Wesley....

Here are several I have made over the years. I have placed in the Top 10 with a couple of these. Most of these are doctored up from Bush's or some other brand. I do have one from scratch and it comes out very good.

When you doctor the beans, I always drain the bean juice. I add other liquids so want to avoid the beans being too soupy.

A couple things I do for every batch of beans.....

Make them ahead, day before is great, and let them get to know each other.

Final tip....cooking low and slow and to NOT touch them until the end. Otherwise, if you stir too often, they turn to mush. The best place to cook them is underneath a roasting pork butt!

Enjoy!
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The easiest......

BBQ Baked Beans

19 ounces(1 can)s Baked Beans
1/2 cup BBQ sauce
1 small Onion(s), chopped
1 tablespoon Mustard
2 tablespoons Brown sugar
3 strips Bacon, crisp, chopped

PREPARATION:
Use your choice of sauce and Baked beans.
Combine everything and simmer for 1 hour.
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The following 2 I have competed with and placed in the Top 10 a couple of times....

Kevi's Harvest Baked Beans

2 can(s), 28 oz. each Baked beans
1/2 cup BBQ Sauce
1/2 cup Cider vinegar
1/2 cup Maple syrup
1/4 cup Brown sugar
3 teaspoon(s) Dry mustard
2 cup(s) Granny Smith Apple(s), diced
1/2 pound Bacon

PREPARATION:
Combine all ingredients, except bacon, in baking dish.
Place bacon over top of beans. You can also use any leftover BBQ trimmings, either pork or beef, in place of the bacon.
Cook at 275� for about 2 hrs., uncovered.
I also smoke these in my pit and will cook for 3 hours at 225�.
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Bruce Cook passed this one our way and I still use it today.....

KC Baked Beans

28 ounce(s) Baked beans
3/4 cup BBQ Sauce
1/2 cup Brown sugar, dark
1 medium Tart apple, chopped, peeled
2 tablespoon(s) Raisins, golden
1 cup Onion(s), chopped
3 slice(s) Bacon, crisp, chopped
4 ounce(s) BBQ trimmings
1 teaspoon Sesame oil

PREPARATION:
Use your choice of baked beans. I use the Bush's with Onions and then skip the onions in the recipe. Also, use your favorite BBQ sauce. For the BBQ trimmings, you can use any leftover pork or beef. You can also substitute 2 TBS of bacon drippings in place of the 3 strips of bacon.
Dice the apples, raisins and onion into sizes the same as the beans.
Mix all together and cook for 2 hours at 275�.
I cook these in the pit for about 3 hours at 225�.
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For those who like their whiskey...

Beans With An Attitude

2 cans B&M Baked beans
1 teaspoon Dry mustard
1/2 cup Chili sauce
2 tablespoon(s) Molasses
1/4 cup Coffee, strong
2 tablespoon(s) Brown sugar, dark
1/4 cup Bourbon whiskey

PREPARATION:
Mix all ingredients and simmer on low for several hours, covered.
Reduce liquid in last hour by removing cover.
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Finally, a classic "from scratch" recipe.....

Kevi's Baked Beans

2 pounds Navy beans
1/2 pound Bacon
1 small Onion(s), minced
1 can Tomato soup
1 can Water
1 cup Brown sugar, light
1/4 cup Molasses
1 teaspoon Dry mustard
2 tablespoons Vinegar

PREPARATION:
Soak beans over night.
Drain and boil in fresh water until tender.
Cook Bacon. Set aside.
Add onion and cook. Add other ingredients and simmer for 5 min.
Add beans and let stand overnight.
Bake at 300 for 3 hours. Stir once or twice. Add bacon to top and bake another 30 min.

Wow thanks

Wesley

All of the above receipes sound great, and I'm sure they are. However, you need to follow them very, very carefully. If you do, you'll be happy to find they're as good, but probably not better than, BUSH'S, BOLD & SPICEY !!

PRG

One note. I do not have a WSM. Would it kill the recipe if I cooked them in the oven?

Wesely, I often cook my beans in the oven. I like to cook them low about 225 to 250 with no cover for at least 3 hours as posted by Stogie. Works for me.

Hey Mike,

What about re-heating the next day? Do they dry out often? We made the beans last night to take to a cookout today.

Hey guys just got back from our BBQ. Let me tell you those beans were out of this world. There were 3 dishes of beans and ours were the only ones eaten and it was all gone before we left. The other two weren't even touched.

People kept commenting on the smell and how wonderful of an smell they had.

Thanks Kevin, that was definitely a winner.

Hay Wesley, Guess I'm a little late with this reply. I would heat them covered with foil. Low temp till warm about 45 min. to an hour. How did you warm them? Man aint it a great feeling when your skills are appriciated. Way to go Wesly

I warmed them at about 225 for 1hr 30min covered with foil.

Yea thats what I enjoy about cooking. Seeing the reaction from the people when they take that first bite.

Hey Stogie, with your "Kevi's Harvest Baked Beans" recipe - the 1/2 lb of bacon is uncooked? right?

Thanks,
John

I cooked mine with uncooked bacon. Then removed it before I served. I thought it was just used for flavor while cooking.

Hi Wesley!

Sorry...I was out of town all last week!

Sounds like you got by OK with re-heating. You also found that doing them in the oven results in some great stuff as well.

So very happy everyone liked those bean!

John........

Yes, uncooked bacon. You can also use any leftover(cooked) pork or even brisket instead of the bacon.

Kevin,
I am going to make Kevi's Harvest Baked Beans from your post. I was wondering, if I use the smoker for them, how much, and what type of wood do I use for them?

I would use whatever wood you normally use. I am a big believer in using whatever wood I can get for free. It is so plentiful and as long as it is a good hardwood, you will be very happy.

I use about 3-4 fist-sized chunks. One thing you want to do....the top of the bean pot may form a crust, if you see that, give it a light mix to break it up....that crust will impede smoke penetration.

One other suggestion. Take a little pulled pork in place of the bacon. Give nice chewy texture to the beans and a surprise chunk in your beans is always a treat.

Dale

Kevin, the beans were a hit. With the Pork, Slaw and corn bread the Easter brunch was a hit!
Thanks for the recipe and information.

If you really want to invest a little cooking time in your beans, give Alton Brown's beans a try. Made a double batch (note: a 5 QT dutch oven was filled to the brim with a double batch) this past weekend and they were fantastic.
Jamie

1 pound dried Great Northern beans
1 pound bacon, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 jalapenos, chopped
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
Vegetable broth
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons kosher salt

Heat oven to 250 degrees F.
Soak beans in a plastic container overnight in just enough cold water to submerge them completely.

Place a cast iron Dutch oven over medium heat and stir in the bacon, onion, and jalapenos until enough fat has rendered from the bacon to soften the onions, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, dark brown sugar, and molasses.

Drain the beans and reserve the soaking liquid. Add the drained beans to the Dutch oven. Place the soaking liquid in a measuring cup and add enough vegetable broth to equal 4 cups of liquid. Add the liquid to the Dutch oven and bring to a boil over high heat. Add in cayenne, black pepper and salt. Give them a stir and cover with the lid. Place the Dutch oven in the oven for 6 to 8 hours, or until the beans are tender.

These look great - gotta try em!

Kevin, just wanted to let ya know that last week i saw this post reg the recipe for the baked beans,the ones with the granny smith apples in them....well this weekend i made them under a brisket........everyone LOVED THEM.!!! go figure granny smith apples.....but it worked...thanks i cooked them for two hours under that brisket....it was great.. also i have always used heinz baked beans..but i figured i try bush's...i think bush's just got a new supporter....thanks
MOrds

oh.. it was plenty for about 15 folks...thanks once again

Everyone has their favorite recipe for baked beans. Here's mine:

Gary’s Baked Beans
Bear in mind that I don’t actually measure anything in this recipe, so feel free to wing it.

Ingredients
45 ounces (3 cans) cooked beans, drained, but not rinsed.
I prefer a combination of black and kidney, but anything works, including chickpeas.
1 poblano pepper, chopped (or ½ green bell pepper and 1 or 2 jalapenos)
1 large onion, chopped
3-4 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 Tbsp your favorite salt-free rub
½ Tbsp ancho or guajillo chili powder
¼ cup brown sugar
2-3 Tbsp molasses
¼ cup ketchup
2 Tbsp yellow mustard
Dash of apple cider vinegar
1 cup cooked, smoked pork scraps, chopped (e.g.: ribs, pulled pork) or 6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled, along with 1 Tbsp bacon fat
1 tsp salt or more, to taste (remember: ketchup and mustard already have some salt)
Plenty of cracked black pepper, to taste – about ½ Tbsp

Sauté poblano and onion in the olive oil until onion is transparent. Spoon into a large mixing bowl. Add all other ingredients and mix together, and then place into large casserole dish. Bake in oven at 350 for two or more hours, or equivalent. You can also foil the outside of the dish and place in smoker at 250 for five hours or more…
Enjoy.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Gary H. NJ,