A thread for all your favourite baked bean dishes and recipes.
Firstly some background information on the humble baked bean..
Baked beans has its origins in Native American cuisine, and the dish is made from beans indigenous to the Americas.
The dish was adopted and adapted by English colonists in New England in the 17th century and, through the aid of published 19th century cookbooks, the dish spread to other regions of the United States and into Canada.
Today in the New England region of the United States a variety of indigenous legumes are still used when preparing this dish in restaurants or in the home, such as Jacob's cattle, soldier beans, yellow-eyed beans, and navy beans (also known as native beans).
Originally baked beans were sweetened with maple syrup 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 as a sweetening agent became increasingly popular in order to avoid British taxes on sugar. American Boston baked beans use a sauce prepared with molasses and salt pork, the popularity of which has led to the city's being nicknamed "Beantown".
Today baked beans is commonly served throughout the United States alongside barbecue food of various kinds and at picnics. Beans in a brown sugar, sugar, or corn syrup sauce (sometimes with and sometimes without a tomato base) are widely available throughout the USA. Bush Brothers and Company currently sells the most baked beans in the United States.
Canned baked beans are used as a convenience food, and most commercially canned baked beans are made from haricot beans, also known as navy beans (a variety of Phaseolus vulgaris) in a sauce. They may be eaten hot or cold, straight from the can, as they are already fully cooked.
Mass production of canned baked beans began in the United States in 1895 by the H. J. Heinz Company. In the early 20th century, canned baked beans became popular internationally, particularly in the United Kingdom where the greatest amount of canned baked beans is currently consumed as part of a standard English full breakfast.