Gluten Court · glutencourt.com · Recipe version 1 · Awaiting Trial
Boston Baked Beans
Awaiting Trial Recipe version 1 · Filed by the Court (seed pool) · Adapted from 'Boston beans and other dried vegetables' — Farmers' Bulletin 771, 'Homemade Fireless Cookers and Their Use,' USDA, Feb. 1917 (public domain, U.S. federal work), cross-checked against 'Boston Baked Beans' in The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book by Fannie Merritt Farmer, 1910 edition as read on Wikisource / Project Gutenberg eBook #65061 (public domain). Measures and oven temperatures modernized. Naturally gluten-free as published; mustard is dry mustard powder, not prepared mustard.
Navy beans soaked overnight, simmered until their skins burst, then made low and slow with salt pork, molasses, mustard, and sugar. The fireless-cooker bulletin and Fannie Farmer's method agree almost ingredient for ingredient.
Category: SidesServes: 8Time: 480 minComplexity: 3/5
Why this complexity: Overnight soak plus a long, slow cooking time; Beans are simmered, then finished low and slow.
Ingredients
- 4 cups (1 quart) dried navy or pea beans
- 1/2 pound salt pork, rind scored (or thick-cut bacon)
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard
- 3 tablespoons molasses (the fireless-cooker bulletin uses 3 tablespoons; Farmer's version uses 1 tablespoon molasses plus 3 tablespoons sugar — either way works)
- 3 tablespoons sugar (see note)
- Boiling water, to cover
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Method
- Pick over the beans, cover with cold water, and soak overnight.
- Drain, cover with fresh cold water, and heat to boiling. Simmer until the skins burst when blown on, adding the soda a few minutes before taking them off the heat. Drain.
- Heat the oven to 300°F. Put the beans in a bean pot or covered Dutch oven with the salt pork buried in them, rind up.
- Stir the salt, mustard, molasses, and sugar into 1 cup boiling water and pour over the beans. Add more boiling water to just cover.
- Cover and make low and slow for 6 hours (the fireless-cooker method holds them 6 to 12 hours after a 20 to 30 minute boil), uncovering for the last hour so the pork browns. Add boiling water as needed to keep the beans moist.
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