Baked Beans, a Cooks Illustrated's recipe

I ran into Cooks Illustrated's recipe for Baked Beans, and they sound really good... thought I'd share. -Keri C, Hot Wire BBQ (formerly Smokin' on Tulsa Time)


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BOSTON BAKED BEANS (Cooks Illustrated)

Serves 4 to 6

The beans can be made ahead. After cooking, cool them to room temperature and refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

4 ounces salt pork, trimmed of rind and cut into
1/2-inch cubes
2 ounces (2 slices) bacon, cut into 1/4 -inch pieces
1 medium onion, chopped fine
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon mild molasses
1 1/2 tablespoons brown mustard
1 pound (about 2 1/2 cups) dried small white beans, rinsed and picked over
Salt
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
Ground black pepper

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position; heat oven to 300 degrees. Add salt pork and bacon to 8-quart Dutch oven; cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned and most fat is rendered, about 7 minutes. Add onion and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, about 8 minutes. Add 1/2 cup molasses, mustard, beans, 1 1/4 teaspoons salt, and 9 cups water; increase heat to medium-high and bring to boil. Cover pot and set in oven. Bake until beans are tender, about 4 hours, stirring once after 2 hours. Remove lid and continue to bake until liquid has thickened to syrupy consistency, 1 to 1 1/2 hours longer. Remove beans from oven; stir in remaining tablespoon of molasses, vinegar, and additional salt and pepper to taste. Serve.

Looks to be a classic recipe, Keri. Simple and good. Have copied it to my files. Curious, though, why the remaining molasses and vinegar are stirred in after the beans have cooked. Can't you adjust these flavors on the first stir when the lid comes off and thereby serve up a nice pot of cooked beans under a good-looking, undisturbed crust? Seems more better to me, esp. if you reserve the bacon and spread it on top then, too. As desirable thataway as burnt ends, right?

Dean...

According to Cook's, adding at the end boosts the flavor and tanginess.

Here is the pre-recipe write-up.......

Problem: Even here in Boston, it has become rare to find Boston baked beans in their slow-cooked glory, while uninspired canned varieties abound.

Goal: To create a recipe packed with multiple levels of intense flavor yet traditional enough to make Fannie Farmer proud.

Solution: Start with a combination of salt pork and bacon browned in a Dutch oven before adding dried small white beans. Add brown mustard and mild molasses at the beginning, and finish with cider vinegar for a bit of tanginess and an additional tablespoon of molasses to boost the flavor. Cook at 300 degrees for five hours, removing the lid for the last hour to reduce the sauce to a syrupy, intensified state that perfectly naps the beans.

Gain one advantage,lose another, I reckon. Still, what's a recipe if you can't stir your own finger in it?

Must tell you that your jerky is delicious, Kevin. By the time I got to the bottom of the sack, I'd developed a serious taste for it. Good thing the formula and schedule are on your website. Thanks.

Dean

Here I go again bumping old posts.

Keri,
Have you ever used these beans as the base for your hog apple beans? If I did would I end up with a pan of mush or since the CI recipe starts with dried beans would they retain their texture? I was thinking since bush's beans are cooked that it would be the same if I used these beans as a starting point instead.