Bean Hole Beans

From the Secretary’s Report of the September 7, 1973 Meeting of the Springfield Telescope Makers.
E. V. Flanders, Secretary

The evening of Sept. 7, settled in with an air of expectancy.  A great peace fell over the whole area, and a small group assembled to watch, and perhaps to assist in the Rite about to be consummated by our renowned and highly respected Lord High Priest of Bean Hole Beans, James Daley.  It was with great care and reverence, that the cover to the Bean Hole was lifted, to expose the area where so much would be done for so many in the next 24 hours.  Minor changes were made under the direction of the High Priest, which he felt would lead to the perfect product.

Then came the moment when the match was applied to the carefully prepared material collected for the fire.  The first stage of the Ritual had begun.  Three active Acolytes, names Susan, Mark and Timothy, became hewers and carriers of wood, and kept the fire going, well into the night.  In the meantime the High Priest selected and prepared the soldier beans for their long immersion in cold, clear water.  At this stage they would swell proudly in anticipation of their final sacrificial act of burial in the embers and stones (hot) so carefully prepared by the Acolytes.

Early the next morning, the beans in their iron pots were lowered into the eager glowing coals.  The hole was covered carefully with a metal cover, and insulated with grass, leaves, and a blanket material.  Just before supper, with suitable ceremony, they were brought into Stellafane, a delectable feast, eagerly consumed by all.  A tribute to the superb mastery of the art as proved again by our High Priest, Daley.

JOHN M. PIERCE, Pres.

ARTHUR D. BAKER, Sec.

Everett Redfield's Beans

As prepared by him at Stellafane for the convention on July 21, 1934.

The Colonel had bought twelve quarts of what he called Soldier Beans, the week before and had picked them over.  Early in the evening of the night before, we put them to soak in several large pots, and before we went to bed they had swelled out of the water so we wet them again and tried to keep their swelling covered.  They swelled eventually to about twice their original size.

The week before, Charlie Longe and Everett were up here and dug out the bean hole about half way to the observatory and a little to the right.  It was a pit four feet long and about a foot and a half wide and deep when it was finished.  That is to say, it was larger; and then walled up with rocks to meet the final dementions[sic].  Charlie says that he used any kinds of rocks that he could get his hands on, but probably soapstone would hold the heat longer if one could get any.  Early Friday evening we build[sic] a big fire in the bean hole of rock maple, but apple or hickory would be hotter and would give better coals.  A couple of us slept by it to keep it going so when it finally burned to coals about six thirty Saturday morning the rocks were hot and I hope they will remain so all day.

We got up about daylight, three thirty Charlie says, and commenced operations on the beans.  First Everett poured off the water that they had been soaking in and covered them about a third with water, adding a few teaspoonfuls of soda and bringing it to a boil.  The beans were allowed to boil until the skins could be easily torn by blowing on one.  This is the Colonel's definition of the beans being ready for the pots.

We had some good salt pork, "None of that chain store stuff," he said, "but some from Lovell's Market that had just come out of the brine, and which they had made themselves."  This he cut into chunks about four by two by two, and he made several parallel slices on the rind side of the chunks.  He also made a mixture of a half cup of sugar, a teaspoon full of salt, and a heaping teaspoonful of mustard for every dry quart of dry beans.  When the beans were ready for the pots, he poured off the water they had been boiling in and washed them with cold water in a colander to remove the soda.  There were four big iron pots that must have held two gallons each, and the largest one three gallons perhaps.  The beans were poured into the pots, filling them about three quarters full, then came a generous sprinkling of the mustard mixture, and the top was plugged with pork.  This left two inches still to be filled with the remaining beans.  Boiling water was poured in until it just covered them, a little more mustard mixture was added, the covers were put on, and the beans were ready for the hole.

The coals were taken out with a shovel, and the pieces of iron that had been heated with them.  Everett said that if you haven't any iron, cobble stones would do, especially Freestone, generally known as soapstone.  They are to be put back later to help hold the heat while the baking is going on.  It was the real starting point, we carried the pots out and lowered them into the hole, put the irons and cobblestones in beside them, then sealed the hole with a cover of sheet iron.  If the hole will be too hot, you shouldn't seal it tightly; or I suppose you may cover it with dirt if the heat was lacking.  On top of the sheet iron we put the coals that we had raked out.  Now we can forget it for ten or twelve hours.

They ought to be good, but as the Colonel says,

" The test of the food is in the eating".

HB