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 gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the beans
Soak the navy beans overnight.
Wash the beans well and cover with cold water.
Cook slowly on the back of the stove for 1 hour.
Drain the beans and cover with warm water or beef stock.
Season and bake
Add the sliced bacon and simmer until the beans are slightly tender.
Stir in the sugar, salt, pepper, mustard, and ketchup.
Ensure the beans are covered with enough water, adding more as needed.
Bake in the oven at 350°F (175°C) for 2 hours.
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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Sugar + ketchuptop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together260 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Pepper + mustardtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,430 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pepper + beeftop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beans + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,733 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
- Navy beans
- Provide the main body and bulk of the dish, softening during slow cooking.
- Breakfast bacon
- Adds smoky, savory fat that flavors the cooking liquid and beans.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the sauce brown and thicken during baking.
- Ketchup
- Adds sweetness and acidity, contributing to the tangy, thick sauce.
- Mustard
- Adds sharpness that balances the sweetness of the sugar and ketchup.
The step that matters
Keep the beans covered with liquid. Beans exposed to air during long baking can dry out and scorch on top, and they need enough liquid to soften evenly and form a thick sauce.
“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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