QUOTE (Billy Goat @ Oct 16 2007, 07:21 PM)

2cycle:
Have you tried cooking the beans on the grill, or in a smoker? [I know ... they fall through the grate!

]
My wife makes great baked beans, using my great grandmother's recipe ...
- 2 pounds great northern [or navy] beans, sorted, washed and soaked
- 1 pound bacon raw, chopped
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 tablespoon Weber's mustard
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 2 tablespoons malt vinegar
- 1/2 cup maple syrup [more if you like sweeter beans]
Mix all in a bean pot, and add eneough water to cover beans, mix
Place bean pot on grill or in smoker [indirect heat] cover off; temperature ~ 225 F
Use chip pouch or smoker box to create smoke
Check bean pot every 1/2 to 1 hour .... add water to cover, mix [as needed]
Cook until beans are very tender, ~ 4 to 5 hours.
Beans develop a wonderful smoked flavor.
BG in WV
Wow – the start of a chili cookoff, or rather a "Baked Beans" version!!!! I looked over the ingredients of the two recipes and compare it to the one that I currently use. Actually, my own recipe is a variation to the one I'm providing a link to here.
http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/6-2-2005-70928.aspThe one in the link is by Judy Mills, her version had these additional ingredients compare to my original. These are:
The addition of molasses to the base brown sugar
1 Tbs yellow mustard
1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 tps chili powder
I use 1 Tbs of
paprika in place of the chili power. Also my original recipe, didn't have precise measurement, I just threw in enough of each ingredient to give it the level of sweetness and tang that I liked. So when I ran across this recipe, I started to use as a guide for the amount of each ingredient to use.
Below is my version of this recipe.
1 Lbs dried GN beans
1/2 cup chopped onion
6 slic bacon
1 cup ketchup
½ cup BBQ Sauce
½ cup molasses
1 cup* brown sugar
1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 tps chili powder (use if you like it hotter – I use more paprika in lieu of chili )
1 clv garlic, minced
1 Tbs
paprika * Use ½ cup of brown sugar to start, add to suit your taste.
As with the recipe in the link, I have started off with dry beans but I have also started with canned beans. With the dry beans, I have soaked overnight and as little as 3-4 hrs. When soaked, I found that I did not have to simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours as the beans were tender enough or would be after I simmer it with all the ingredients for several hours.
I limit the amount of bean juice or water to have a thick consistency to the final product.
I also have never baked my "baked beans" but just let them simmer on the stove for several hours.
The only time I have served my "baked beans" is with BBQ brisket or NC pulled pork.
Now I have never actually tasted anyone else home-made bake beans. Thinking back, I do not remember ever having a bake bean dish at a restaurant that really tasted good and canned baked beans (all brands) just tasted too plain to me. So I have no history of tasting a variety of baked beans to really know what a good "baked beans" should taste like. Now that I explained myself, this is what I see lacking in the two previous recipes.
2cycle recipe appears to lack the slight sweet taste I enjoy in my baked beans and the other ingredients to give it that bite.
With Billy Goat recipe, I like the idea of letting it smoke on the grill, so the next time I do a brisket or pulled pork, I will set an open pot of beans on the grates while the meat is being slow cooked.
What I do see lacking in Billy Goat recipe is any significant tomato base flavor. 2 tablespoons of ketchup would be overpowered by the other ingredients.
IMHO – any comments?????