Sweet and Spicy Baked Beans Recipe | Butter Your Biscuit (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to soft baked beans? ›

If the beans are too dry, add some hot water—or leftover bean-cooking water, if you still have some—until they're just saucy enough.

Dried beans typically have a moisture content of around 16%. However, as they age, moisture evaporates, giving pectin time to age and harden the skin. These beans can often take much longer to soften while soaking and cooking, up to twice the time!

The addition of baking soda to the cooking water does two things: It adds sodium ions that weaken the pectin as explained above, and more importantly, an alkaline environment causes the pectin molecules to break down into smaller molecules that greatly weakens the pectin causing the beans to soften much more rapidly.

Baking soda can also work wonders in helping to make beans soften faster when it is being cooked as adding a little amount of soda to the beans being cooked helps to soften the beans.

Here are some secrets to enhance the flavor of canned baked beans: 1. **Add Sweetness:** Homemade baked beans often have a balance of sweetness, so consider adding brown sugar, maple syrup, or molasses to the canned beans. Start with a small amount and taste as you go to achieve the desired level of sweetness.

I like to sprinkle in some taco seasoning, but you could add whatever spices you like — garlic powder, cumin, and chili powder are all good calls. Then, you mash the beans up directly in the pan and add just a little bit of vinegar at the end to really make the beans sing.

Feel free to add your own signature ingredients to this basic recipe. Crumbled bacon, chopped pork butt or chunks of ham are good choices, or you can make a more complex dish with the addition of yellow onion, various bell peppers, chili pepper, hot sauce, and so on.

If you're worried about the white stuff on top, it's fat that cooked out of the bacon & rose to the top as it cooled.

What can I use in place of molasses in baked beans? ›

But the saponins in beans are harmless, so while that foam might be a bit shocking when you spot it, just keep rinsing until it is all gone and carry on with your recipe. It's all natural. Ready for an easy dinner that starts with a can of beans?

Well, creating an alkaline (or basic) environment by adding a small amount (about 1 teaspoon per cup of dry beans) of baking soda to your soaking/cooking water can actually help your beans cook faster.

You can also spice up you're your baked beans by adding a teaspoon of your favourite spice, for example smoked paprika, cumin or chilli powder if your feeling adventurous. What you need: 1-2 slices of toast, ½ can baked beans and 1 tsp marmite/smoked paprika/cumin/chilli powder.

Addition of Cornstarch or Flour: Create a slurry by mixing equal parts cornstarch or flour with water. Stir this mixture into the soup and let it simmer for a few minutes until it thickens.

Place them in pot and cover with water, sprinkle on a tablespoon or so of baking soda and bring to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes. Allow beans to cool down, then drain, rinse, and cook as normal - just expect them to be done quickly. Baking soda cuts down the cooking time substantially!

There are three primary reasons why dried beans do not soften despite extensive cooking time: 1) they are old; 2) hard water; or 3) the presence of an acid. If you don't think your beans are old, then perhaps your water is the problem. Beans cooked in hard water will never soften properly.

Bring cold water to a boil in a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven over high heat. Add beans and salt, and return to a simmer; cover. Bake beans in the preheated oven until tender, about 1 hour and 10 minutes, checking after 30 minutes to ensure beans are still covered with water. If necessary, add just enough water to cover.

Overnight Soaking

To soak beans the traditional way, cover them with water by 2 inches, add 2 tablespoons coarse kosher salt (or 1 tablespoon fine salt) per pound of beans, and let them soak for at least 4 hours or up to 12 hours. Drain them and rinse before using.