Beans! Beans! Beans! Beans!!!
By sconibear
@sconibear (8016)
United States
August 25, 2010 10:19am CST
OK......so anyways, last week my girlfriend was making the dinner menu for this week, cuz that's what she does.......and it works out nicely.
So she says, "On Monday we can have those turkey legs I bought......I'll pick up some potato salad and baked beans."
And I say, "I think we already have a can of beans in the cupboard."
And she says, "Those are pork and beans.........I want BAKED beans!"
And I think to myself, what's the difference? and before I realize what's happening, I actually hear myself asking, "What's the difference?"
And she says.........well I don't exactly remember what she said........she went beyond the 15 second answer threshold which automatically engaged the auto-pilot on my "ignore" switch in my brain.
Anyways, after a few minutes of watching TV, I sensed she had finished speaking, so I said, "That's fine Honey, you get whatever you want."
FLASH FORWARD to yesterday.....I was sitting here enjoying my lunch which included leftover BAKED beans, and again I started wondering, "What's really the difference?"
So, WHAT'S REALLY THE DIFFERENCE??? 
I'm not talking about the fancy pants beans with flavors like "Southwestern Ho Down Grillin' Good Rodeo Ridin' Baked Beans With Chopped Onion, Jalepenos, and Braiseed Cactus™"
No I'm talking plain Jane run of the mill everyday average beans.
They both contain soft, mushy, possibly overcooked beans.
they both have a dirty transmission fluid looking sauce....albeit the baked bean sauce is usually browner and the pork and beans is usually redder......but they're both a kind of tomatoee type sauce.
And then there's that delicious gelatinous tiny cube shaped piece of mystery meat on top........
IS THAT THE PORK IN THE PORK AND BEANS?!? 
Where is the pork in the pork and beans......more like watered down tomato sauce and beans to me........NOTHING tastes like pork.
And do you s'pose the baked beans are actually baked? Or do you think as I suspect, they're actually simmered in large industrial sized stainless steel vats and don't even come near an oven.
Anyways. does anybody have the answers?
If you've worked in the manufacturing process of baked beans or pork and beans, I've worked at a turkey processing plant.
Perhaps we can swap insider processing secrets.
You tell me what's up with the beans, and I'll tell you what the Turkey Black Forest ham is made out of. (Hint: it's NOT pork)
Do you eat the delicious gelatinous tiny cube shaped piece of mystery meat when you open the can, or do you actually cook it with the beans? 
I'm not talking about the fancy pants beans with flavors like "Southwestern Ho Down Grillin' Good Rodeo Ridin' Baked Beans With Chopped Onion, Jalepenos, and Braiseed Cactus™"
No I'm talking plain Jane run of the mill everyday average beans.
They both contain soft, mushy, possibly overcooked beans.
they both have a dirty transmission fluid looking sauce....albeit the baked bean sauce is usually browner and the pork and beans is usually redder......but they're both a kind of tomatoee type sauce.
And then there's that delicious gelatinous tiny cube shaped piece of mystery meat on top........
IS THAT THE PORK IN THE PORK AND BEANS?!?
Where is the pork in the pork and beans......more like watered down tomato sauce and beans to me........NOTHING tastes like pork.
And do you s'pose the baked beans are actually baked? Or do you think as I suspect, they're actually simmered in large industrial sized stainless steel vats and don't even come near an oven.
Anyways. does anybody have the answers?
If you've worked in the manufacturing process of baked beans or pork and beans, I've worked at a turkey processing plant.
Perhaps we can swap insider processing secrets.
You tell me what's up with the beans, and I'll tell you what the Turkey Black Forest ham is made out of. (Hint: it's NOT pork)
Do you eat the delicious gelatinous tiny cube shaped piece of mystery meat when you open the can, or do you actually cook it with the beans? 2 people like this
10 responses
@MsTickle (25180)
• Australia
31 Aug 10
Firstly, we don't have pork n beans here so I will ignore that bit...k?
Second...I always thought baked beans just came in a can and were called "baked" beans for some obscure reason...at no time did my mind ever associate the end product with an actual oven.
Three...ours are orange...or I should say the beans are an insipid, pale, fleshy colour while the sauce is orange.
Four...there's no cooking involved, you just heat n eat....usually on toast and very yummy with a dash of Worcestershire sauce. A gourmet breakfast whilst camping can be concocted with bacon, eggs, sausages and beans...eaten as the sun rises over the ocean and washed down with a smile of contentment and a mug of coffee.
1 person likes this
@rebelann (111073)
• El Paso, Texas
30 Aug 19
That sounds really yummy, I have the eggs and sausages but no beans or bacon darn it.
@rebelann (111073)
• El Paso, Texas
30 Aug 19
Hmmm, heard dad sayin that when ever ma made pinto beans and cornbread. Dang it, I'm really gettin hungry.
oops!!!read it as 15 seconds
@sconibear (8016)
• United States
25 Aug 10
*reads directions*
open can pour into small saucepan heat serve
NOPE!
Of course you can bake them........I could bake a salad if I wanted to.......The question is what's the difference in their fresh out of the can state.
Of course you can bake them........I could bake a salad if I wanted to.......The question is what's the difference in their fresh out of the can state.1 person likes this
@sconibear (8016)
• United States
25 Aug 10
Aaaaaaaaw......now that clears things up! 
Turkey Black Forest ham is made out of.............turkey....
Turkey Black Forest ham is made out of.............turkey....1 person likes this
@dawnald (85130)
• Shingle Springs, California
25 Aug 10
Er, one came out of a can that said 'baked beans' and one came out of a can that said 'pork and beans'?
@purplealabaster (22094)
• United States
25 Aug 10
Well, I can't really speak about the beans (baked or otherwise) in your house. However, I can tell you that there definitely was a difference between baked beans and pork and beans in my house, when I was growing up. The baked beans in my house came out of the oven after having been baked (I am guessing that is where the name came from), and they were moist but not runny, and they had real bacon strips covering the top of them (those were the only part of the baked beans that I actually liked, by the way). The pork and beans just goes from the can into a sauce pot to get warmed and then served as a slop on your plate.
), and they were moist but not runny, and they had real bacon strips covering the top of them (those were the only part of the baked beans that I actually liked, by the way). The pork and beans just goes from the can into a sauce pot to get warmed and then served as a slop on your plate.@sconibear (8016)
• United States
25 Aug 10
Yeah, I was referring to the canned variety of both, with exotic names like Van De Camp and Bush's.
you're talking homemade.........apples and bananas. 
1 person likes this
@hardworkinggurl (37063)
• United States
25 Aug 10
@Irishfrndly65 yes this would have been my response to the discussion the pork and beans in my opinion are sweeter and less texture. 
@purplealabaster (22094)
• United States
27 Aug 10
Irish - I will talk to my mom if you really want the recipe. She gave my ex-husband the recipe, and he used to get requests to make it at all the family gatherings on both his side of the family and mine.
Sconi - I was talking about the "Plain Jane" variety of baked beans like you said in your discussion, too, such as Grandma Brown's or Aunt Millie's or Uncle Fester's (alright, so maybe not the last one, but it does sound interesting, doesn't it?). I didn't know that people actually just heated them up right from the can and ate them, because they always got "doctored up" in my house. Although, given the fact that I don't like them the way they were "doctored up", I am guessing that I wouldn't like them very much straight from the can, either.
Dogg - Are "Heinz beans" a euphemism for something or do you really put canned beans on toast and eat them?
). I didn't know that people actually just heated them up right from the can and ate them, because they always got "doctored up" in my house. Although, given the fact that I don't like them the way they were "doctored up", I am guessing that I wouldn't like them very much straight from the can, either.
Dogg - Are "Heinz beans" a euphemism for something or do you really put canned beans on toast and eat them?
@saphrina (31552)
• South Africa
26 Aug 10
Sweetie, of all the things i have heard what men can and cannot do this "your mind went into autopilot" definately beats all.
I have never heard of a 15 second answer threshold, either.
I have no idea what difference there is in beans, but at least you get a lot of beans to eat.
I don't eat pork, so there i cannot help you.
I think you should become a chef or something.
You know exactly what food looks like.
TATA.
I have never heard of a 15 second answer threshold, either.
I have no idea what difference there is in beans, but at least you get a lot of beans to eat.
I don't eat pork, so there i cannot help you.
I think you should become a chef or something.
You know exactly what food looks like.
TATA.
@sconibear (8016)
• United States
26 Aug 10
Well, I REALLY don't think there is any pork in the "pork" and beans, so you should be safe. 
@flowerchilde (12529)
• United States
16 Dec 11
Iknow this discussion is a year old but I couldn't resist.. No I never (ever) eat the little cube of fat in a can of beans! (eeeeuuuu!) And if I'm on the ball that little bit of noxious goop goes straight to the trash and not the pan. From what all I can gather the baked beans are some sort of droppings from something between a mouse and a cat.. and the canned ones are just a bit older and lost some of their color..
@ElicBxn (63233)
• United States
28 Aug 10
Oh, beary one, yes, that weird white thing is passing itself off as the "pork" in the pork and beans
you can up the pork, and taste, by cutting up hot dogs and putting them in pork and beans
you are probably right, that the "baked" beans are no longer actually "baked" but the taste is probably closer than it would be...
the idea behind baked beans was to put them in the back of an oven (probably back in the old days of cooking in wood burning ovens - maybe even when the ovens were actually on the side of old fireplaces) and "forgetting" about them for a few hours, or all day, and then having them cooked when you were ready to pull them out.
Those were the kinds of thing you could put on and have at a time when you needed something that was ready NOW when you really didn't have time to fix anything else...
where pork and beans, you cooked them over a more direct heat and planned on eating them at the next meal, maybe a few hours from now
so baking beans would be fixed for harvests or after the fishing fleet came in and all the hard work needed to be done, but you STILL had to eat after or during it - and stale bread could be tossed in and soak up the sauce...
@cream97 (29087)
• United States
24 May 11
Hi. sconibear. When I cook pork and beans I automatically eat the gelatin cube shaped meat, without me even looking for it. I always eat it and I don't really like it. Pork and beans is more smaller and it tastes like regular beans and gravy. The baked beans are baked and it has maple sugar in it. Baked beans have a more grilled taste to it while the pork and beans have a more broiled type of taste to it.
@sconibear (8016)
• United States
24 May 11
WOW! Only took 10 months and I finally got an answer that makes sense!
BTW.......I always eat that little cube thingy as soon as I open the can.
@missybear (11391)
• United States
26 Aug 10
If you would have listened past 15 seconds you would have known what the difference is
@sconibear (8016)
• United States
26 Aug 10
Good point dear. 
*sets autopilot ignore switch to 17 seconds*
*sets autopilot ignore switch to 17 seconds* 