Give me the real gas on baked beans .

K

Kevin the grey

Joined
Aug 26, 2005
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Sinnce we are talking about easily preserved and portable foods we might as well get on to the subject of deep browned baked beans .

First off lets talk about the selection of the dried bean itself . How do you tell if the beans are good or not ? How do you know if they will be tender .

I betcha you can,t get em too dark browned on the trail . Give me your recipes where you do your best .

Any recipes that translate into crock pot cooking are welcome .

I used to like Libbys/heinz dark browned beans . I have to admit Clarks Dark browned beans with molasses has come a long way . Heinz did come out with a recipe with ground pork in the sauce . It was good when it first came out . As usual as time went on they paid less attention to quality control and it doesn,t taste nearly as good .
 
Dried beans are usually good for long term storage if treated like you would grains to keep out weevils, and do something to extract the oxygen from the container to prevent oxidation. You can use a gasket sealed five gallon bucket to put the bags in, leave the lid a bit loose or drill a 1/4" hole in it, then add a bit of dry ice. When the dry ice is gone, seal the hole with a dab of silicone sealer, or some really good duct tape. The bucket will then be filled with carbon dioxide gas, and weevils, moths, and other bugs can't live in it. This works for most legumes and grains, including rice, oats, and wheat.
Adding some DE powder helps too.

Beans and peas come in a bewildering variety, so make a good add on to a lot of meals, and some stand-alone soups too. Ten bean soup comes with the dried beans and flavor packets in the bag, and is very filling.

I've never tried using dried beans while camping, since it takes so long for them to rehydrate, then to cook. I have used some of the mixes in which the beans are precooked and then dried. These take about 30 minutes once your water is boiling.

Codger
 
Codger your comment on how long it takes to prepare beans makes me think of all the cowboy stories I've read with them soaking the beans the night through and a quick cookup in the morning .

Is it perhaps they speak of a different bean or just hasty slop down cooking ?

I do know the overnight soak would have them more or less ready for cooking. Most recipes I know of require at least an hours cooktime which leads me to believe there is a disparity between the recipes I know and what is after all a story .

B:T:W: Campbells bean soup brings back memories of an awesome tasty treat . Not sold around here anymore .
 
Kevin, re-hydrated beans will make you fart like a racehorse. You've got to soak those beans a long time, then boil them, add baking soda, pour it off, do it all over again, yada yada. Them cowboys used to fart in the saddle a lot, to the disgust of the horses. While this may be acceptable to you, consider if you're on an escape and evasion course and you let one rip just as the enemy is walking by your hidey-hole. (by the way, anybody ever seen anybody do flaming farts in basic training? Those who know probably won't answer :D )
 
I,ve only seen one flamer in my life . There is a great scene in " Wagons East" with John Candy Where some of the Locals were lighting a blue streak .
It was blowing the hair back of a Lady standing near . Hilarious .

Coldwood I fart from drinking plain water . It makes talk around the watercooler very interesting . :eek:

I,m mkaing a basic chili for supper . I may get a little creative with the pepper I throw in . :p :thumbup:
 
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