Campfire Baked Beans

Within our first few months after launching Dirty Gourmet (almost 5 years ago!), we met a very nice man from Canada named Wayne Brinton who sent us the recipe to his famous old fashioned baked beans. That recipe has been looked at by each of us many times since then, and even a few versions attempted, but it never was fully developed and tested. All of us were finally able to enjoy a big pot of these a few weeks ago on our camping trip together, so we decided it’s finally time to share them with the world.

The recipe also goes right along with our campaign for rediscovery of the old camping favorites. Wayne himself calls it a “Good old fashioned Nova Scotia recipe. Comfort food for sure.” This is a baked beans recipe made truly from scratch. Dried beans offer more of a bite than canned, and soak up a lot more of the sauce’s flavor. They truly take a bit more planning, but I wouldn’t call it a lot more effort.

Thanks Wayne! Hope to see you around these parts again soon.

Campfire Baked Beans

Yield

4-6 Servings

Prep Time / Cook Time

15 minutes / 6-7 hours

Activity Guide

Car Camping

Ingredients

• 1 pound dried beans of your choice
• 2 medium onions, sliced
• ½ cup molasses
• ½ cup ketchup
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 2 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon dry mustard
• 2 teaspoon ginger
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce or tamarind paste
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 4 cups hot water
• 2 cloves of crushed garlic
• 2 slices bacon (optional)

Tools

• Cutting board
• Dutch oven
• Knife
• Spoon

Method

1. Rinse beans and sort beans, discarding any stones. In large saucepan, soak beans overnight, drain. Add water and cover by at least 2 inches, bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes; drain.
2. In large dutch oven, spread onion slices. Mix molasses, ketchup, vinegar, salt, mustard and pepper; pour into casserole. Add drained beans and hot water – do not stir. Add bacon slices on top if using.
3. Cover and bake in 250 deg F oven for 5-6 hours; uncover and bake for 1 hr longer, add enough water if necessary to keep beans covered.

Note: These can be made at home ahead of time and finished in the campfire at camp.