Beans and the Pot

I acquired my one quart bean pot some time ago, after what was probably an excessive amount of fussing . I was under the spell of an article by John Thorne in Serious Pig, in which he thoroughly explored the yankee baked bean traditions, beans, recipes, and vessels. He convinced me that the pot was important, and would produce better baked beans, over time, as it mellowed. Since it was to be a kitchen treasure akin to the cast iron frying pans I'd been nurturing for years, I did not select it lightly.

I wanted something which would make about a quart of baked beans-enough for several suppers for myself, or sides of beans for 8 people. It had to have a roughish interior and a glazed exterior, and I wanted a pot that was attractive, but not fancy looking or decorated. Had I found something mass produced that looked and felt right, and didn't cost the earth, I would have been quite happy. I didn't see anything like that though, so I wound up ordering a handthrown "yankee style" beanpot from the dancing moon pottery , and then waiting a month for it. This is a one woman pottery, and the bean pots are not made until the orders come in. Thus, you can wait from 4-6 weeks to get one!

These pots are "replicas" of "old style yankee bean pots of the 17th and 18th [and 19th and early 20th as far as I can tell] centuries", but are made with all lead free glazes. I am very fond of mine, and like to imagine that it is mellowing since I got it nearly 10 years ago. If I am fooling myself, it is a pretty harmless deception, I guess. It is a satisfying object in large part because of its extreme ordinariness. So if you are looking for a similar pot, and can find a mass produced one of the same classic sort, I'd snap it right up. If you can't find one though, the potter,Susan Babine, is still making the excellent and classic pots, in several different sizes. They are the traditional bi-color brown and tan, the 1 qt size now costs $42, having gone up in price like everything else, and there is a shipping charge.(John Thorne and food historian Karen Hesser opine that a solid brown is the true old style-but the bicolored ones say "beanpot" to me.)

I do not have an absolute and invariable recipe for New England style baked beans, though I make them with some regularity, and don't ring too many changes. I have learned two things the hard way though. They are first, that the beans themselves must be soft enough to eat before you put them in the pot to bake, or they won't be any good, even if you cook them forever. Secondly, do not put anything acidic (vinegar, tomatoes, etc.) into beans unless they are as soft as you want them to be , because all softening will be instantaneously halted. The second thing has a corollary, of the silver lining variety. That is, if your beans are on the brink of being too mushy, you can add some vinegar and save them.

The following is how I made the beans this time; many minor variations are possible, though the structure is the same.

I used:

navy beans 2 cups (other beans like great northerns are fine, I like the littleness of navy beans)
salted fatback with rind 1/4 lb
onion 1, peeled and stuck with a clove
molasses, or Alaga syrup 3/4 cup
powdered mustard 1 tsp dissolved in 1/4 cup water
brown sugar 1/4 cup
salt and pepper to taste
a small amount of rum (a J.Thorne contribution of great merit)

Soak beans in water to cover, by 1", overnight. Drain. Put beans and fatback in a large heavy pot with water to cover. Preheat oven to 250. Bring beans to boil, turn down to simmer, and cook until the beans are tender, but not mushy. Add Salt and pepper to taste. Drain beans and pork, saving cooking liquid. Put the beans, pork and the rest of the ingredients in a one qt. beanpot. Bring the cooking liquid back to a boil, and pour in just enough to almost cover the beans. Cover and cook in the preheated oven about 6 hours. Remove lid and cook for another hour, or until the liquid has thickened. Remove the onion and fatback. You can cut up a bit of the fatback into tiny cubes and put it back in with the beans if you like that sort of thing. I do, but many do not.

Have this with some coleslaw and cornbread. Leftovers reheat nicely, as I expect you know. Actually, Boston Brown Bread is the traditional accompanyment. I've never made it, as the cornbread is so nice. Perhaps I should try making some. There is a recipe in the Thorne book.

Comments

[June]

This looks great and I will definitely try it as I love all things beany. Just one question - what is fatback? Is it pork belly, or pork streaky, or a slab of bacon, and if bacon is it green or smoked? We must call it something else in Albion.

[lindy]

June- Sadly, I have been unable to master the varying English/Canadian/US pork-bacon nomenclature. After a considerable effort, I have given up on finding a true US match for the "streaky bacon" which appears in so many English recipes. Salt Fatback is salted, but not smoked, nearly entirely fat, and has a rind on one edge. From which part of the swine it comes-I can only guess. The back, perhaps?

Fortunately, I think it is quite reasonable to use anything which is largely pork fat, of any sort, smoked or otherwise. There are so many perfectly good, slightly different recipes for New England type or "Boston" baked beans. Each method has fervent adherents who consider all other styles daft, and enjoy arguing their points. It is nearly as disputatious as the proper method of preparing chili con carne, or "a bowl of red."

I say, put in what you've got, or what you like. I'll bet it will be good. Or perhaps someone will set me straight?

[Luisa]

Aiyiyi, if I hadn't come down with a mean bout of food poisoning (or flu) this weekend, I would have made baked beans, too! And with quite a similar recipe, too. I love your bean pot. And envy your beans. Enjoy! I'll think of you eating them while I subsist on dry toast... As for the bacon question, the recipe I plan on making one day uses baby back ribs instead of salt pork.

[julie]

Thanks so much for this post! My mother in law recently gave me her father's (my husband's grandfather) bean pot and while I have my own baked bean recipe, it is for a huge stew pot, so I didn't really know what to do with this little bean pot (although I suppose I could've cut down the recipe--a lot). I'm so grateful for your recipe and advice on using this little bean pot. Thanks again!!!

[lindy]

Oh poor Luisa! Food poisoning is the very pits of misery. I hope you feel better soon. Certainly beans are not something for a stomach feeling delicate!

Thanks Julie-You are definitely lucky to be given an already broken-in beanpot.

[Bakerina]

Oh, how I wish I had made this for lunch yesterday, when I came home from a truncated yarn-shopping expedition, my hair matted down by freezing rain. Alas, I have neither the bean pot, nor the Appaloosa beans that are my first choice for baked beans, nor the navy beans that run a close second. Dang.

I love Boston brown bread with these beans, but after the month I spent in northwest Arkansas two summers ago, living on beans and cornbread, I have to admit I have never looked back ever since.

[Lisa]

I'm not crazy about baked beans, but this history of bean pots was quite intriguing! Thanks for sharing!

[food poisoning symptoms]

This looks great and I will definitely try it as I love all things beany. Just one question - what is fatback? Is it pork belly, or pork streaky, or a slab of bacon, and if bacon is it green or smoked? We must call it something else in Albion.