Christine's Maine Style Baked Beans Recipe

I like a certain flavor to my baked beans so have been adapting my grandmother's recipe for Maine style baked beans to suit my taste. Before she passed away, I would phone her in her Maine kitchen, from my Connecticut kitchen, to ask her for baked bean cooking advice. While cleaning recently I was organizing my handwritten family recipes and found that I had four different sets of directions from her over the years. It seemed I could never find the directions so I'd call her again to talk about them. Each recipe is a little different which made interesting reading when I saw them side by side.

Once I reported to her that I finally found the perfect taste. I was so happy. She asked what I'd put in the beans. She said that sounded too sweet to her and said she'd not like them that way. Oh well, we each have different taste! I'd made her recipe exactly, previously, and felt it was not sweet enough. She liked a bit of a stronger taste with molasses, some onion sometimes and mustard.

Yesterday I used her recipe for the general cooking directions but used my concoction of sweetners. For one thing, I omitted the brown sugar and used pure Maine maple syrup instead.

According to my grandmother the key to strong flavored beans throughout the bean versus bland beans swimming in a sauce, is when doing the cooking, to put just enough water (or liquids) to cover the beans then to cook it (checking regularly) until the beans are just above the liquid. Then add more liquid to JUST cover, then repeat. She swears on a long cook time with adding small amounts of liquid then letting that absorb in is essential for creating beans with a full flavor throughout the bean.

As is the case with many Italian tomato pasta sauces, they taste better if eaten on the second day. If you plan to eat them on the second day be sure to have extra liquid in there before letting sit overnight because they absorb more liquid overnight. If they are dry at night then stored they can be almost pasty the next morning. (This is similar to what happens to homemade soups with pasta or potatoes added.)

Before reheating, check the consistency. You may need to add a bit more water. If you feel they need more sweet add more of whatever you want (brown sugar, maple syrup or molasses) at that time also. If you want a bit of a kick you can also add some dry mustard powder with your liquid.

To reheat beans I prefer heating in a pot on the stovetop over using the microwave. The microwave is tricky and can dry out some beans or can make some beans explode. The texture after microwaving sometimes is a problem.

Traditionally in Maine baked beans were a Saturday night supper with any leftovers eaten for breakfast the next morning served with a home baked white bread or Boston style brown bread steam cooked in an old coffee can.

Nutritionally I note molasses contains iron so it has benefits beyond just being a sweetner.

Regarding the molasses if you have not worked with it much know the flavors can vary greatly between brands and grades. The area of Maine where my mother grew up favors Crosby brand molasses: fancy molasses. I am surprised at the low cost of  Crosby molasses sold by the gallon ($10 was what I paid a couple of years ago). In Connecticut I have access to Grandma's brand, their yellow label is good but their green label which they call "robust" is too rank for me. I also have tried Brer Rabbit brand which I couldn't handle (way too strong).

Regarding the salt pork, I can't always find it in stores, so when I see it, I buy one or two and freeze them for future use to have on hand when I need it.

If you try this recipe let me know what you think.
Christine's Maine Style Baked Beans

1 lb soldier beans, soaked overnight or treated in pressure cooker
1 cup pure maple syrup (ours is from Maine)
1 cup molasses (Crosby's brand) (divided into two parts)
salt pork 1 inch by 4 inches or similar quantity cut cross-wise but held together by the skin
water

(see note at end about optional onion and optional dry mustard powder)

Bean pot (or cast iron dutch oven)

Large pot for use on stovetop

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After beans soak overnight in water, drain and rinse them.

Place beans in a large pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a simmer on the stovetop, and continue cooking at a simmer until the skins burst when blown on. Do not boil the beans or they may fall apart. When skins burst, strain water off and rinse with water.

In a bean pot, put the salt pork at the bottom. Add the beans, 1/2 cup of  molasses and 1 cup of maple syrup. Add enough water to just cover the beans. Stir to incorporate. Put lid on pot and put in the preheated 350 degree oven.

Bake checking regularly to see if liquid level gets below the beans. If so, add more water and stir, then put lid back on pot and continue baking. Check about once an hour.

After the beans have been cooking for a few hours taste the beans. If you feel they need more flavor add another 1/2 cup molasses on the next water/liquid addition.

After about five hours taste the beans to see if they are tender yet. They should take 5-6 hours to cook. They may take 7-8 hours. (After side by side cooking with different bean pots I have come to the conclusion that the thickness of the crockery changes the cook time.)

When the beans are tender throughout, it means they are done. If you feel they need more sweet, add more maple syrup to your taste (take a guess). If you want more strong molasses flavor, add that to taste (just guess).

If you want some bite or kick to your beans, add some dry mustard (small amount like 1 teaspoon).

If you cook them much beyond the tender stage you risk having them break up and turn to mush (but they will still have good flavor).

Remove any visible large fatty pieces of salt pork that remain after cooking and discard before serving. Pork meat bits can be left in the beans to eat.

Optional: Put a small onion in the bottom of the pot or half an onion. Remove large onion parts before eating. Or if you like to eat onion parts, you can chop or mince them in the beginning. For homemade beans I prefer a more sweet bean and don't use the onion.

Note on beans: My grandmother favored soldier beans for baked beans.

I have a hard time finding soldier beans in stores (sold dry) outside of Maine. So in 2010 I bought garden seeds from Fedco (in Maine) and grew them in my garden. They did well (I thought) and were not diseased, but each plant yielded perhaps two dozen beans. One plant took up 1x1 foot of garden space. Two dozen plants yielded one pound of dried beans! The harvesting was also tricky as we had a rain storm just before it was time to harvest them and by the time the weather was clear I lost some beans to mildes. So this didn't seem to be a high yield crop for my small backyard garden.

I wish I had a source to buy dry soldier beans from a store near me. Perhaps I'll have to stock up on soldier beans and pure Maine maple syrup on an annual trip north each year.