Smoked or Grilled BEANS - Everyone will say OMG Good!

I LOVE THIS RECIPE...


Seems like I said that yesterday with my My Favorite Potato Salad Recipe with 2 Secret Ingredients.  And, like potato salad recipes, everyone already has their favorites.  Trying to talk a grill man into trying a new potato salad or baked (smoked or grilled) Bean recipe is all but impossible.


But this recipe is worth a try.  Best you have ever had...


Really....


And here's the difference...  First, like every great bean recipe, this is sweetened with not only a little brown sugar, but also molasses AND sorghum!  The M & S adds deep color, as well as extra layers of texture (makes it thick) and taste.


But the key is the spices.  With the exception of some dry mustard powder, I do not add any new spices to my beans.  Instead I add 1/2 pound of spiced meat scraps.  Either some pork tenderloin or brisket frozen from a previous cook session or I fire up the grill or smoker a few hours early and cook a few scraps before putting the beans on.  Remember what your mom served you... Pork and Beans.  Well, these are pork and beans with a bite.


For my latest session, I had smoked some pork tenderloin, stuffed with sausage..  I had already reached temperature on the pork, and was going to wrap them in foil.  I knew I was going to use this to flavor my beans.  So, I cut off an end piece (end pieces have extra spice rub on them).  I diced it up and used it in the beans.  Believe me, plenty of seasonings.

One word of caution... This technique for spicing your beans works best when you add the meat as it cooks, not at the end of the cook session.  Think making a stew or a soup.  You do not add the onion in at the end of the session, but at the beginning, when the flavor of the onion will flavor the entire pot.  Same theory with adding spice rubbed meat scraps.  It does take planning ahead, but so does any successful BBQ...


And one final not before I post the recipe... Same as yesterday, I am going to tease you a bit with a secret ingredient.  Not trying to be cruel, but I am entering this recipe in a contest, and I want to wait for the results (only a couple weeks) befoe posting the secret.  This was the first time I used the secret ingredient, but I have made this bean recipe almost everytime I fire up my smoker.  I substituted the usual 3/4 bottle of beer I put in for 1/2 a cup of the secret.  Yesterday i teased with the initials, R and C.  Many of you guessed rum and coke (rum and coke accented potato salad... gotta try that).  That was wrong.  Today I will tease with a shot of the premixed beans that will show you the ingredient if you want to keep guessing (and no, it is not ketchup)...

Here is my original recipe, with the beer ingredient.  I will publish the secret recipes once the contest is over...


OK, here's the recipe for the beans...
Ingredient list...

1/2 pound of smoked meat scraps, well spiced already with spicy rub,
1 large white onion, finely chopped
1 medium size red onion, small diced (about 1/4 inch square) ... save these to add just prior to serving
6 ounces tomato paste
1/3 cup Brown sugar
1/3 cup Brown Sugar ... save to add just prior to serving
1/3 cup Molasses
1/3 cup Sorghum Syrup
1 TB Dry Mustard
1/4 cup White Vinegar
1-27 ounce can BUSH'S brand Country Style BBQ Beans
1-16 ounce can BUSH'S brand Pinto Beans
1-16 ounce can BUSH'S brand Great Northern Beans
1/2 bottle of Killians Irish red (or your favorite) Beer
Place all the ingredients in a heavy baking pan, stir well to blend ingredients. Add a full bottle of Killians if using an offset smoker, or just 1/2 bottle if using an oven. Place in cooker and allow to cook along with the meat.  The moisture in the bean pot will help to keep moisture circulating in your cooker.

I made plenty of food for everyone, but the beans are always a big hit... No left overs!!!


And fellow smokers or grillers... These are worth leaving your bean recipe behind for a try.