Ultimate Smoked Baked Bean Recipe!
Dutch's Wicked Baked Beans
I am in a couple of online smoker forums and one time was looking for a new bean recipe. I saw Dutch's Wicked Beans and was immediately intrigued with the recipe. I'm 100% Dutch (1st generation American), I love spicy foods and this recipe looked really good. The first time I made it exactly as written and was blown away. It really is the baked bean recipe you've been searching for your whole life and that has been confirmed by many, many guests I've served them to. I've tweaked a couple things to my liking, but only really based on spiciness.
The recipe was created by Earl Dowdle, "Dutch" to some of his friends. I contacted Earl to get his permission to share his recipe, which he graciously gave. I then asked him to share a bit about himself and the history of the recipe. Following is his response;
Dutch's Wicked Beans Recipe
"As for the history, I developed this recipe over the course of a couple of years, making notes on each batch I made on what to do different on the next batch. When my picky non-bean eater exclaimed these were the BEST BEANS EVER I quit tweaking the recipe and called it good.
"As for the inspiration? I've always had a thing for cooking. I even have one of them fancy Culinary Certificates. As you may have seen in the Forums (Dutch and I are in a couple online forums together), I always encourage folks to follow the recipe the first time and then tweak it to their personal taste."
"As for the name, going back to my early days as a scoutmaster, I took a class on Dutch oven cooking and got bit by the "cast-iron-test" bug. My bride and I started to compete in Dutch oven cooking competitions and my friends started calling me the Dutch Oven Chef and it eventually got shortened to Dutch. When I'm giving Dutch oven cooking demonstrations or teaching Dutch oven cooking classes I introduce myself as Dutch."
Recipe
Ingredients
- 6-8 strips of bacon diced and cooked
- ½ medium onion diced
- ½ bell pepper diced
- 1 - 2 jalapeno peppers diced (I use 3 large jalapenos seeded - more jalapeno flavor, less jalapeno heat.)
- 1 - 55 ounce can Bush's Baked Beans
- 1-8 ounce can of pineapple tidbits, do not drain
- 1 Cup Brown Sugar, packed
- 1 Cup ketchup (Heinz, of course)
- ½ - 1 TBSP dry (ground) mustard (I use a full TBSP, adds a little more heat.)
Instructions
Step 1: Dice bacon and fry or bake until crispy. Drain and set aside.
Step 2: Dice onion, bell pepper and jalapeno pepper. (use gloves when chopping jalapeno peppers).
Step 3: In a large mixing bowl combine beans, drained pineapple, brown sugar, ketchup and dry mustard. Add veggies, cooked bacon and mix.
Step 4: Pour into a disposable aluminum half pan.
Step 5: Place in a 225° smoker for 2 - 4 hours or a 350° oven for 1 - 2 hours. The longer they cook, the less runny the beans will be. It is a matter of preference. (I've only done these beans in Black Betty, but I guarantee they are not as good when not cooked in a smoker).
NOTE
If you are making these beans as a side dish for Kansas City style pork ribs, smoke the removed rib skirt meat for 1-1½ hours, then dice the skirt meat and stir into the Baked Beans.
DISCLAIMER
Jalapeno pepper and dry mustard add the potential for some MAJOR heat. Jalapeno heat level can vary greatly and CAUTION should be exercised when feeding these beans to small children and/or the elderly. You can always add heat, you can't take it out.
FAMILY FRIENDLY
To make this recipe Family Friendly, omit the Jalapeno pepper and the dry mustard (but of course, that would be boring).
Epilogue
When smoking beans in Black Betty there is an infusion of flavor impossible to replicate. The smoke coats the top layer and when I thoroughly stir them every 30-60 minutes it incorporates more and more of that amazing smoke flavor into the beans.
I hosted a party a couple years ago and did 4 batches of Dutch's Wicked Beans. Some of the leftovers went to friends and one of them later told me, "Every time I warm a bowl of beans, I smell your smoker in my kitchen".
When I started smoking meats I used what I had...a Char Griller charcoal grill...and jerry-rigged an offset smoker out of it (I didn't even have a firebox on the side). I learned a LOT about smoking and it fit my budget at that time. I know not everyone can, or even wants to, afford a smoker like Black Betty, but do yourself a favor and try stick burning...somehow, someway. The end result is the BEST of anything I've ever tasted or made. Equipment, or maybe better said, process makes all the difference in the world!!
When you make this recipe, post your thoughts. If you tweak it, post your tweaks and your results!
Smoke on!
Jack, I love your picture presentation. Although I developed this recipe, I’ve been known to stray from it time to out of necessity. Once I thought I have all the major players only to find out that the pineapple I had was crushed pineapple. No worries-except one of my little bean eaters was disappointed that there was no visible pineapple. The kid had a habit of pushing the pineapple off to the side to eat later.
The other time was when I accidentally opened a can of applesauce instead of pineapple and to not waste the pineapple, I used the applesauce. Hey, everyone knows that applesauce goes great with pork, right?
how would cook these in conventional oven
I just made a batch last weekend and cooked them in the oven. I added liquid smoke to add smoke flavor…a tablespoon or two ber batch. The end result is a little different than when cooked in the smoker, but they are delicious!!! I ate them for days. Cook them at 325 or 350 degrees. After an hour, stir every 30 minutes or so. Pull them out of the oven when you want…a shorter cook produces a wetter bean, a longer cook produces a pastier, thicker end result. Both are yummy, your preference.
Smoke on!