Julia Child's Cooking Method For Baked Beans Takes More Time, But It's Definitely Worth It

When Julia Child was making baked beans from scratch, it was all about the pre-cook soak and the long, slow simmer. No fancy techniques or exotic ingredients — just two admittedly lengthy extra steps that are well-worth the patience and (luckily) mostly hands-off. The recipe comes from her long-running column in Food & Wine. Her classic baked beans called specifically for small dried white beans cooked with matchstick-sliced salt pork, garlic, dark unsulfured molasses, Dijon mustard, thyme, ginger, and bay leaves, married in a generous amount of water. But more than the ingredients, the beloved chef championed the bean soak.

"The leisurely overnight soak followed by long, low simmer produces, to my mind, a bean as tender, meaty, and thoroughly pleasurable as a bean can be," wrote Child. Thanks to the low, slow cooking, those soaked beans caramelize right in their own juices over the course of 12 to 14 hours. To soak your dried beans, cover them in cold water until they are submerged with 2 inches to spare, then leave them overnight uncovered. Any large pot or Dutch oven will do, though Child swore by copper pots and pans. The next day, the beans can be drained and boiled in this same pot, or transferred to a slow cooker to get baked.

Julia Child elaborated on her bean prep in an episode of her PBS series "The French Chef." In this episode, she made cassoulet, a French baked bean dish markedly similar to her classic baked beans recipe. "The main ingredient, of course, is the beans," she said. "You can use any kind of dried white bean you like." Great Northern, cannellini, and white navy beans (aka pea beans) all totally work — just be sure to soak them.

"It's necessary to soak them because they swell," she explained, showing viewers a side-by-side comparison of the same white beans that had been pre-soaked versus ones that had not been soaked before boiling. "The soaked ones, you see, are much bigger and the unsoaked ones are smaller. One cup of beans will soak up to be about 2 ½ cups." Dried navy beans are a popular choice for making baked beans thanks to their nutty, buttery flavor and structural integrity, which holds up without turning to mush after the slow simmer.

For the easiest prep, Child recommended using a slow cooker for the same reason we all love the appliance, "because it needs no watching ... You just dump everything into the pot at night, and the next morning [the beans] are done." To complete the meal, serve the chef's baked beans with potato salad and cornbread.