Baked beans is a
dish traditionally containing white
bean
A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes th ...
s that are
parboiled
Parboiling (or leaching) is the partial or semi boiling of food as the first step in cooking. The word is from the Old French 'parboillir' (to boil thoroughly) but by mistaken association with 'part' it has acquired its current meaning.
The wo ...
and then, in the US,
baked
Baking is a method of preparing food that uses dry heat, typically in an oven, but can also be done in hot ashes, or on hot stones. The most common baked item is bread but many other types of foods can be baked. Heat is gradually transferre ...
in sauce at low temperature for a lengthy period. In the United Kingdom, the dish is sometimes baked, but usually
stewed in
sauce
In cooking, a sauce is a liquid, cream, or semi-solid food, served on or used in preparing other foods. Most sauces are not normally consumed by themselves; they add flavor, moisture, and visual appeal to a dish. ''Sauce'' is a French word t ...
.
Canned baked beans are not baked, but are cooked through a steam process.
Baked beans occurred in
Native American cuisine, and are made from beans indigenous to the Americas.
It is thought that the dish was adopted and adapted by
English colonists
The colonial history of the United States covers the history of European colonization of North America from the early 17th century until the incorporation of the Thirteen Colonies into the United States after the American Revolutionary War, ...
in
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
in the 17th century and, through cookbooks published in the 19th century, spread to other regions of the United States and into Canada.
However, the connection to Native American cuisine may be apocryphal, as legumes such as broad beans and lentils prepared in various sauces had been established in European cuisine long before the Middle Ages. Today, in the New England region of the United States, a variety of indigenous
legume
A legume () is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock f ...
s are used in restaurants or in the home, such as Jacob's cattle, soldier beans, yellow-eyed beans, and
navy beans
The navy bean, haricot, pearl haricot bean, Boston bean, white pea bean, or pea bean is a variety of the common bean ('' Phaseolus vulgaris'') native to the Americas, where it was first domesticated. It is a dry white bean that is smaller than ...
(also known as native beans).
Originally, Native Americans sweetened baked beans with
maple syrup
Maple syrup is a syrup made from the sap of maple trees. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in late winter and early spring. Maple tree ...
, a tradition some recipes still follow, but some English colonists used
brown sugar
Brown sugar is unrefined or partially refined soft sugar.
Brown Sugar may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Brown Sugar'' (1922 film), a 1922 British silent film directed by Fred Paul
* ''Brown Sugar'' (1931 film), a 1931 ...
beginning in the 17th century. In the 18th century, the convention of using American-made
molasses
Molasses () is a viscous substance resulting from refining sugarcane or sugar beets into sugar. Molasses varies in the amount of sugar, method of extraction and age of the plant. Sugarcane molasses is primarily used to sweeten and flavour foods ...
as a sweetening agent became increasingly popular to avoid British taxes on sugar.
Boston baked beans
Boston baked beans are a variety of baked beans, sweetened with molasses, and flavored with salt pork or bacon.
History
Native Americans had made corn bread and baked beans. The Pilgrims at Plymouth Colony learned these recipes in the early ...
use a sauce prepared with molasses and
salt pork
Salt pork is salt-cured pork. It is usually prepared from pork belly, or, more rarely, fatback. Salt pork typically resembles uncut side bacon, but is fattier, being made from the lowest part of the belly, and saltier, as the cure is stronger an ...
, a dish whose popularity has given Boston the nickname "Beantown".
Today, baked beans are served throughout the United States alongside
barbecue
Barbecue or barbeque (informally BBQ in the UK, US, and Canada, barbie in Australia and braai in South Africa) is a term used with significant regional and national variations to describe various cooking methods that use live fire and smoke t ...
foods and at picnics. Beans in a
brown sugar
Brown sugar is unrefined or partially refined soft sugar.
Brown Sugar may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Brown Sugar'' (1922 film), a 1922 British silent film directed by Fred Paul
* ''Brown Sugar'' (1931 film), a 1931 ...
, sugar, or
corn syrup
Corn syrup is a food syrup which is made from the starch of corn (called maize in many countries) and contains varying amounts of sugars: glucose, maltose and higher oligosaccharides, depending on the grade. Corn syrup is used in foods to softe ...
sauce (with or without tomatoes) are widely available throughout the United States.
Bush Brothers are the largest producer.
After the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
,
Independence Day
An independence day is an annual event commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or more rarely after the end of a military occupation. Man ...
celebrations often included baked beans.
Canned baked beans are used as a
convenience food
Convenience food, also called tertiary processed food, is food that is commercially prepared (often through processing) to optimise ease of consumption. Such food is usually ready to eat without further preparation. It may also be easily por ...
; most are made from
haricot beans in sauce. They may be eaten hot or cold, and straight from the can, as they are fully cooked.
H. J. Heinz
Henry John Heinz (October 11, 1844 – May 14, 1919) was an American entrepreneur of Palatine descent who, at the age of 25, co-founded a small horseradish concern in Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania. This business failed, but his second business exp ...
began producing canned baked beans in 1886. In the early 20th century, canned baked beans gained international popularity, particularly in the United Kingdom, where they have become a common part of an English
full breakfast.
Origins and history in the Americas
![beanpots](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Beanpots.jpg)
According to chef and food historian Walter Staib of Philadelphia's
City Tavern, baked beans had their roots as a Native peoples dish in the Americas long before the dish became known to Western culture.
In the northeast of America various Native American peoples, including the
Iroquois
The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...
, the
Narragansett and the
Penobscot
The Penobscot (Abenaki: ''Pαnawάhpskewi'') are an Indigenous people in North America from the Northeastern Woodlands region. They are organized as a federally recognized tribe in Maine and as a First Nations band government in the Atlantic pr ...
, mixed beans, maple sugar, and bear fat in earthenware pots which they placed in pits called "bean holes" which were lined in hot rocks to cook slowly over a long period of time.
British colonists in
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
were the first westerners to adopt the dish from the Native peoples, and were quick to embrace it largely because the dish was reminiscent of
pease porridge
Pease pudding, also known as pease porridge, is a savoury pudding dish made of boiled legumes, typically split yellow peas, with water, salt and spices, and often cooked with a bacon or ham joint. A common dish in the north-east of England, it ...
and because the dish used ingredients native to the New World.
They substituted molasses or sugar for the maple syrup, bacon or ham for the bear fat, and simmered their beans for hours in pots over the fire instead of underground.
Each colony in America had its own regional variations of the dish, with navy or white pea beans used in Massachusetts, Jacob's Cattle and soldier beans used in Maine, and yellow-eyed beans in Vermont.
This variation likely resulted from the colonists receiving the dish from different Native peoples who used different native beans.
While some historians have theorized that baked beans had originated from the
cassoulet
Cassoulet (, also , ; ; from Occitan and cognates with Spanish: ''cazoleta'' and Catalan: ''cassolet'') is a rich, slow-cooked stew containing meat (typically pork sausages, goose, duck and sometimes mutton), pork skin () and white beans () ...
or bean stew tradition in Southern France, this is unlikely as the beans used to make baked beans are all native to South America and were introduced to Europe around 1528. However, it is likely that English colonists used their knowledge of cassoulet cooking to modify the cooking technique of the beans from the traditional Native American version, by soaking the bean overnight and simmering the beans over a fire before baking it in earthen pots in order to decrease the cooking time.
A dish which was a clear precursor to baked beans, entitled "beans and bacon", was known in medieval England.
The addition of onion and
mustard
Mustard may refer to:
Food and plants
* Mustard (condiment), a paste or sauce made from mustard seeds used as a condiment
* Mustard plant, one of several plants, having seeds that are used for the condiment
** Mustard seed, seeds of the mustard p ...
to some baked beans recipes published in New England in the 19th century was likely based on traditional cassoulet recipes from Staffordshire, England which utilized mustard, beans, and leeks.
These ingredients are still often added to baked beans today.
Nineteenth-century cookbooks published in New England, spread to other portions of the United States and Canada, which familiarized other people with the dish.
While many recipes today are stewed, traditionally dried beans were soaked overnight, simmered until tender (parboiled), and then slow-baked in a ceramic or cast-iron
beanpot
A beanpot is a deep, wide-bellied, short-necked vessel used to cook bean-based dishes. Beanpots are typically made of ceramic, though some are made of other materials, such as cast iron. The relatively narrow mouth of the beanpot minimizes evap ...
.
Originally baked beans were sweetened with
maple syrup
Maple syrup is a syrup made from the sap of maple trees. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in late winter and early spring. Maple tree ...
by Native Americans, a tradition some recipes still follow, but some English colonists modified the sweetening agent to brown sugar beginning in the 17th century.
In the 18th century the convention of using American made
molasses
Molasses () is a viscous substance resulting from refining sugarcane or sugar beets into sugar. Molasses varies in the amount of sugar, method of extraction and age of the plant. Sugarcane molasses is primarily used to sweeten and flavour foods ...
as a sweetening agent became increasingly popular in order to avoid British taxes on sugar.
The molasses style of baked beans has become closely associated with the city of Boston and is often referred to as
Boston baked beans
Boston baked beans are a variety of baked beans, sweetened with molasses, and flavored with salt pork or bacon.
History
Native Americans had made corn bread and baked beans. The Pilgrims at Plymouth Colony learned these recipes in the early ...
.
Today in the
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
region, baked beans are flavored either with maple syrup (Northern New England), or with molasses (Boston), and are traditionally cooked with
salt pork
Salt pork is salt-cured pork. It is usually prepared from pork belly, or, more rarely, fatback. Salt pork typically resembles uncut side bacon, but is fattier, being made from the lowest part of the belly, and saltier, as the cure is stronger an ...
in a
beanpot
A beanpot is a deep, wide-bellied, short-necked vessel used to cook bean-based dishes. Beanpots are typically made of ceramic, though some are made of other materials, such as cast iron. The relatively narrow mouth of the beanpot minimizes evap ...
in a
brick oven
A masonry oven, colloquially known as a brick oven or stone oven, is an oven consisting of a baking chamber made of fireproof brick, concrete, stone, clay (clay oven), or cob (cob oven). Though traditionally wood-fired, coal-fired ovens were c ...
for six to eight hours.
In the absence of a brick oven, the beans were cooked in a beanpot nestled in a bed of embers placed near the outer edges of a hearth, about a foot away from the fire. Today, baked beans can be made in a
slow cooker
A slow cooker, also known as a crock-pot (after a trademark owned by Sunbeam Products but sometimes used generically in the English-speaking world), is a countertop electrical cooking appliance used to simmer at a lower temperature than othe ...
or in a modern oven using a traditional beanpot,
Dutch oven
A Dutch oven (not to be confused with masonry oven) is a thick-walled cooking pot with a tight-fitting lid. Dutch ovens are usually made of seasoned cast iron; however, some Dutch ovens are instead made of cast aluminium, or ceramic. Some metal ...
, or
casserole dish
A Dutch oven (not to be confused with masonry oven) is a thick-walled cooking pot with a tight-fitting lid. Dutch ovens are usually made of seasoned cast iron; however, some Dutch ovens are instead made of cast aluminium, or ceramic. Some meta ...
.
Regardless of cooking method, the results of the dish, commonly described as having a
savory-
sweet
Sweetness is a basic taste most commonly perceived when eating foods rich in sugars. Sweet tastes are generally regarded as pleasurable. In addition to sugars like sucrose, many other chemical compounds are sweet, including aldehydes, ketones ...
flavor and a brownish- or reddish-tinted white bean, are the same.
A tradition in
Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...
of "bean hole" cooking may have originated with the native
Penobscot people
The Penobscot (Abenaki: ''Pαnawάhpskewi'') are an Indigenous people in North America from the Northeastern Woodlands region. They are organized as a federally recognized tribe in Maine and as a First Nations band government in the Atlantic ...
and was later practiced in logging camps. A fire would be made in a stone-lined pit and allowed to burn down to hot coals, and then a pot with 11 pounds of seasoned beans would be placed in the ashes, covered over with dirt, and left to cook overnight or longer. These beans were a staple of Maine's logging camps, served at every meal.
While baked beans was initially a New England region cuisine, the dish has become a popular item throughout the United States; and is now a staple item served most frequently along various types of
barbecue
Barbecue or barbeque (informally BBQ in the UK, US, and Canada, barbie in Australia and braai in South Africa) is a term used with significant regional and national variations to describe various cooking methods that use live fire and smoke t ...
and at
picnic
A picnic is a meal taken outdoors ( ''al fresco'') as part of an excursion, especially in scenic surroundings, such as a park, lakeside, or other place affording an interesting view, or else in conjunction with a public event such as preceding ...
s. This is due in part to the ease of handling, as they can be served hot or cold, directly from the can, making them handy for outdoor eating. The tomato-based sweet sauce also complements many types of barbecue. The already-cooked beans may also be baked in a casserole dish topped with slices of raw bacon, which is baked until the bacon is cooked. Additional seasonings are sometimes used, such as additional brown sugar or mustard to make the sauce more tangy.
Commercial production and international consumption
Canned beans, often containing pork, were among the first
convenience foods
Convenience food, also called tertiary processed food, is food that is commercially prepared (often through processing) to optimise ease of consumption. Such food is usually ready to eat without further preparation. It may also be easily po ...
, and were exported and popularised by U.S. companies internationally in the early 20th century.
The American
Food and Drug Administration
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respon ...
stated in 1996: "It has for years been recognized by consumers generally that the designation 'beans with pork,' or 'pork and beans' is the common or usual name for an article of commerce that contains very little pork." The included pork is typically a piece of
salt pork
Salt pork is salt-cured pork. It is usually prepared from pork belly, or, more rarely, fatback. Salt pork typically resembles uncut side bacon, but is fattier, being made from the lowest part of the belly, and saltier, as the cure is stronger an ...
that adds fat to the dish.
The first mass-produced commercial canning of baked beans in the United States began in 1895 by the Pennsylvania-based
H. J. Heinz Company
The H. J. Heinz Company is an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Henry J. Heinz in 1869. Heinz manufactures thousands of food products in plants on six contin ...
.
Heinz was also the first company to sell baked beans outside of the United States, beginning with sales limited solely to
Fortnum & Mason
Fortnum & Mason (colloquially often shortened to just Fortnum's) is an upmarket department store in Piccadilly, London, with additional stores at The Royal Exchange, St Pancras railway station, Heathrow Airport in London and K11 Musea In Hong ...
in 1886, when the item was considered a luxury.
They began selling baked beans throughout the UK in 1901, and baked beans became a standard part of the English
full breakfast soon after.
Heinz removed pork from the product during the
Second World War rationing.
Originally,
Heinz Baked Beans
Heinz Baked Beans are a brand of baked beans produced by the H. J. Heinz Company. They have been sold as "Heinz Beanz" in the United Kingdom since 2008.
History
In 1886, Heinz Baked Beans were first sold at the Fortnum & Mason department store ...
were prepared in the traditional United States manner for sales in
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
and
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
. Over time, the recipe was altered to a less sweet
tomato sauce
Tomato sauce (also known as ''salsa roja'' in Spanish or ''salsa di pomodoro'' in Italian) can refer to many different sauces made primarily from tomatoes, usually to be served as part of a dish, rather than as a condiment. Tomato sauces are c ...
without maple syrup, molasses, or brown sugar to appeal to the tastes of the United Kingdom.
This is the version of baked beans most commonly eaten outside of the United States. Baked beans are commonly eaten on toast or as part of a full breakfast and on toast (called simply "beans on toast").
Heinz Baked Beans remains the best-selling brand in the UK.
The Baked Bean Museum of Excellence
The Baked Bean Museum of Excellence is a private museum located in Port Talbot, Wales, United Kingdom. The Baked Bean Museum Of Excellence was officially closed on 30th June 2023.
Founding
The museum is owned by Barry Kirk, who changed his na ...
in
Port Talbot
Port Talbot (, ) is a town and community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, situated on the east side of Swansea Bay, approximately from Swansea. The Port Talbot Steelworks covers a large area of land which dominates the south ...
, Wales, is dedicated to baked beans.
Health
In 2002, the
British Dietetic Association
The British Dietetic Association (BDA) is a professional association and trade union for dietitians in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1936 and became a certified union in 1982: it is affiliated to the Trades Union Congress and the Scottis ...
allowed manufacturers of canned baked beans to advertise the product as contributing to the recommended daily consumption of five to six vegetables per person. This concession was criticised by
heart specialists, who pointed to the high levels of sugar and salt in the product. However, it has been proven that consumption of baked beans does indeed lower total cholesterol levels and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, even in normo-cholesterolaemic individuals. Some manufacturers produce a "
healthy
Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiz ...
" version of the product with reduced levels of sugar and salt.
Flatulence
Baked beans are known on occasion to cause an increase in
flatulence
Flatulence, in humans, is the expulsion of gas from the intestines via the anus, commonly referred to as farting. "Flatus" is the medical word for gas generated in the stomach or bowels. A proportion of intestinal gas may be swallowed environm ...
following consumption;
this is due to the
fermentation
Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substrates through the action of enzymes. In biochemistry, it is narrowly defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen. In food ...
of
polysaccharide
Polysaccharides (), or polycarbohydrates, are the most abundant carbohydrates found in food. They are long chain polymeric carbohydrates composed of monosaccharide units bound together by glycosidic linkages. This carbohydrate can react with wa ...
s (specifically
oligosaccharide
An oligosaccharide (/ˌɑlɪgoʊˈsækəˌɹaɪd/; from the Greek ὀλίγος ''olígos'', "a few", and σάκχαρ ''sácchar'', "sugar") is a saccharide polymer containing a small number (typically two to ten) of monosaccharides (simple sugar ...
s) by
gut bacteria
Gut microbiota, gut microbiome, or gut flora, are the microorganisms, including bacteria, archaea, fungi, and viruses that live in the digestive tracts of animals. The gastrointestinal metagenome is the aggregate of all the genomes of the gut ...
. The oligosaccharides pass through the small
intestine
The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The GI tract contains all the major organs of the digestive system, in humans ...
largely undigested; when they reach the large
intestine
The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The GI tract contains all the major organs of the digestive system, in humans ...
, they are digested by the bacteria, producing gas.
See also
*
List of legume dishes
This is a list of legume dishes. A legume is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for their food grain seed (e.g. beans and lentils, or generally pulse) ...
*
List of toast dishes
Toast is sliced bread that has been browned by exposure to radiant heat. It appears as a main ingredient in many dishes, often as a base on which other food is served.
Toast dishes
* Avocado toast – mashed avocado on toast. A variety of add ...
*
Pork and beans
Pork and beans is a culinary dish that uses pork and beans as its main ingredients. Numerous variations exist, usually with a more specific name, such as Fabada Asturiana, Olla podrida, or American canned pork and beans.
American canned pork a ...
*
Refried beans
Refried beans (from es, frijoles refritos, ) is a dish of cooked and mashed beans that is a traditional staple of Mexican and Tex-Mex cuisine, although each cuisine has a different approach when making the dish. Refried beans are also popular ...
*
Beans, Beans, the Musical Fruit
"Beans, Beans, The Musical Fruit" (alternately "Beans, Beans, good for your heart") is a playground saying and children's song about the capacity for beans to contribute to flatulence.
The basis of the song (and Flatulence humor, bean/fart humor i ...
, a playground saying referring to the capacity for baked beans to cause increased flatulence
References
{{Legume dishes
Canned food
British cuisine
English cuisine
Irish cuisine
Legume dishes
Baked foods
American cuisine
Canadian cuisine
Australian cuisine
New Zealand cuisine
Cuisine of Quebec
Chilean cuisine
Turkish cuisine
Iranian cuisine
Mexican cuisine
Cuisine of the Thirteen Colonies
Independence Day (United States) foods