bbq beans w/ burnt ends from scratch cooking/timing questions w/ weber bullet.


 
D

danmarks

TVWBB Fan
hi, i've read some threads about making beans, many of which are about doctoring up canned beens. i'm interested in making bbq beans through a pack of say dried navy beans. my weber bullet will be on order soon, so i've never bbqed before.

seems like the consensus is the soak the beans overnight, perhaps in some salted water, okay... now we move to the day of cooking.

Say i like to bbq a pork shoulder. Say I start the operation around 8PM (meaning around 7:30pm I had already started the fire and stabilized in the weber).

So from 8PM to 8AM the next day is 12 hrs... I'm going low and slow set it and forget it style.

Could I put the beans that had soaked the night before, into the weber at 8pm, the same time as the pork shoulder?

I've read that beans take 6-8hrs... but surely can stay for 12hrs I presume? Can beans be set and forgotten as well is the other question of course?

concerns I have would be the liquid in the bean pot drying out, and that this bean pot would not be stirred overnight by anyone.

The other issue is the incorporation of burnt ends... which would not be doable until 8-9am... i would imagine the burnt ends would have to simmer w/ the beans for at least 1hr. this would mean 13hr beans... would that work?
 
Beans do not have to be soaked but soaking does shorten the cooking time. Do not add salt to the soaking water. Beans need 8-10 hours of soaking and must be covered with water throughout (they will absorb water so cover by a couple inches). Use room temp water. Drain the beans after soaking irrespective of how you are cooking them.

Beans can also be quick-soaked. Bring the beans and water to cover by a couple inches to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes. Remove the beans from the heat and cover the pot. Let the beans stand in the soaking water for 1 hour. At the end of the hour, drain well then cook the beans.

I would not recommend cooking beans from the dried state in the WSM. There are a few problems with doing so and all conflict with 'set-and-forget'.

First, beans must be covered with liquid during cooking. If they aren't they will dry out and all that do will be inedible. It is important to add water (or other liquids) as the beans cook. In the WSM this would necessitate removing the lid, possibly frequently, in order to keep the beans covered.

Second, though I am a fan of fat for flavor, cooking beans from the dried state under dripping meats is going to mean a copious amount of fat. Not only do I think it will possibly be too much, but you would need to watch very closely what is going on. The beans need water or another water-based liquid to cover while cooking--plus you'd need to have enough space in the pot to handle the drippings. This means possibly removing the beans and skimming the excess fat periodically. Beans need to be stirred periodically as well, imo, because while it is important to keep the beans covered with liquid, too much liquid means watered-down flavors.

Third, speaking of skimming: Most bean water becomes foamy during the initial stages of cooking. This foam should be skimmed and discarded. Cooking in the WSM from dried means lots of opening the lid during the first hour or two.

Last, it is hard to know how long beans will take to cook. It is largely dependent on whether or not you soak, the hardness of your water (use bottles if your water is very hard), and the age of the beans. I am also a big believer in tasting things like beans as they cook so that adjustments to flavoring can be made on the fly. Soaked beans take 1-3 hours, unsoaked considerably longer but, again, this has to do with the variables just noted.

I'd recommend cooking your beans first to get the core flavoring as you'd like it. You can cook them till just done then finish them in the cooker with whatever additional flavorings or meat or veg additions you wish.

I don't buy canned beans at home; cooking from dried is my preferred approach as it is easier to get the finished flavor (in the beans, not just in the surrounding liquids) and the finished texture I want by doing so. Though I do not finish beans in the WSM you certainly can--many people do--but I think pre-cooking the dried will work better.

Welcome to the board!
 
I also prefer to do beans from scratch on the stove top. Beans are very cheap and easy to do from scratch. It is easy to add smoky flavor to a bean pot by adding smoked hocks or a small piece of skin taken off homemade bacon. I usually have that in my freezer, so that is how I get the smoke flavor in my bean pot, without the hassle of tending to them in the smoker. I usually make more beans than I need and then freeze in small batches so I can just nuke them when I want them.

If you were going to do it in the smoker, I think you would need to have a well-seasoned cast iron dutch oven, but one problem is that a large dutch oven would be a little heavy for the grate. I have a 12" deep Lodge Camp oven, and I'd be reluctant to put something that heavy on the lower grate.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by K Kruger:

I'd recommend cooking your beans first to get the core flavoring as you'd like it. You can cook them till just done then finish them in the cooker with whatever additional flavorings or meat or veg additions you wish. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I'll second that!
 
hello and thanks everyone... sounds like maybe cook the beans inside the house, seperately. i was just thinking about taking advantage of the heatsource already in use, and drippings from the shoulder racking above it.

to dave: i was thinking about buying a simple 3" by 14" cake pan as mentioned on another thread on this board.


BTW are the typical pork & beans bean from like campbells, hines, bush... just your basic navy bean?
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Larry Wolfe:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by K Kruger:

I'd recommend cooking your beans first to get the core flavoring as you'd like it. You can cook them till just done then finish them in the cooker with whatever additional flavorings or meat or veg additions you wish. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I'll second that! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

hmm, so i guess the best battle plan is to first see how large of a pork shoulder i'm smoking, that will determine roughly the 'done' time for the next morning so that i can slide the 'just done' beans from the kitchen stove top, into the smoker for a hr or two of dripping and smoke time + burnt ends addition. (i'm not thinking i'll have anything from the freezer).
 
Precisely.

If you do the beans ahead and chill them in the fridge, return the beans to the stove to heat thoroughly before adding them to the cooker.
 
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