Baked beans are one of those homely foods that are so familiar that most of us don’t give them even a second thought on the shelf – we reach for our usual brand, tick it off the list and reserve our mental bandwidth for more exciting foodstuffs. After all, just how different can a tin of beans be? To my surprise, I discovered very striking disparities between the ones I tested, so if you’re someone who routinely decants excess juice or reduces the sauce to achieve that authentic school dinner effect, you might be better off simply switching allegiance. Similarly, the sugar content varied between 9% of your recommended daily allowance to 13%, so if that’s a concern, look out for reduced- or no-sugar brands instead.
There’s a significant price difference between supermarket own labels and the leading brands, too. If you’re after a gourmet experience, I’d recommend the Bold Bean Co’s rich tomato baked beans (£3.50), because they remind me of those homemade beans you sometimes get with a fry-up at fancy cafes: intensely savoury and packed full of herbs. They don’t qualify here, because they are to ordinary baked beans what rye sourdough is to white sliced, but they’re bloody lovely all the same. That said, you can’t go wrong with any of our best buys served on buttered toast with a light dusting of grated cheddar. Small pleasures don’t come much cheaper.
