Roses in Forest Grove, Oregon

Roses in Forest Grove, Oregon

Monday, August 4, 2014

Have it your way Baked Beans

Place about 25-30 coals in a charcoal chimney, or BBQ, light and wait until they just begin to turn grey. At this point, they are ready for use!


I call it "have it your way" baked beans because you have options to make it just the way you like!

Place 10 coals under Dutch oven, heat for a few minutes.


Ingredients:

Start with EITHER:

1 large onion & 1 stick butter    --  OR --  1 large onion 
1/2 lb of left over beef brisket,                 1/2 lb bacon
tri tip or burnt ends


chop onion, saute' in                         cut bacon and cook, wick up most of
1/2 stick melted butter                      the grease with paper towel, then sauté 
add meat                                            chopped onion

1  28 oz can your favorite BUSH'S baked beans UNDRAINED

4  15 oz cans your favorite beans such as, kidney, black, pinto, garbanzo, 
                    butter beans, or white beans  DRAINED

DO NOT drain the Bush's beans, but DO drain the other cans, reserving 1 C of liquid.

When the onions are cooked to translucent color, add UNDRAINED Bush's beans
and the DRAINED beans from 4 cans.


NEXT, add 1  18oz jar SEEDLESS fruit preserves, such as cherry, peach, etc.

ADD 9 to 18 oz of your favorite BBQ sauce.  Keep in mind, if you add a "sweet" BBQ sauce it will have a sweeter taste than a BBQ sauce that has a "vinegar taste"  (I used Sweet Baby Rays BBQ)
You can also add the remaining butter if you wish.

Stir it all together, Cover and place coals around the entire rim of the lid.  

Check the oven every 45 min or so to make sure it is maintaining a simmer, and to make sure the liquid is still sufficient. Add liquid if needed.

Cook beans 2-3 hours, being sure to check it.


ONLY use wooden spoons to stir!  NO METAL, it will scratch the oven.

I have made this recipe twice, and it is an immediate HIT!!! Even people who normally don't care for baked beans have told me they love it!!! The variety of beans in taste and color make it intriguing and it tastes wonderful with the sweet/sour taste of preserves and BBQ sauce!

Please feel free to share this recipe, just give me credit for it! I want lots of followers on my Blog!

Also, PLEASE let me know if you have tried any of the recipes I have (and will) post. I'd love to hear!


More info and my baked bean recipe!

More very useful info before I get into another recipe.

You might be asking "OK, so how do I use charcoal with my Dutch oven???"

Some recipes call for using charcoal only under the oven, many call for charcoal both on the lid and under the oven.

Here's a temperature guide:

size of oven        oven temp

                                       350 F        375 F            400 F            425 F          

10"   Total briquettes      16              17                  18                    19                
          top/bottom          11/5            11/7               12/6                 13/6                

12"   Total Briquettes     21               23                 25                     27                
          top/bottom           14/7           16/7              17/8                 18/9              

14"    Total Briquettes    32               34                   36                   38              
          top/bottom          21/11          22/12               24/12            25/13          

16"  Total Briquettes      39               41                  43                   45                  
          top/bottom         26/13           27/14              28/15             29/16        


Now please keep in mind that you'll need an oven thermometer to make sure the temp INSIDE the oven is kept constant, that will mean replacing charcoal as needed.

The recipes I've tried so far are not "BAKING" recipes, they are COOKING recipes... and yes, there is a difference!  Ernie, my mentor is a baker, NOT a "cooker" He bakes breads and the like in his Dutch ovens. I am the "cooker". I haven't tried baking yet, but will!

When I made my first two recipes, I didn't feel it was super important to keep the inner temp constant, I just made sure the beans were simmering. And actually for this second recipe I'm going to post I didn't need to add more coals at all.

Some Dutch oven  users will tell you that a good point to start on the charcoal use is to think of it this way.  "plus 4, minus 4".  That is the size of your oven, 12" for example... so 12 PLUS 4 for the top, and 12 MINUS 4 for the bottom. if it's a 14" oven, 14+4 for the top and 14-4 for the bottom. that would most likely be to retain a 350 F temp inside the oven. But as you can see, this formula differs from the chart above, which is from Camp Chef.

I feel any chart can be used, with a little "tweaking" here and there.  If you get your coals set up and take the internal temp and find it to be too hot, take coals away and if it's not hot enough, put another couple on to get to the desired temp.  You get the idea.

Next is my Baked Bean recipe!