The Once and Future Beans

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Best baked bean recipe I've made. I made sure to seed and de-rib the jalapenos, and omitted the cayenne, and they still packed a nice kick. Also omitted the additional salt as I figured the bacon would provide plenty. Eating these made me very happy to wake up and start cooking at 6 a.m. on a Sunday morning!

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The BEST beans, EVER! We freeze them in small portions for husband & I - it's time to make another batch - mmmmm! Thanks, Alton :

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After having this recipe i don't know how people can stand canned baked beans. Even after realizing how easy it is to make. And what makes this recipe even better is it makes the whole apartment smell amazing all day. And the beans keep for a good while in the refrigerator. I still have one helping left a week and a half after making it. Still tastes great. And on dutch ovens, they do indeed last forever. The one i used we had found in a shed in my parents back yard from when I was in boy scouts. Gave it a good scrub down with steel wool, re-cured it and it works excellent.

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The first time I made this recipe, the beans came out salty; delicious but salty. I almost always reference PVR'd Good Eats episodes when assembling AB's recipes. In this particular episode, AB (mistakenly said that 2 tbsp is equivalent to 1/4 cup, so I ended up using only half of the tomato paste and molasses that was required. I noticed this math error my second time around and these beans came out with the perfect sweet to salty ratio. I was worried that the 4 cups of liquid would be too much, but at 7.5 hours, the beans were at perfect consistency. I don't get to use my expensive French-made enameled cast iron dutch oven very often, but this recipe makes me glad that I have one.

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This is our all time favorite baked bean recipe. A few things: If you don't like it so spicy leave out the seeds and the membrane from the jalepeno. The first time I cooked it I left those in and it was very good, but too spicy for my kids. The second suggestion is to use a cast iron dutch oven. It really does make a difference.

It is so worth the extra time and effort to make these! Great recipe!

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I'm not one to log in just to add "great" on an AB recipe when there are already several dozen reviews saying that. I have some suggestions for this dish, even though these seem to be based on my particular taste which may be different from everyone else's.

I think the beans come out too sweet if you follow the recipe exactly. Someone else commented "like candy" and I agree, but not in a positive way. beans already have an inherent sweetness, and the sugar+molasses added just push that way, way over the top.

Now, I understand why the molasses are needed for calcium and sugar - I'm a biochemist. Calcium plus sugar do make a pretty good glue, as it's been known for centuries (see "The Scientific American Cyclopedia of Formulas" ed. 1913, available on Google Books. However it turns out that molasses don't have all that much calcium in them anyway. If there was something I could substitute the sugar and molasses for in this dish, that would allow the beans not to turn mushy while not sweetening them too much, I would be very happy. I don't mind some extra kick from beans, in fact I used plenty of Jamaican crushed red pepper (Yeah Mon!

Hmm. I wonder if just adding some extra calcium , perhaps even as soon as the soaking water would help keep the sugar away... The next time I cook beans, I'll try to add a little calcium lactate to the soaking water, see if it helps. Who knows, maybe I've invented nixtamalization for beans. :

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We made this yesterday and Alton's directions, were clear and concise as usual. We loved the deep rich flavor and the texture, but the 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne was a bit too much along with the 2 chopped Jalape?os already in the dish. We'll definitely make this again, but will cut back on the cayenne. Also, instead of a pound of bacon, we used a 12 oz. package of nice smoked, thick-sliced bacon. I cooked the chopped bacon for about 5 minutes over medium heat, before adding the chopped onions and peppers though, because I wanted the bacon to start to brown a little more before adding the tomato paste, molasses and brown sugar. Browning the bacon like this gives a richer and deeper flavor. After 7 hours in the oven, the beans were done but there was bit too much liquid for our tastes, so I popped it back into the oven, uncovered for about 30 minutes to dry it up a little. This is definitely a very good recipe.

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An easier way to make this is to soak the beans overnight as directed, but replace the water several times; this prevents intestinal gas... Then just dump everything into a crock pot (except the extra water from the bean-soaking in the morning and let it cook all day. The product is easier to prepare this way it comes out very delicious. Make sure there is enough liquid to cover the beans, onions, etc.; this prevents the beans on the top from drying out as they cook.

Also, I use a little extra tomato paste and I skip the hot spicy stuff. Also, I substitute beef broth for the vegetable broth. Sometimes I toss in a little dry mustard. I also cut back on the salt; Alton loves too much salt.

The first time I made this was the last time I ever ate backed beans from a can. This recipe produces a better tasting product and is way cheaper then the garbage from a can.

Be warned that this recipe makes a huge amount of beans. If you're making it for yourself only, consider halving the recipe.

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Today I had a BBQ at my house to celebrate lots of birthdays, mothers day and father's day all in one. These beans were perfect. I even went out a bought the cast iron dutch oven because I know I will use it for many other dishes. The beans were easy and soooooo much better than doctoring up a can of baked beans. I am do happy that Alton shares such good eats with us!
Do not change a thing, they are wonderful and not too hot even with both jalapeno's and the 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper. I did remove the seeds from the peppers. You will not be disappointed.

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I have cooked this dish several times. I substituted Tasso for the bacon and used Spicy V 8 vegetable juice for the broth. Much spicier but also much more flavorfull.