How to build a permenant bean hole and use it

[gracoman]

Baked beans and brown bread are a Saturday night New Englandy type thing that still happens there. There isn't quite anything like beans cooked all day in a ceramic bean pot and I cook them this way often. I still bake brown bread but not as often as I once did. Store bought B&M brown bread, with raisins, is a great substitute and almost indistinguishable from home made.

My now ancient bean pot

Jacob's Cattle beans are my family's favorite but Yellow Eye or Soldier will do in a pinch

2 lbs beans are ready for the oven.  Many folks use salt pork but we are using butter and onions here.  Your entire house will smell amazing while these beans cook

Brown Bread batter is in the can.  No self respecting New Englander would bake this bread in anything else

Steam the brown bread

Done

Dinner is served

Ain't nothing finer under the sun

So how can we make a New England Saturday night baked bean tradition better?

By substituting it with another baked bean tradition, of course. Bake those beans in the ground.

How do I do that you say?

Well, come with me...

The following information, diagram included, was borrowed from the book “The Complete Book of Dutch Oven Cooking” by J. Wayne Fears

HOW TO BUILD A PERMANENT BEAN HOLE

“Take a clean 55-gallon drum and cut it in half. Save the lid and discard the upper half. In a safe area, outside your cabin or camp, dig a hole a little deeper and wider than the half drum. Line the bottom and sides of the hole with firebricks. Next, drill several small holes in the bottom of the drum to allow water to drain, in the event water should ever get inside. Place about three inches of sand in the bottom of the drum to prevent it from burning out. Put the drum in the firebrick-lined hole and fill in the spaces between the bricks, and between the bricks and drum, with sand. Place the lid on top of the drum and you have a permanent bean hole.



When you want to bake a pot of beans or any other dish, simply build a fire in the bean hole, and when a hot bed of coals is ready, take a shovel and remove half of them from the bean hole. Next, place a cast iron Dutch oven filled with beans into the bed of coals in the bean hole, and put a couple of shovelfuls of hot coals on top of the Dutch oven. Put the cover on top of the drum and cover with dirt or sand. This will keep the temperature even for a long period of time. Go hiking or fishing for the day and return to a hot meal. As with most methods of cooking, it will take a few trials to get the method perfected, but it is fun and, once it is worked out, will become a favorite method of baking in your camp.”

Now that you've dug your permanent bean hole you'll want to know how to use it.

Of course there is no reason to dig a permanent bean hole unless you want one.  The Mainers I know dig em as neeeded.  The vid below is the more likely scenario in my experience.  It is complete with added Mainer antics for those "from away".  The bean hole divining rod is classic.  Mainer accents will usually become more accentuated and thicker when they are playing with outsiders.

Temporary Mainer bean hole beans at Moosehead Lake without all the fuss

Maine Bean-Hole Baked Beans

Ingredients:
2 pounds Jacobs Cattle, Soldier, or Yellow Eye dried heirloom beans
3 tsp salt (or less) I use 1
2 tsp dry mustard
½ C molasses
½ cup sugar
1 medium onion, quartered
1 stick butter or a goodish hunk of salt pork or a little bit  of both

Directions:
I soak my beans overnight because I live at altitude.  Flat landers shouldn't have to bother with this step.  My Maineiac relatives never do.

If soaking, drain and rinse those suckers
Place ingredients, onion first, in a 2 lb bean pot or small dutch oven
Pour enough water over beans to cover.
We will bake these in an oven instead of a hole in the ground.
Cover and bake 6 hrs at 300 - 325 degrees F
Keep water over beans to keep them moist

Brown Bread