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Texas Style Pit Beans

JONESY

JONESY

is one Smokin' Farker
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Hey guys, I want to try some “Texas style pit beans” tomorrow for something a little different. I usually do the traditional sweet and sticky baked beans, which are awesome, but I’m in the mod for something with a little more twang. The recipe I have as a starting point is;

Dried pinto beans (soaked and sorted)
Minced yellow onion
Cayenne pepper
Chili powder
S/P
Water to cover, and into the pit for 3-4 hours

I was also going to toss in some frozen leftover pulled chuck, but it still seems like I’m missing something. Any input would be appreciated.
 
I like to add finely chopped Jalapeno, crushed garlic and a little bit of Mexican Oregano.
 
Cowgirl, I read your post about your pit beans and they look awesome. Do they really take that long on the pit even after being soaked overnight? If so, I may have to do the crock pot bit, I’m only cooking ribs, so I won’t have all day for beans. Thanks
 
If I have left over smoked meat I'll use that in my beans. If I don't have leftovers, I usually get a smoked ham hock from the store. Also, I like to roast anaheim and pasilla chiles and then run them through the food processor and add them to the beans about an hour before serving. I'll usually add 6-7 chiles per pound of beans. They're not hot at all, but they add great flavor.
 
JONESY said:
Cowgirl, I read your post about your pit beans and they look awesome. Do they really take that long on the pit even after being soaked overnight? If so, I may have to do the crock pot bit, I’m only cooking ribs, so I won’t have all day for beans. Thanks
Click to expand...

Jonesy they seem to take forever on the pit but it's due to smoking at such a low temperature. If you bring them to a boil on the stove, then put them in the smoker you might be able to do it, but they would still take all day.

I like to smoke the soaked beans for a couple hours, stirring them every once in awhile....then add broth and spices...and simmer until tender on the stove.
If you have time you could smoke them then put them into your crock pot.

Have you ever tried anasazi beans? They are similar to pintos but cook up quicker..

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=56359


Good luck with them Jonesy!
 
Some cilantro and and some diced tomato will help round out the flavors. Just me, but I'd go with heat from fresh peppers instead of power like cayenne. Cay is good for chili, but for a beans only dish, the fresh peppers really bring it all together. Some good peppers for beans are serranos and poblanos. Also, if possible, start out with chicken or beef stock vs water. If you use stock, water the salt later.
I'm trying to go with a more, Ranchero Beans approach.
 
Pintos
onion
jalapeno
canned stewed tomatoes
garlic
s&p
yellow mustard
tiger sauce
brown sugar.
Ham hock or Salt Pork

We put ours on the fire box and let them go. This is more of the style you will find in our part of the world!!
 
Last edited:
We always throw a few somked hamhocks in the pans when we cook pintos.
I've had problems with dry pinto beans taking a real long time to get cooked all the way through. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but sometimes they seem almost done just from soaking them for an hour in hot water, and sometimes I simmer them for two hours after soaking and they still are hard in the middle. Maybe the beans are old? I've taken to canning them in quarts, that seems to work great at home. Has anyone else had this problem? I like using pintos for catering but the unpredictale nature of the beans cook time has me buying #10 cans of them which costs way more.
 
You can quick brine the beans by adding 3 tablespoons of salt to 1 gallon of water add the beans bring to a boil over high heat. Once they come to a boil remove from heat and cover for 1 hour. The beans will be ready to go for the final cooking stage. I use this for some chili and bean recipes the beans will cook in the final dish at least 1-1.5 hours longer.
 
Well I went to the store and no Anasazi beans, so pintos it is. I also picked up some fresh pablanos and some dried chipotles, I will roast the pablanos and chop the chipotles. So now the recipe looks like;

Dried pintos
Minced yellow onion
Whole head of roasted garlic
Roasted pablanos
Chopped chipotles
Chili powder
Cumin
Oregano
Chicken stock

The only question is meat/no meat, I have leftover pulled chuck and I am doing ribs tomorrow so I will have rib trimmings. Can I put chopped raw rib trimmings in at the beginning? I really don’t want to fire up the smoker tonight just to smoke my scraps (it’s snowing like mad, again). Thanks for all the input.
 
Well the beans are in the pot simmering away, I ground 3 dried chipotles in my spice grinder and added to the pot, and the smell is amazing. I can’t wait.
 
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