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Recipe: Maine Bean Hole Beans

Photo by Abbe Levin

Hearty, savory Bean Hole Beans are a longstanding tradition in Maine. The Maine Folklife Center recounts the history of this recipe as originating from Native Americans, who mixed beans, bear grease and maple syrup in clay pots and then buried the pots with coals to slowly bake in the earth. Over time, Maine logging camps adapted this process by cooking beans overnight in a cast-iron pot, lowered into a stone-lined pit with coals.

Experience this delicious tradition at the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA)’s annual Common Ground Country Fair in Unity, Maine, where volunteers bake their beans in a cast-iron pot for about 22 hours, until tender and flavorful.

Taste authentic Bean Hole Beans at this year’s 2024 fair when you get a helping at the DIY #HomeHacks Area during these serving times:

• Friday, Sept. 20 at 11 a.m.
• Saturday, Sept. 21 at Noon
• Sunday, Sept. 22 at Noon

Or make your own batch of fair-inspired baked beans at home with this adaptation of MOFGA volunteer Vicky Burwell's recipe.

Bean Hole Beans Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 pound beans (Yellow Eye, Marafax, Great Northern beans, or another Maine-grown dry bean)
• 1 pound salt pork, or, if vegetarian, ½ cup shortening (or other fat)
• ¼ cup molasses
• 2 Tbsp. maple syrup
• 1 ½ tsp. dry mustard
• ¾ tsp. salt if using salt pork, or 1 tsp. salt if using shortening
• ¼ tsp. black pepper
• ½ medium onion, diced

Instructions Soak the dry beans overnight. After soaking, drain and cover with fresh water in a large pot. Simmer for about an hour (until the bean skins start to come off when blown on). Combine the cooked, drained beans with the remaining ingredients in a slow cooker. Then add boiling water to cover. After stirring, add a little more water — the level of the liquid should be about ½ inch above the beans. Cook for 6 to 8 hours. Serve warm.