Baked Beans! "Love em or hate em"!
By Gary Marsh
@garymarsh6 (23393)
United Kingdom
October 13, 2019 1:45pm CST
I have been having a little discussion with @NJChicaa about some of our British foods and one thing she made me smile about was the British obsession with Baked Beans. Some people eat them all the time. I laughed when she said she was not keen on trying the British delicacy of "Baked Beans" on toast.
Well here are some facts about Baked beans.
The most popular brand of Baked beans of course goes to Heinz baked beans but the first time baked beans were ever sold in the UK was back in 1901 where they could be bought as a luxury item from Fortum and Mason in London for 9d. which is equivalent to over £2 ($2.50) (Euro 2.29) in today's money.
1,000 tons of white haricot beans are delivered to the UK every single week from the USA and there are stocks of at least 60 days worth held in Liverpool in case there are problems with deliveries. There are at least 36 hours worth of beans held at the factory in Wigan in the north of England and production is around the clock 24 hours a day.
Half a million cans of Baked beans are consumed each day in the UK and over a year more than 540 million cans a year. 3 million cans are made each day.
Heinz baked beans are exported to 60 countries around the world. The taste is unique and are full of good things.
Nutritional info.
Low in salt and sugar, high in protein calcium and fibre. They contain vitamins B1 and B2 and iron. They contain no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives. The tomatoes contain lycopene which is an anti cancer ingredient. They are gluten free and suitable for vegans. Half a can is equivalent to one of your five a day portions of fruit/vegetables.
How are they cooked?
The raw beans 465 of them are put into the cans. Tomato sauce is added to the can the can is sealed and superheated to cook them. Hey presto a ready meal in a can.
Heinz also make them with combinations of flavours and even small sausages or burgers in them.
Some people eat them cold (God forbid) straight from the can. Mostly they are served on toast, jacket potatoes, accompanying sausages or the Great English Breakfast.
I am not a great fan of baked beans and if I ever have them it is usually no more than a dessert spoon of them.
Do you like baked beans?
36 people like this
39 responses
@garymarsh6 (23393)
• United Kingdom
14 Oct 19
You are the second person to mention Maple syrup. I should imagine they are very sweet especially as you have already added sugar. I will have to try them one day if I am in America.
3 people like this
@CarolDM (203451)
• Nashville, Tennessee
14 Oct 19
@garymarsh6 Yes but you know how we are in the US, we like things sweet!
3 people like this
@DaddyEvil (137142)
• United States
14 Oct 19
I like to make my own baked beans. (I use Pork and Beans, add brown sugar, bacon, green peppers, onions, garlic (sometimes I also slice up some cooked Bratworst into them) and season to my taste. My daughter used to love them but flat refuses to eat them anymore. *shrug* That leaves more for me to enjoy!)
I've never tried eating them on toast but I have eaten them on homemade yeast rolls.
5 people like this
@ptrikha_2 (45555)
• India
15 Oct 19
@DaddyEvil
Baked beans with brown sugar? That would make for a sweet baked beans!!
So how is the weather at your place?
2 people like this
@DaddyEvil (137142)
• United States
15 Oct 19
@garymarsh6 LOL! It's okay, you can say they sound weird to you and I won't take offense, I promise. *really grinning at you*
I seriously doubt that! She doesn't even like to smell me cooking them! 
2 people like this
@garymarsh6 (23393)
• United Kingdom
14 Oct 19
That sounds an interesting concoction. Nice and tasty! I wonder if one day your daughter will remember your recipe and make it herself although I doubt she will ever get to make them as well as you.
2 people like this
@LovingMyBabies (85127)
• Valdosta, Georgia
13 Oct 19
I LOVE baked beans-especially ones with maple flavor! =)
4 people like this
@LovingMyBabies (85127)
• Valdosta, Georgia
13 Oct 19
@JohnRoberts With some things. =) Mostly I'm a salty person but love sweet beans.
1 person likes this
@JohnRoberts (109857)
• Los Angeles, California
13 Oct 19
Somebody likes some sweet taste!
2 people like this
@garymarsh6 (23393)
• United Kingdom
14 Oct 19
I have never tried that. It sounds interesting it must make them taste quite sweet?
1 person likes this
@MALUSE (69409)
• Germany
13 Oct 19
You won't get an opinion on baked beans from Germans because they don't belong to our cuisine. They are so British!
OF COURSE, the famous scene from the film 'Blazing Saddles' comes to mind when beans are mentioned. I don't know what it tells about me that I have to giggle every time I watch it.
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4 people like this
@garymarsh6 (23393)
• United Kingdom
14 Oct 19
Surprisingly the expat community in Germany crave them and some students or those having lived for a while in the UK ask different forums where to buy them in Germany. As for Blazing saddles it always makes me laugh too. I think that says something about our sense of humour!
Most people in the UK will know this little ditty.
Beans beans are good for your heart
The more you eat the more you fart
The more you fart the better you feel
So eat your beans with every meal!
2 people like this
@garymarsh6 (23393)
• United Kingdom
13 Oct 19
See you made me laugh about our "delicacy"! I had to write this for you just so you can see how popular they are over here! They are always good to have as a stand by meal if times are hard or unexpected guests turn up.I guess your aversion to them is the same as our aversion to grits. Oh my word what the heck is that all about. Grits!
2 people like this
@NJChicaa (116130)
• United States
13 Oct 19
@garymarsh6 oh I love grits and I'm not even from the South! We do have baked beans all over the country and particularly at barbecues in the summer/fall/spring. But you'll never see an American have baked beans on toast unless they are an ex-pat.
3 people like this
@sweetashoney (3594)
• United States
13 Oct 19
@garymarsh6 Oh yes, a lot of Southerners like grits. People will mix them with either cheese, tomatoes,butter or eggs. This is a common item served in a lot of restaurants and fast food places here. While some Northerners eats them, it is not a common stable in many areas. My son lives in CO. and his says a lot of grocery stores does not even carry them.
3 people like this
@DaddyEvil (137142)
• United States
14 Oct 19
Those can be good, too, Laurel!
Long time no see. I hope you've been doing well!
Did you actually ignore me, 
@garymarsh6 (23393)
• United Kingdom
14 Oct 19
I am not keen on BBQ taste but then I am not a lover as such of baked beans.
2 people like this
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
13 Oct 19
I don't think that I ever encountered baked beans until I had to endure school dinners. Thereafter, of course, they featured largely throughout my school life (cold baked beans - yes, straight from the can - were a staple of midnight feasts at boarding school) and, later, along with "spaghetti bolognese" (also in cans from Heinz), they were the common food of bedsit-land.
These days, I can take them or leave them. I find them a little too sweet and bland for my taste and I often add a dash of Worcester sauce or a little chili sauce to them. I prefer them on fried bread rather than toast: they make it less soggy.
2 people like this
@garymarsh6 (23393)
• United Kingdom
14 Oct 19
I think the only time we came across baked beans in school was either when they had shepherd's pie (So wrong on so many counts) or with a sausage roll. They certainly would not be my first choice in any restaurant although a small spoonful if we are staying in a hotel and having a cooked breakfast.
1 person likes this
@garymarsh6 (23393)
• United Kingdom
14 Oct 19
Yes and they are very healthy for you too!
1 person likes this
@Tampa_girl7 (49133)
• United States
26 Oct 19
I like to cook mine with bacon, onion and Splenda brown sugar in the oven.
1 person likes this
@garymarsh6 (23393)
• United Kingdom
26 Oct 19
That sounds interesting. Bacon goes with beans very well!
1 person likes this
@xFiacre (12633)
• Ireland
13 Oct 19
@garymarsh6 When I lived in Paris with my pregnant wife she craved them. What the French offered was a poor substitute, so once a week I took a two hour metro return trip to M&S in the city centre to get good British beans.
2 people like this
@garymarsh6 (23393)
• United Kingdom
14 Oct 19
Now that is what I call love although I have to say that only Heinz or Branstons will do. I have tried M&S stuff thinking it would be the Bees knees but turns out anything but!
1 person likes this
@garymarsh6 (23393)
• United Kingdom
14 Oct 19
Yes I am with you on this one. They are way down my preference list !
1 person likes this
@DianneN (247219)
• United States
14 Oct 19
@garymarsh6 Well, enjoy your dinner tonight. It sounds umm - decadent!
@JohnRoberts (109857)
• Los Angeles, California
13 Oct 19
I never liked baked beans. I tried Bush's brand after visiting the company museum and still didn't care for them.
3 people like this
@garymarsh6 (23393)
• United Kingdom
14 Oct 19
OH l can't say I blame you. If I am in a hotel I might have a small spoon of them for breakfast but don't think I would bother otherwise and certainly not on their own!
1 person likes this
@garymarsh6 (23393)
• United Kingdom
14 Oct 19
Yes pork seems to go well with baked beans!
1 person likes this
@JustBhem (70555)
• Davao, Philippines
14 Oct 19
@garymarsh6 Specially with ribs.
1 person likes this
@snowy22315 (170533)
• United States
13 Oct 19
I love baked beans, but I don't eat them on toast..they are more likely picnic fare or a side dish. They are seved when they are warm.
1 person likes this
@garymarsh6 (23393)
• United Kingdom
14 Oct 19
I would probably not eat them if they were cold. I would only have a tiny spoonful at breakfast.
@ptrikha_2 (45555)
• India
14 Oct 19
I did ate Baked beans when I was in England for some time.
I found them fine, though I cannot say that I became fond of them.
Now I even see Heinz's baked beans at some stores in India.
1 person likes this
@ptrikha_2 (45555)
• India
15 Oct 19
@garymarsh6 ha ha!
But the tougher part in England was to eat those tasteless and small Brussels Sprouts!
And being a veggie, often my cost effective option was a Pizza.
I have never eaten Pizzas do regularly as I did in England : Nov-Dec 2005 !!
@garymarsh6 (23393)
• United Kingdom
14 Oct 19
Well done. So if you ever feel the need to hanker over British food there is always that as a stand by!
1 person likes this
@garymarsh6 (23393)
• United Kingdom
14 Oct 19
I am not really a pulse lover. I do love petite pois but not a lover of beans or lentils.
1 person likes this
@rebelann (111262)
• El Paso, Texas
14 Oct 19
I don't eat beans or lentals often but they do make for a good dinner now and then @garymarsh6
1 person likes this
@WorDazza (15833)
• Manchester, England
14 Oct 19
The humble baked bean sustained many a great mind through their student days of the 70s and 80s.
I don't have them often these days but whenever I do (on toast or with pasta and some spices thrown in) I always wonder why I don't have them more often.
1 person likes this
@garymarsh6 (23393)
• United Kingdom
14 Oct 19
That is imaginative having them with pasta! Yes they were a necessity during student days!
1 person likes this
@WorDazza (15833)
• Manchester, England
14 Oct 19
@garymarsh6 I'm nothing if not an innovator in the kitchen
@garymarsh6 (23393)
• United Kingdom
14 Oct 19
They are a healthy food and always useful as a standby in the cupboard. The grandchildren love them.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (326126)
• Rockingham, Australia
14 Oct 19
@garymarsh6 I think Vince probably had them too often when he was a child. As one of seven children, money was a bit tight from time to time.
@garymarsh6 (23393)
• United Kingdom
14 Oct 19
You are welcome. Glad you like them but they have to be Heinz!
1 person likes this
