Talk:Baked beans

Where on earth do baked beans cost two pounds a can? I live in the UK, and have never seen a price anywhere near that! Loganberry (Talk) 00:17, 12 August 2005 (UTC)

I've just had a look round the internet and the most expensive ones anyone will sell me cost £1.50. I'll update the page to reflect this.--Cherry blossom tree 21:53, 2 February 2006 (UTC)

The Reference about £1.86 beans refers to a 4 pack of heinz beans. The article appears to say that they cost £1.86 per can. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.31.103.30 (talk) 17:42, 20 November 2007 (UTC)

UK-centric

This article is far too UK based. Heinz for instance is an American company - but the article only talks about its British product. Rmhermen 20:22, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

The article is not UK-Centric, it explains the history. However, I have been told by many people that Baked Beans/z are UK produced only and then they export them to the rest of the world. If this is the case and the article is UK-Centric then its got rigour and it would be acceptable to focus on the UK as a main theme for the topic involved. Maybe somebody could research the origins and producers of baked beans to make the article more academically sound?

Baked beans are UK centric, therefore one would expect the article to reflect this.

I agree, and I have removed the tag. The article is clearly categorized as British cuisine. The fact that Heinz is an American company is hardly relevant; it is well established in the UK. If someone thinks there is more to be said about the US (or any other) angle, please add it. --Shantavira 15:06, 7 May 2006 (UTC)

Baked beans in cans are an American invention, to be fair, and baked beans are available in the USA - but the UK is the highest consumer of said beans in the world. Magic Pickle 19:20, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

Don't forget about New England, which produces a distinct variety of baked beans and is a traditionally huge consumer of said beans. B&M Baked beans are the best example of these on the market (the beans are pea beans rather than navy beans, and they are slow cooked in brick ovens in the New England manner). Nobody in Boston would eat any bean but this type, and I've never known anybody who ate those awful Heinz beans regularly around here. Baked Beans are just as significant to the Boston area and New England as they are to the UK, if not more so, and thus the article is indeed UK-centric.

• C'mon, The UK is a whole country. As ace as Boston and New England are, they are only one state. Therefore the UK bias is fair, because Baked Beans are an integral part of UK mass culture. Baked Beans on toast is probably the first thing most British kids learn to make for themselves, meal-wise. Another point: The UK eat a lot of hamburgers, yet it would be wise to make the hamburger article US centric because of the cultural link to the country. Although Baked Beans in tins were not a UK invention, the whole population consumes them with gusto. One state may also love its beans - fair enough, but one country versus one state? The UK-centricity is fair. Magic Pickle 18:39, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

• • Magic Pickle, New England is not "one state", its six states. New england is larger and more highly populated than Old England. It is MORE important. The UK bias is not, as you put it, "fair".

Would that be "more highly populated" in the sense that New England has a population of about 14 million and "Old" England has a population of around 51 million? I really need to brush up on my maths because I could have sworn that 51 was a considerably larger number than 14, I reckon 3.6 times larger using my clearly archaic mathematical skills.. --Pypex (talk) 05:23, 6 January 2008 (UTC)

speaking of new england baked beans, what about bean hole beans? growing up in main bean hole beans were huge at every large gathering, especially family reunions. they're cooked in a bean hole outside, i don't remember much more, i moved away from maine when i was 12 Iamnobody2 09:52, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

history

What is the history of baked beans? Who "invented" tinned baked beans?--feline1 13:56, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

UK Centric

Yes, the article is too UK-centric.

The Heinz baked beans in tomato sauce you get in Canada (and presumably the US too - someone else will have to confirm this) is a different recipe to that you get in the UK, Ireland etc. (other brand baked beans available in the British Isles arebroadly similar to the Heinz recipe). It is sweeter, with fewer savoury flavours (spices, onion etc.). The difference is enough that a lifelong baked-bean lover such as myself will not buy the Canadian version, choosing instead to buy Amy's organic baked beans, or to eat home-made. I understand that homesick English-speaking Europeans from all over Greater Vancouver will visit the British shop in Steveston to get their fix of baked beans that aren't sickly sweet to their palates.

• Eh? Why would Europeans go to a UK store to get their fix of British beans? Are you confusing Greater Europe with UK here? Secondly, while I respect your discerning love of beans, your elite bean tastes perhaps alienate you from what the article is trying to achieve - a description of the mass-market foodstuff that is an integral part of UK culinary culture. I mean, you can buy pasties filled with baked beans in this country. We love it. Magic Pickle 18:43, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

In Canada you will find beans in tomato sauce displayed alongside beans with tomato sauce and pork (i.e. a tin of baked beans with a small lump of fat in it) and beans in maple syrup. I don't know whether or not it is the same in the U.S., or whether this is another Quebecois fast food that, like poutine, has spread to the rest of Canada.

One should also bear in mind the farting scene in Blazing Saddles. As far as I know (someone will need to do some research to prove me right or wrong), this is based on a historical fact, that canned beans were a common item in a U.S./Canadian cowboy diet, as were some other canned foods, such as tomatoes. (This would not have been true, incidentally, in Argentina, where the eating of food other than meat was regarded by the cowboys as a sign of homosexuality, and a lot of the cowboys therefore had rickets.) There was certainly a phase in U.S. cowboy culture when meals were prepared from dried beans on the chuckwagon. As I said, it is my belief that canned beans would have replaced dried beans as they became available, but someone will need to prove me right or wrong. It would be great if the person who does so could also ammend the chuckwagon article.

What I know of cowboy diet comes from having read Cowboys of the Americas by Richard W. Slatta a few years ago.

Ireneshusband 17:48, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Agreed, it needs to be less UK-focused. It would also be very nice if the article explained the differences between the various recipes, and didn't focus so heavily on canned beans (in my opinion, the canned product does no justice to the original). Boston-style beans (which are really the only kind commonly found in New England, as far as I know) would never contain tomatoes (the very thought would horrify most New Englanders), but would be based on either maple syrup or molasses (my mother usually uses molasses) and would always contain chunks of salt pork, but very few spices and no onions. The beans to be used are disputed: my mother uses soldier beans, or navies if she can't get soldiers (which are an heirloom variety), and would never use pea beans; but some others would swear by pea beans. By the way, some New Englanders (including myself) do find the Boston beans too sweet, and it is not uncommon for individuals to put vinegar on them at the table. -GSwift 07:45, 1 August 2006 (UTC)

fart

Don't baked beans make you fart? I don't see that anywhere here. JayKeaton 09:53, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

Most legumes have the problem of increased flatulence to some degree Nil Einne 15:30, 15 September 2006 (UTC)

Removed

I removed the following from the traditional cuisine part

• Baked beans are also part of an Irish breakfast

According to the Irish breakfast article, baked beans are not part of the traditional Irish breakfast an indeed may be frowned upon due to their connection with the English. While baked beans may appear in some non-traditional Irish breakfasts I would suggest this is largely irrelevant as they also appear in many other breakfasts styles with British influence. In any case the above line clearly does not fit in to the description (Traditional cuisines of many regions claim such recipes as typical specialities, for example) Nil Einne 15:22, 15 September 2006 (UTC)

• And why does the article mainly refer to Heinz baked beans? They are awful! HP baked beans are far nicer.

"In October 2005, Premier Foods Plc launched Branston Baked Beans. The marketing and promotion of this product was aimed squarely at challenging Heinz's dominance of the UK baked bean market. This marketing included an advert, featuring a Branston Bean Tin explaining how Branston Beans are very "saucy." Promotional activities included a 'Great British Bean Poll' where members of the public across the country were invited to blind taste both 'the brand leader' (assumed to be Heinz) and Branston. 76% of participants picked Branston over the brand leader. Heinz was subsequently obliged to re-evaluate its advertising strategy in the face of this aggressive activity, although in public Heinz spokespeople dismissed the challenge as a 'non-starter'."

This paragraph might belong better in a Heinz or Branston Baked Beans page and not in a general food article.

Last line

I think the last line (about the reason for bean price wars) is kind of useless. Surely it is obvious that the reason for the price wars was for each retailer to get people to shop in their store, not to encourage the eating of beans or any other related foods. That's what a price war is. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.128.68.185 (talk) 18:03, 28 April 2007 (UTC).

UK focus

I understand that many consider the article to be UK-biased, but I don’t understand how it can’t be when the topic is so quintessentially British. Yes, there may be worldwide variations, indeed they are mentioned in the article, but as the largest consumer of beans in the world, I think we (the UK) ought to have the slight bias in this article (I know, I know, NPOV). After all, it is hard to find references to variations other than the British variety. On a side note, are the varities mentioned in the article actually called ‘baked beans’ or does it just happen so that they are prepared in that manner? British baked beans, as the article states, are not even baked, they are just called so. The long and short of it: the article deals with world variations (and I’m not denying that there isn’t room for expansion in this area), but ‘baked beans’, the majority of the time, refers to the British variety. Just do a Google search. My point is we shouldn’t tag the article as not dealing with a worldwide view for a fear of minorly violating the NPOV policy (for a topic such as this one). Use common sense, don’t eschew an article’s necessary bias for fear of the NPOV. As a result, I am removing the template. Rant over. Max Naylor 13:30, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

I understand how this would look like a British article. For example the section discussing the regional variations, does not need to discuss the calorie content difference. To me it seems like a veiled attempt to say american tastes are more unhealthy than British ones, but maybe I'm just cynical. Simply stating they're sweeter and mushier in texture is good enough for me. Although I've left the extra info there, as I don't like to remove information from an article. (195.188.208.251 15:39, 26 September 2007 (UTC))

Actually, the article as it stands now does not mention that the UK leads the world in baked bean consumption. I'm guessing it was taken out as an unreferenced assertion, but if someone can find a good source it should definitely go back in. 81.158.1.156 (talk) 01:10, 12 January 2008 (UTC)