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Baked Beans

A slow‑cooked bean dish with pork, salt, and optional molasses.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 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 ↓

Baked Beans

Oven, in the book's wordsA slow oven

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

  1. Mash the beans in warm water.

  2. Simmer the beans in a pot with enough water until they are transparent.

  3. Drain the beans in a colander.

  4. Return the beans to the pot and pour boiling water over them, bringing the mixture to a boil.

Assemble in the crock

  1. Place half the beans in a gallon crock.

  2. Add the pork in the center of the crock.

  3. Cover the crock with the remaining beans.

  4. Pour boiling water into the crock until it is visible between the beans.

Bake and season

  1. Cover the crock with a plate and bake for 6 hours at 300°F (150°C).

  2. If the beans cook down and are no longer visible, add more boiling water.

  3. If needed, dissolve salt in a cup of boiling water and pour over the beans 30 minutes before they are done.

  4. Optionally, add molasses.

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. Pepper + molassestop 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 slow baking, turn tender and creamy.
Pork
Adds savory meaty flavor as its fat and juices seep into the beans during baking.
Molasses
Adds sweetness and deep color to the beans.

The step that matters

Keeping the beans submerged while baking. Beans exposed to air above the liquid dry out and can scorch, while the submerged portion cooks evenly. Topping up with boiling water keeps the beans moist and the long bake gentle and even.

“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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