Getting ready baked beans within the oven — whether or not beginning with soaked or soaked and par-cooked beans — is essentially the most conventional option to put together this favourite facet dish (therefore the identify “baked”). And regardless that the beans are baked inside a lidded, heavy-duty pot akin to a Dutch oven, the dry warmth of an oven permits any extra cooking liquid to evaporate, ideally leaving tender beans suspended in a naturally thickened sauce (by way of Serious Eats). However residence cooks who do not wish to depart the oven on all day (or in a single day) may flip to one of many many recipes for gradual cooker baked beans, which might be left unattended throughout the workday or in a single day.
The issue there, in line with Baking Kneads, is that gradual cooker baked beans are likely to end up a bit skinny, and that is as a result of the equipment’s moist warmth would not enable for a adequate quantity of evaporation. You may get some tender beans, however the sauce will doubtless be too watery, and also you most definitely will not obtain the wealthy, brown crust that characterizes a wonderful pot of oven-baked beans (by way of Severe Eats).
Ideally, any baked beans you make at residence will probably be oven-baked. However in case you have opted for gradual cooker baked beans — or perhaps a can of baked beans that is too liquidy — Lacademie suggests utilizing a cornstarch, arrowroot, or flour-and-butter slurry to thicken the beans proper up.
