I understand your concern. I whipped out my 1972 Better Home & Gardens cook book because I know that recipe is there. Here is what they say:

Cook 4 slices bacon till crisp; drain, reserving 2 TBS of drippings. Crumble bacon. Cook 1/2 cup chopped onion in drippings till tender; add with bacon to two 1-lb cans pork and beans in tomato sauce, 2 TBS brown sugar, 1 TBS Worcestershire sauce, and 1 tsp prepared mustard; mix well. Bake uncovered in 1-1/2 qt casserole at 325 degrees for 1-1/2 to 1-3/4 hrs. Makes 6 servings.

Its not the sweet/sweet/sweet recipe you are considering. I grew up on this stuff. Know it's not the real thing, but it is really good! Probably why I got hooked on Worcestershire sauce, too.

This is the recipe I made years ago when I was first married.... -Grainlady

BAKED BEANS IN A HURRY

4 slices bacon *
1/4 med. onion, chopped
2 T. molasses
2 t. vinegar (any kind you like)
1/4 t. dry mustard (can omit or use prepared mustard)
1/4 c. ketchup or barbeque sauce (or to taste)
1 can (15-oz.) pork n' beans (drain off a portion of the liquid if you'd like)

Fry bacon until crisp; remove from pan. Saute onions in bacon fat. Add molasses, mustard, ketchup (or barbecue sauce) and beans - mix thoroughly. Place in an oven-proof dish. Top with crumbled bacon. Bake in 350-degree oven for 15-minutes, or until heated through.

*I use bacon ends for this recipe, either the ends I cut from a package of bacon, or bacon ends I purchase from the meat market (and store in the freezer). I brown the bacon ends and onions together.

Option: You can also heat the ingredients in a pan on the stove-top for 12-15 minutes.

In this case I am doing the long slow cook starting with soaked beans. I wanted to practice doing long slow cooking on my grill before I try it with meat. I am daunted by the money a brisket or such costs for what for me would be an experiment. Plus I have a household of one and do not eat meat everyday. But I will keep your recipes in mind for another time. Thanks. The other ones seemed insanely over sweetened to me.

I like somewhat sweet baked beans but almost all canned baked beans are too sweet and bland for my taste. I make my beans in the crockpot, and occasionally finish in the oven. BF is into beer brewing so I had good luck with this recipe last time I made them, from Giada DeLaurentis.

Italian style baked beans
Ingredients

6 ounces thinly sliced pancetta, chopped (I used uncured bacon)
2 onions, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup dark beer
1 cup tomato sauce
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons mild-flavored molasses
6 teaspoons Dijon mustard
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 (15-ounce) cans cannellini beans, drained (I think I used a mix of beans I had on hand. I made a half recipe.)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Cook the pancetta in a heavy large oven-safe pot over medium heat until crisp, about 8 minutes. Add the onions and garlic, and saute until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Mix in the beer, tomato sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, molasses, mustard, salt, and pepper. Stir in the beans. Bring to a simmer. Transfer to the oven and bake, uncovered, until the bean mixture bubbles and thickens slightly, stirring occasionally, about 45 minutes.

Another place I had good luck was on the Cooking Light Web site, lots of recipes there. I make the spicy ones with chorizo.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cooking LIght Baked Bean recipes

My grandmother always "doctored up" canned pork & beans. Onions browned in always available bacon fat... bacon, too, it available. Generous squirt of ketchup & mustard... usually plain yellow as a kid. A few TBSPS of brown sugar or molasses. Can't remember her ever having worcestershire?? Sometimes she'd start with sliced up hot dogs.

Something that's "not around anymore" (as far as I can figure)... something called Hallmark Beans. Came in a box... thinking partially cooked and freeze dried?? You added liquid and whatever else you liked and they were like slow cooked (from what I remember) in less than an hour!?!

I like baked beans sweet, thick and sticky, and I like them cold on bread for breakfast the next day too. In fact, I've never met a baked bean that I didn't like.

That said, I grew up on baked beans from "scratch". I use this recipe when I have the time and the inclination. I've also made these in the crockpot, but it takes 12-14 hours, I soak them during the day, put them into the Crock Pot that night on low, then turn it up to high for a couple of hours or they don't get done. I often add a ham hock in place of the bacon because I have them and only use them for a few things, like beans.

Boston Baked Beans

2 cups navy beans
1/2 pound bacon
1 onion, finely diced
3 tablespoons molasses
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar

Soak beans overnight in cold water. Simmer the beans in the same water until tender, approximately 1 to 2 hours. Drain and reserve the liquid.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F Arrange the beans in a 2 quart bean pot or casserole dish by placing a portion of the beans in the bottom of dish, and layering them with bacon and onion.

4In a saucepan, combine molasses, salt, pepper, dry mustard, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and brown sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil and pour over beans. Pour in just enough of the reserved bean water to cover the beans. Cover the dish with a lid or aluminum foil. Bake for 3 to 4 hours until beans are tender. Remove the lid about halfway through cooking, and add more liquid if necessary to prevent the beans from getting too dry.

I also use this one, I'm not a big fan of the ground meat in beans but the kids like it a lot.

Calico Beans in the Crock Pot

2 cups pinto beans, cooked and drained (reserve liquid)
1 lb. ground beef (I use 1/2 pound)
2 cups Northern beans, cooked and drained (reserve liquid)
1-1/2 cups onions, diced
2 cups red kidney beans, cooked and drained (reserve liquid)
ý cup brown sugar
1 qt. pork & beans or homemade baked beans
2 t. salt
1 clove minced garlic
2 tbsp vinegar
ý cup ketchup

Brown beef and onions, drain. Reserve beans' cooking liquid (I usually put all the kinds in a pot together and cook them, or use canned beans and sub chicken broth for the liquid). Combine garlic, ketchup, brown sugar, salt and vinegar. Pour all into slow cooker and mix. Add enough cooking liquid or chicken broth to barely cover beans. Cover and cook on low 8 hours.

Yum, I need to make some beans, I like them pretty much any way.

Annie

I make my beans with the usual ketchup, mustard, dry mustard and a barbeque sauce but I also add about a pound of ground beef cooked off and drained as well as a large green pepper and some onions. Haven't come across one person that doesn't like them. You can sweeten them up or not, depends on your crowd.

I stopped doing scratch beans years ago. My gang love my Cheater Baked Beans so that's all I do anymore. I thought I had made a proper recipe out of it for posting here but darned if I can find it.

Basically though....

A large can of browned beans like Bush beans, preferably the molasses/ pork kind , a can of kidney beans and a can of lima beans...or use the three bean medley mix, or add in garbanzos, or chickpeas ...matters not . Whatever combo of canned beans that floats your boat.

A jar of chile sauce . I use my homemade but the jarred stuff works well.Just be sure to use a chunky quality brand...not the Heinz bottled stuff.

Good dose of Dijon mustard, really good dose of Lea and Perrin or Piccapeppa Sauce (thank you Nancy) . Some brown sugar, a glob of molasses... I think that's about it

Mix it all up and bake until bubbly.....

Soooo good!

I'll link one i like. Not too sweet, but still has the flavor. I like to add parsley, chopped with the stems or cilantro at the end and a bit of lemon/vinegar.
(mine is not that dry looking...probably from using my roasted garden tomatoes i have frozen)
When i soak a bag of beans, i usually later split the amount and make two different bean dishes because it is soo much. They also freeze great. Fill a pint container and add water to top off. It is almost a soup to thaw as-is, but can be added to other few ingredients or add some greens when re-heating...
I've never made traditional baked beans at home. Get them as sides often enough at roadside bbq joints with sweet coleslaw, but like them well enough with spicy ribs.

Here is a link that might be useful: pot o beans

I made the best beans I have ever had recently, and they were so simple i almost felt the need to add more ingredients.
The recipe was from a potluck dinner I recently attended and the cook was so happy I loved her beans.

1 pound pinto beans, washed then soaked for 2 hours
1 package, 12 ounces, country ham pieces
Put the beans in a crock pot and place the ham pieces on top. Cover with water. About an inch above the bean level.
Cook for 1 hour on high then 8 hours on low. I used a Hamilton Beach Cook and Go slow cooker. Add more water if needed, but not much.
That's it.
This just about drove my dogs wild and me, when I made these overnight. They were sweet, slightly salty and smokey.

I like mine a little sweet and thick, too. Maybe a regional thing? I just do it to taste, but probably use about the same recipe that grainlady said she used to use, except that I almost always do mine in the smoker and I would have twice as many beans in comparison with the other ingredients. Even better, but less healthy I'm sure, is to have a rack of ribs in the smoker right above them with the juices dripping into the beans. :)

cooking2day, that's a very good idea about the ribs, yum.

Bumblebeez, that's how I always do a "pot of beans", the slow cooker is very good at that. I usually add a chopped onion and a chopped carrot or two, and I use a leftover ham bone, some pork hocks or a chunk of ham, whatever is on hand.

Annie

I have never made baked beans from scratch. I like them alittle sweet, but not too much, and I don't like them thick and sticky.

Here is the recipe I use, I got it from a girlfriend back in the 70's when I was a sweet young thing. LOL

JulieâÂÂs Baked Beans

1lb ground beef, browned and drained
1/2lb bacon, cooked until crisp, crumbled
1T Worcestershire sauce
1/2c catsup
1/2c light molasses
1/2c brown sugar
2 medium onions, chopped
1 3lb7oz can B&M or BushâÂÂs beans

Place all ingredients in casserole and bake one hour at 325F

OR
Place all ingredients in crockpot and cook 5-6 hours on low.

Linda

Baked beans are in my blood-I'm a descendant of the Morrills of B&M Baked Beans.
B&M stands for Burnham and Morrill.

The recipe I use is very similar to the first one Annie posted. The small changes in my recipe (handed down from my mother) make it so easy!

My recipe calls for one bag of navy/pea beans (800 grams or about 1.5 lbs). After you soak and simmer the beans, dump the water. Recover with fresh water, add the sliced onion and all of the other ingredients (molasses, bacon, ketchup etc.) into the beans and water. Just dump and stir. I use a huge heavy enamelled cast iron pot as I double or triple the recipe as it freezes wonderfully. Cover tightly with foil and then the lid, and bake at 250 for 6-8 + hours. Stir occasionally and add water if getting dry. It is very forgiving, which is why I am not quibbling with Annie's recipe- the precise amounts don't seem to matter.

These are THE best beans and my whole extended family loves them and I won't make them any other way. They are the art of simplicity and delicious! Do try!

We are not a fan of overly sweet either.
Here's what I do:

Baked Beans

28 oz. can BushâÂÂs Vegetarian baked beans and 1 4 oz. can pinto beans, butter beans, or red beans undrained.
1/8 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar or white vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
2 slices bacon [optional]

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.In a 9x9 inch baking dish, combine the beans, brown sugar, onion, ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and vinegar and season with salt and pepper to taste. Top with the bacon slices [we rarely use the bacon].
3.Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 hour, or until sauce is thickened and bacon is cooked.