*&@#!! Baked Beans

I love baked beans but I usually resort to the canned kind from the supermarket. B&M and Van de Camp make a good product, so why bother making my own? Sometimes, I do doctor up plains cooked beans into a quick baked bean-y side dish.

I saw a recipe for Boston Baked Beans in Cook's Illustrated and thought I'd give it a try. I had some great triple-smoked bacon from Karl's Sausage Kitchen in Saugus and what a great way to use it.

Mistake #1: I did not read the recipe all the way through or with adequate attention to detail. I discovered after I'd started cooking (had already committed the bacon to the dish) that this recipe was to take SIX HOURS! Sweet fancy Moses ...

Mistake #2: I doubled the recipe. Seven hours into cooking, my beans were still swimming in too much liquid. Ack. I had to drain off the beans and then boil down the excess liquid which took another half hour.

These were good, but goodness ... next time, I will do myself a favor and make Melissa Clark's Fake Baked Beans instead.