The Saga of Maine's Traditional Bean-Hole Beans
Basically, you dig a pit deep enough to hold both a healthy batch of burned-down coals and a large, cast-iron Dutch oven. It helps if you line it with stones or bricks or other creative items to keep the heat in. Build a hardwood fire with lots of wood and let it burn for hours till you have the hole about three-quarters full of coals. This will take a good long time.
At the appropriate time, you'll shovel out some of the coals, put the pot of beans into the hole, shovel the coals back in to completely surround the pot, then cover it over with dirt until it is completely buried. Watch to ensure that no steam is escaping; if you see steam escaping from the hole, add more dirt and pack it in more tightly.
Cooking times vary from recipe to recipe, but six hours is a commonly mentioned cooking time, as is leaving the beans in the hole overnight.
What Goes In the Pot?
The many recipes I found on the Web vary only a little, using the same basic ingredients and techniques. The one involving a "bean bean pot" seems to be representative, so I'll use it here.
Maine Bean-Hole Beans
- 2 quarts dry beans (see below for discussion of types of beans to use)
- 1 large onion, sliced
- salt pork or bacon (about a pound)
- 1 cup dark molasses
- water (enough to cover the beans)
Parboil the beans until the skins wrinkle. Drain off the water.
Slice the onion and lay half the slices across the bottom of the bean pot. Pour in half the beans. Add the remaining onion slices in another layer and place a layer of slabs of salt pork or bacon on top of that. Add the remaining beans.
Pour the cup of molasses over the top of the beans and add enough water to cover the beans.
Other sources indicate that the recipe should include maple syrup, dry mustard, salt and pepper, and butter. At the end, I'll give you links to these complete recipes so you can choose for yourself.
The most commonly quoted recipe also mentions placing a wet dishtowel over the top of the uncovered bean pot before putting on the lid. Pushing the lid down hard should then seal the bean pot securely, preventing the lid from sliding around and perhaps letting some ashes or dirt into the pot. Obviously, you should do whatever it takes to get a good tight seal on
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