According to their data, Heinz now sell 1.5 million cans daily, worldwide. This pantry staple has been on our shelves since 1948. And now, as they celebrate 75 years of providing these delicious, nutritious legumes enrobed in tomatoey gloop, the Heinz company have engaged an "Etiquette Expert", William Hanson, to tell us how to enjoy them properly.
Mr H says white farmhouse-style bread is the best option for the simple meal -“When having beans on
toast, don’t drown your toast with beans, this is not your local lido,” he states.
“A good butter – unsalted, of course, because we’re not heathens – will ensure
it keeps its crisp crunch.” Also he says the can should be stored upside
down at about 18C and shaken for five seconds before opening to ensure an “even
beans to sauce distribution”.
Beans should
then be warmed for 3-4min in a stainless steel pan to preserve their “iconic taste”
and – heaven forfend – never boiled. The optimum temperature is 64C for instant
eating, and 75C if you need time to “finalise your toast”. “Boiling can cause the sauce to split, ruining the colour and flavour.”
- Place two slices of a white farmhouse loaf in toaster.
- Store can upside down, and shake for 5 seconds before use to ensure even beans to sauce distribution.
- Warm beans on the hob for 3-4min, stirring constantly. Do not boil the Beanz.
- Spread your butter evenly on the toast up to the crust.
- Place toast on a plate. Pour on beans
- (optional) Grate cheese on hot beans and let it melt for 2min.
- I use whatever bread is to hand
- This seems to make sense - especially if you're only using half the can at a time
- I usually use the microwave!
- Unsalted?!? I use regular butter, or marg
- Obviously
- Bob might, I don't like cheese.
The thoughts of others:
Yotam, Delia and Nigella make their own from dried haricot beans [more money and time than I have]
Jamie uses all sorts of beans [haricot, cannellini,butter etc] to make various tyoes of baked bnz
Jack Monroe drains hers, she can't stand the orange sauce.
and Nigel Slater admits to eating them cold from the tin, late at night. [Wot, no toast?]
So thank you, Mr Hanson, but I think we all have our own favourite way of using them - keep your unsalted butter and precise temperatures. I have to admit that I am not in the 1.5 million buying Heinz I usually buy supermarket own brand, often the basic economy one [and maybe zhuzh them up occasionally with a squeeze of ketchup or splash of worcestershire sauce]
The slogan was dreamed up over a pint in s London pub in 1967.
"We knew we'd won, when within three months, we could have a poster that didn't even mention the brand"
Whose bnz do you buy? and how do you prepare them?
I'm another one who buy the supermarket own brand. I like beans on toast but I'm not keen on them served as part of a meal.
ReplyDeleteFor me, it depends what the rest of the meal is
DeleteToast and unsalted butter and throw away the beans! Can’t stand and that sweet gloop.
ReplyDelete🤣🤣🤣
DeleteWe used to buy Branston beans but then they very obviously changed the recipe and it spoiled the taste (in our opinion). We now buy Aldi beans - plenty of beans in the tin, not swamped with juice, not expensive and a lovely taste.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I've ever had Branston (although I like B. Pickle)
DeleteThe weirdest place I ever came across baked beans was in school dinners when, for reasons known only to the cook, cold beans were included in salads.
ReplyDeleteCheap protein?
DeleteI wonder what they are paying the 'expert'? You could have done it better.
ReplyDeleteThank you
DeleteNice white bread, salted butter, cooked in a pan on the hob (don't have a microwave) and no cheese. If my husband cooks them he always adds cheese, but I don't really think it needs it.
ReplyDeleteSounds good to me
DeleteBranston on a seeded bagel for me with some Worcestershire sauce. Daughter likes hers in a small dish, son in law dislikes them and husband eats them any way as long as they are hot! Catriona
ReplyDeleteOn a bagel? Don't they fall thru the hole?
DeleteOur beans of choice are Branston beans - we find Heinz too sweet. When in the UK we buy about 20+ cans which keep us going. We don't often have them with toast (although I do like cheezy beans on toast - but melted cheese under the beans) We like a breakfast for dinner with sausage, egg, hash browns (or chips!) and bacon (when we can get it) but always with beans!! Love FD xx
ReplyDeleteAnother Branston fan. Are the French fond of bnz on toast?
DeleteI don't think they have them on toast, but I have seen "haricots blancs en sauce tomate" in supermarkets. I don't trust them though... Love FD xx
Delete🤣
DeleteIf I'm serving beans as part of a fry-up breakfast, then I throw them in the pan when everything else is cooked, turn the pan off and use the residual heat to cook them. It deglazes the pan, and slightly thickens the sauce at the same time.
ReplyDeleteAnd delicious they taste too. You omitted to mention putting the bnz in a separate ramekin so the juice doesn't run into everything else. Your Saturday Full English is the stuff of legend imho
DeleteWe nearly always buy "own brand" beans and usually the low sugar ones but they do vary in how tasty they are, some being much more bland than others. We buy Heinz when they are on offer.
ReplyDeleteMy mum had a gadget called a "tasty toaster" which was a kind of waffle iron used on the gas stove which produced fabulous circular toasted sandwiches. Beanz was my favourite filling. I don't know what happened to it. My dad probably binned it along with loads of other stuff after she died, thinking he didn't need it, but I often wish I had it now. The electric sandwich makers do not work anywhere near as well!
Oh that sounds a fabulous bit of kitchen gear
DeleteLike you I microwave beanz and always use supermarket own brands, I know there are some folk who always buy Heinz but I've never really understood why.
ReplyDeleteAlison in Wales x
My Dad didn't like baked beans at all, and Mum only liked Crosse and Blackwell, and then she'd only eat them cold, usually with a bit of curry powder and a few sultanas mixed in. I think she actually invented curried beans!
ReplyDeleteI didn't eat baked beans until I met my husband, he's a beans on toast fan, so I soon got used to them.
We always used Crosse and Blackwell, as we both detest the taste and texture of Heinz, we love their tomato ketchup, but their beans are dreadful!
Now we only use Branston, which of course are made by……Crosse and Blackwell!
Sometimes they're added to a sausage casserole, but our favourite thing to do with them is Chicken Cheesy Beans on Toast.
Chopped cooked chicken breast and grated strong Cheddar cheese mixed into a pan of beans, heated through and put on top of thick toast, (brown or white, both are delicious).
It's a lovely supper! X
Another Branston fan. The cheesy chicken supper sounds ideal for wet, windy days like this.
DeleteBranston or Aldi beans. Marilyn(who used to live in Swanton Morley)
ReplyDeleteTwo good choices., Marilyn. I don't know if you're still in Norfolk, but Dereham Aldi recently had a refurb, and Dereham Lidl hope to move to a bigger site next year!
DeleteHere across the pond, a well known brand of canned beans (like Heinz) are the Bush's beans. There are several varieties with bacon, brown sugar, or onions mixed in, or BBQ sauce, low salt, low sugar, or plain. I haven't tried the Aldi brand (stuck in my ways) but will do so next time I am there.
ReplyDeleteNever heard of Bush's BNZ. Low salt/low sugar varieties are becoming more popular
DeleteThat ad brought back memories! Those old days sound so innocent and appealing to me now in my 70's! I had quite forgotten about eating beans on toast but will try them again, maybe they would be good on a baked potato too! JanF
ReplyDeleteWith a baked potato, a very filling lunch
DeleteBaked beans are iconic in North America - made from scratch, including things like molasses!! We can still buy canned beans, which include Heinz and others with original tomato sauce, or with molasses, pork, maple syrup and so on. I generally buy the Clark tomato sauced version which taste very similar to Heinz and are cheaper and have less sodium!
ReplyDeleteNot heard of Clarks bnz
DeleteJack Monroe suggests buying the cheapest baked beans, rinsing the Ultra Processed stuff off them and using the inexpensive beans in your own recipe. She has a lot of sense. My wholesome, home made sauce is in little pots in the freezer.
ReplyDeleteGood bread from the breadmaker, naturally.
That's a very good way to get tasty "home-baked" beans without all the soaking and simmering
DeleteFrom my childhood:
ReplyDelete'Beans, beans good for your heart.
The more you eat, the more you f**t!'
I've never had beans on toast.
Hugs!
🤣🤣🤣
DeleteBeans, beans. the musical fruit,
DeleteThe more you eat, the more you toot!
The more you toot, the better you feel,
Let's have beans at every meal.
The closest thing to your Heinz Beanz here is VanCamp's pork and beans, which has the tomato sauce. The American style baked beans don't have tomato sauce. I like Bush's baked beans and B&M baked beans. They are often served as part of the Thanksgiving meal or as part of a barbecue meal and rarely served on toast! I've been known to eat baked beans with my rice. :)
ReplyDeleteWe have B&M stores, but I don't think it is the same as your company in theUSA
DeleteNo, this particular B&M company is a food manufacturing company, producing baked beans and Boston brown bread (which comes in cans).
DeleteOh I have always wanted to buy a can of Boston Bread (ever since I read somebody's post about 100 uses for the can!)
DeleteMy favourite beans are Whole Earth organic. Hideously expensive compared to popular brands, and hard to buy locally now Waitrose and Holland and Barrett no longer sell them, so I don’t have them very often.
ReplyDeleteBob like Whole Earth peanut butter. I don't recall seeing the cans of beans recently
Delete