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Baked Beans

A slow‑cooked bean dish with pork, pepper, 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. Wash the beans in warm water.

  2. Place beans in a pot with plenty of hard water and simmer until transparent or beginning to sink.

  3. Drain the beans in a colander.

  4. Return beans to the pot, pour on boiling water, and bring to a boil.

Layer and bake

  1. Layer half the beans in the bottom of a gallon crock.

  2. Place the piece of pork in the center and season with pepper.

  3. Cover with the remaining beans, leaving three inches of space at the top.

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

  5. Cover with a plate and bake in a slow oven at 300°F (150°C) for six hours.

  6. Add more boiling water if it cooks down and is no longer visible.

  7. If needed, dissolve salt in a cup of boiling water and pour over the beans half an hour before they are done.

  8. 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

Dried beans
Form the bulk of the dish, becoming tender and creamy as they cook slowly.
Pork
Adds savory flavor and richness to the beans as they bake together.
Molasses
Adds sweetness and deep color to the beans during baking.

The step that matters

Keep the beans covered with boiling water. Dried beans need constant moisture to cook evenly. If the liquid drops below the bean surface, the exposed beans can dry out and cook unevenly, so topping up with boiling water keeps them tender.

“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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