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Baked Beans

A baked bean dish with pork, baking soda, salt, pepper, and optional molasses.

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 ↓

Baked 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. Pick over and wash the beans, then soak them in cold water overnight.

  2. In the morning, drain the beans and place them in a kettle with fresh water and the piece of pork.

Boil the beans

  1. Boil the beans until nearly tender, adding baking soda to make them healthy.

Bake

  1. Remove the pork, score the rind, and place it in a baking pan.

  2. Optionally, stir in molasses before baking.

  3. Bake the beans and pork in a 400°F (200°C) oven for two hours.

  4. Sprinkle pepper on top and add more salt if needed.

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

Small white beans
Provide the main body and starchy texture that the long bake turns creamy.
Pork
Adds fat and savory flavor that seasons the beans as they bake.
Baking soda
Raises the cooking water's alkalinity, helping the bean skins soften during boiling.
Molasses
Adds sweetness and deep color to the baked beans.

The step that matters

Boiling the beans with baking soda. Baking soda softens bean skins and speeds cooking, but too much can make the beans mushy and leave a soapy taste. Measure it carefully and stop boiling once the beans are nearly tender, since they will keep softening in the oven.

“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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