. Transfer the beans to a bake dish if baking.

  3. Optionally add molasses or brown sugar before baking.

  4. Score the pork in long furrows, add enough boiling water to prevent scorching, and cover the dish.

Bake and serve

  1. Bake at 400°F (200°C) until the dish smokes and bubbles.

  2. Remove the cover and brown the top.

  3. Serve in the bake dish.

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

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

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

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Pork + molassestop 34% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together825 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

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, once softened and baked, give it its main body and texture.
Salt pork
Adds fat and savory flavor that seasons the beans as it renders during baking.
Molasses or brown sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the top caramelize and darken during baking.
Boiling water
Keeps the beans moist and prevents scorching while covered in the oven.

The step that matters

Boil the beans until soft but not overcooked. Beans must be fully tender before baking, because the oven adds little softening and acidic or sugary additions can slow it. Overcooked beans break down into mush, while undercooked beans stay firm and grainy.

Swap the beans

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, molasses):

  1. Beansthe original
  2. Peanutfits about as well
  3. Sesamefits less well
  4. Nutsfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against pork, 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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