Anyone tried this "scratch" Baked Bean recipe?

[PantherTailgater]

I have a hankering for some baked beans made from scratch. The ones I've tried previously were AWEFUL! I found a link to this recipe by Alton Brown. Anyone ever tried it? The reviews were excellent and it looks pretty good.

Couple of questions........
How long would this take in a crock pot?
How about trying this on a WSM in a dutch oven? How long do you experienced WSM'ers think it would take?
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The Once and Future Beans Recipe courtesy Alton Brown


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.

 

[Captain Morgan]

Panther, I make white beans and ham from scratch.
I use the quick soak method instead of overnight.
Draining the water removes some of the gassy qualities.
I really like keeping it simple...bacon, bacon grease
onions and chopped green pepper, brown sugar and
whatever bbq sauce you like.

 

[007bond-jb]

I kinda scared of AB cookin tecqnices

 

[Diva Q]

I love Alton Brown. Have two of his cookbooks.

I do a double boil instead of soaking sometimes. Just make sure to use cold fresh water each time.

 

[bigwheel]

Wow..that looks like a very good recipe..thanks for sharing. I have tried making scratch baked beans a few times over the years. Mine came out tasting about like Bush's in the can when it come out just right. Had one batch which never would tender up. Was sorta like eating china berries if you get my drift. Had a good flavor though. I will give it one more shot using this recipe. If it dont blow off my bloomers will be headed straight back to Bush's Best in the can

bigwheel

 

[PantherTailgater]

I'm going to try it in an oven first. If I like the recipe, I might give it a whirl on the botton rack of the WSM when I'm fixing ribs or something.

I think I'll cut back on the cayenne a little bit too.

I enjoy watching most of the Food Network except for the shows that destroy great looking cuts of ribs and pork roasts in a kitchen or crock pots. :x During the summer months there's generally several BBQ specials on the network.

 

[D.B.Cooper]

I make this as a regular recipe. My notes on his original recipe were "too greasy" and beans hard (from the acid and sugar). Here's my way.

* Exported from MasterCook *

The Once and Future Beans

Recipe By :Alton Brown
Serving Size : 12 Preparation Time :0:30
Categories : Beans Crockpot
Main Dish

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 pound dried pinto beans
1 pound bacon -- chopped
1 medium onion -- finely chopped
2 large jalapenos -- seeded and chopped
3 ounces tomato paste
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 14 ounce cans Swanson® vegetable broth
water

Cook beans according to package directions.

Cook bacon in a frying pan until well done. Drain bacon in colander while preparing other ingredients.

Place bacon, onion, jalapenos, tomato paste, brown sugar, molasses, salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper in a 3 1/2 quart crockpot.

Drain and rinse beans and place in crockpot with other ingredients.

Add broth and enough water to crockpot making sure the beans are slightly covered and stir to mix well.

Cook on low heat setting for 6-8 hours. Add water as necessary during cooking to keep beans covered. Stir once half way through cooking cycle.

Description:
"A Spicy Baked Bean Recipe adapted for the crock pot."
Source:
"Food TV show "Good Eats""
S(Changes and Adaptation By):
"Andrew Leach"
Start to Finish Time:
"8:30"
T(Cokking time):
"8:00"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 393 Calories; 19g Fat (43.6% calories from fat); 20g Protein; 36g Carbohydrate; 10g Dietary Fiber; 32mg Cholesterol; 846mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 1/2 Grain(Starch); 2 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 2 1/2 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.


Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

 

[PantherTailgater]

I make this as a regular recipe. My notes on his original recipe were "too greasy" and beans hard (from the acid and sugar). Here's my way.

* Exported from MasterCook *

The Once and Future Beans

Recipe By :Alton Brown
Serving Size : 12 Preparation Time :0:30
Categories : Beans Crockpot
Main Dish

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 pound dried pinto beans
1 pound bacon -- chopped
1 medium onion -- finely chopped
2 large jalapenos -- seeded and chopped
3 ounces tomato paste
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 14 ounce cans Swanson® vegetable broth
water

Cook beans according to package directions.

Cook bacon in a frying pan until well done. Drain bacon in colander while preparing other ingredients.

Place bacon, onion, jalapenos, tomato paste, brown sugar, molasses, salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper in a 3 1/2 quart crockpot.

Drain and rinse beans and place in crockpot with other ingredients.

Add broth and enough water to crockpot making sure the beans are slightly covered and stir to mix well.

Cook on low heat setting for 6-8 hours. Add water as necessary during cooking to keep beans covered. Stir once half way through cooking cycle.

Description:
"A Spicy Baked Bean Recipe adapted for the crock pot."
Source:
"Food TV show "Good Eats""
S(Changes and Adaptation By):
"Andrew Leach"
Start to Finish Time:
"8:30"
T(Cokking time):
"8:00"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 393 Calories; 19g Fat (43.6% calories from fat); 20g Protein; 36g Carbohydrate; 10g Dietary Fiber; 32mg Cholesterol; 846mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 1/2 Grain(Starch); 2 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 2 1/2 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.


Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

D.B.,
Pinto rather than white beans??

 

[PantherTailgater]

Thanks for all of the suggestions and recipes folks! You're great! They all sound delicious. I'll have to try them one at a time.

We're using some of our frozen BBQ pork tonight. I'm going to try a scaled-down, family size version of Bill The Grill Guy's Baked Beans since I don't have time to prepare a "scratch" recipe tonight.

 

[Captain Morgan]

Bill's beans rock...also, try BigWheels championship prize winnin recipe.

 

[D.B.Cooper]

D.B.,
Pinto rather than white beans??

The "once and future beans" recipe seems to be a ranch/Boston hybrid type of recipe. The combination of ingredients I feel overwhelm the white beans. The pinto stands up better to the spiciness of the recipe.

This is one of top favorite bean recipes that I make. I prefer recipes that start from scratch instead of one can of this, one can of that.

 

[bigwheel]

Hey DB...your preaching to choir on this one. Them navy bean recipes are a dime a dozen and a person normally wind up with something similar to Van Camps. On the other hand the baked pinto recipes are few and far between. Fondly recall a little bbq joint up in Electra, TX which turned out some mighty fine groceries...which according to most centered around a couple of Nesco roasters on the low (crock pot setting) which contained some kinda spicy crockpotted pinto baked bean type concoction. She sold it by the styrofoam cup full helpy selfy as a side dish. I did not need no bbq just turn me loose on them beans I am thinking your recipe would purty much duplicate them beans hopefully. The only thing that sorta skeers me is dumping all that good hard earned cooked bean juice off of there. Them beans in Electra was swimming in high powered bean juice. I did not detect any veggie broth. Point me to the nearest watering hole. Thanks.

bigwheel

 

[D.B.Cooper]

I’ve tried it without draining the beans, chicken broth, ham broth, beef broth, and even plain water. The Swanson canned vegetable broth works the best for some reason. Alton had that part right when he came up with the recipe.

I cannot stress this enough. This is a good recipe! The combination of flavors is outstanding. I’ve played around with this recipe since it first aired 5 or 6 years ago. If you compare my version to Alton’s you will see nothing has really changed. His original version was good I just made it better and a way to cook it more consistent.

Bigwheel – I hear ya. Home cooked beans are the best. It’s sad to see mom and pop places go the way of the dodo. Chain restaurants just took something good and turned it into something ok. I get sad sometimes when I think about all of the great recipes that were lost.

 

[bigwheel]

Well you musta been a former timeshare salesman cuz you got me convinced Can you write upside down by any chance?

bigwheel

 

[D.B.Cooper]

LOL! No I wasn't and I can't.

 

[PantherTailgater]

Bigwheel – I hear ya. Home cooked beans are the best. It’s sad to see mom and pop places go the way of the dodo. Chain restaurants just took something good and turned it into something ok. I get sad sometimes when I think about all of the great recipes that were lost.

Amen, brother! I'm probably a little older than many on here, in my mid 50's, and have seen many things change over the years. Some have been for the better while others have not been. The loss of many local "joints" is not one of the good things.

 

[PantherTailgater]

I tried Bill's recipe Friday night with a couple of modifications for personal taste and it was EXCELLENT. I added more green pepper and a LOT more onion than a family size portion using two cans of 15 oz beans would have called for. I used a teaspon of fennel seed and I think that was a little too much for the size of the recipe. I will cut that back to 1/2 teaspon next time around and use 1/2 Green Pepper and a small onion.

The blend of flavors was outstanding! The fennel seed and sausage combination is very nice.

 

[Captain Morgan]

Told ya....another convert!

May not be what many consider a traditional bbq baked bean recipe, but
it's dang good.

Agreed on the fennel...I use a little less. But just a little.

 

[PantherTailgater]

I tried Alton Brown's recipe today. Followed it pretty closely except for using 1 can of Veggie broth and bean water to make the four cups and I didn't have a cast iron Dutch Oven large enough.

I really like the recipe but I tend to agree with Coop that it has a lot of bacon fat and the after taste is a wee bit strong but otherwise it's very, very good.

Next time around I'm going to try the recipe with Coop's modifications and compare to the original.

Ready for the oven:


Done:

 

[Captain Morgan]

well it sure as heck looks good!
Man do I love beans.