“How could baked beans possibly be outdated?” I thought as I perused a 2007 issue of Cook’s Illustrated I acquired through my local Buy Nothing group. Baked beans are a centuries-old staple; surely a publication (from Boston of all places) wouldn’t drastically change over 19 years!
I ate my trials with a side of those words. Unsoaked beans in nearly 2.5 qt/L of acidified liquid simply do not become tender and saucy in 5 1/2 hrs. After a quarter of a day, I had dismayingly crunchy legumes swimming in almost 1 qt/L of thin liquid.
2007’s “Boston Baked Beans” Becomes 2020’s “New England Baked Beans”
Apparently, about six years ago, America’s Test Kitchen revamped their recipe too.
Is this recipe a veganization?
A veganization was my plan. However, I kept inching toward a personal favorite: “Grammy Beans”, the (possibly canned) baked beans and hot dogs my grandmother served at Summer picnics.
But it’s neither a community spotlight! Classic techniques, modern research, and childhood memories all coalesced into this unique creation.
Vegan Boston Baked Beans
Description
A 12- to 24-hour soak is critical. But if that's not the kind of time you have, you could use my seitan bacon or plant-based hot dogs in Vegan Pasta e Piselli instead.
Ingredients
Instructions
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If desired, make seitan bacon.
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Place beans, baking soda, and 2 qt/L (71 oz/2 kg) water in a lg pot. Allow 12-24 hrs to soak.
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Near end of soaking time, preheat oven to 300°F/150°C. Then, in order:
- Measure oil into a Dutch oven, or other lg, oven-safe, lidded pot.
- Cut "bacon" or hot dogs into sm dice. Set aside.
- Finely dice onion. Set aside separately from "bacon" or hot dogs.
- Gather remaining ingredients.
- Drain and thoroughly rinse beans. Hold in colander until Step 6.
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Melt oil over med heat. Add "bacon" or hot dogs and cook about 10 min, stirring every 2-3 min, until lightly browned and crusted.
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Reduce heat to lo. Transfer "bacon" or hot dogs into a sm bowl leaving behind as much oil as possible. Reserve for Step 8.
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Carefully move onion, beans, 1 qt/L (32 oz/0.9 kg) water, molasses, sugar, salt, mustard, pepper, and bay leaf to Dutch oven. Increase heat to hi and stir until rapidly boiling.
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Cover Dutch oven and slide into oven. Cook 2 hrs stirring once exactly halfway.
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Remove lid. Cook about 2 more hrs stirring every 30 min. Going into final 30 min, return reserved "bacon" or hot dogs (from Step 5) before stirring.
Most of my test batches required 2 hours covered plus 2 hours uncovered to cook. However, some needed 2 + 1; others, 2 + 3. I suspect if I could know the age of a given bag of dried beans, I could more accurately tell you how long that batch needs to bake. Alas, your eyes and tongue are the best determiners of doneness. -
Set Dutch oven on a trivet and return lid. Let contents steam 5-10 min, then remove lid and scrape fond down sides into dish. Stir.
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Allow 10-15 min to rest and thicken stirring every 5 min. Discard bay leaf (if necessary) and serve.
Note
A fun game of association led to other, seemingly unrelated content:
- Veganization: Pasta e Piselli (a no-drain pasta recipe also from ATK that uses my seitan bacon)
- Reverse-Engineered Product: Vegan SpaghettiOs (another no-drain pasta recipe) (coming soon)
And that's to say nothing of the cake, pastry cream, heavy whipping cream, and Boston cream pie posts I have on deck! I will link them as they're published.
