Have just my first ever experience of Branston Baked Beans [on toast, of course].

I have to say they were mighty fine and could well be better than longtime champ Heinz. Very tasty and satisfying.

Anyone else have a view on the merits of either brand of bean? Or are there other beans less well-known that deserve the title of "World's Greatest Baked Bean"?

I hate baked beans if chewed, the only way I can eat them (and peas) is just to swallow them whole with-out chewing.

Mrs Alchemist takes great delight in cooking them into other meals!

Beans are eff great!

I remember when Tesco's were knocking them out at 9p a can but i held firm and splashed out the full 30p on Heinze.

Not had Branston but i may well do know: what did they have going for them?

I would never have tried them but for the fact that (a) the Sunday Times Style section praised them recently and (b) Morrison's have a cracking deal on a 4-pack at the moment

If I think about it then the taste was slightly fuller and richer. And now I have been sad enough to check the rival ingredients I can exclusively reveal the following: Branston have a total 4% more beans and tomatoes in them than the Heinz can! Branston combined are 80% vs 76% at Heinz. Branston beans provide more calories [87 vs 72 per 100g] and more fat [0.4g vs 0.2g per 100g]. I've also just read the fibre content is 5.5g/100g with Branston vs 3.7g at Heinz

I missed a trick with my poll options - maybe the Heinz bean is now the has-bean?

"Branston, the bean Tiger Woods to Heinz's Branston"

Can you explain exactly what that's supposed to mean?

How can the fibre content be that different!

I asume you add balck pepper and a dash of brown source when cooking?

Oops, that was meant to read "to Heinz's Jack Nicklaus"

Please Mr. Admin Sir, can you rectify my gaffe

Give me Jack every time.

Woods is the best player of his generation but Nicklaus is the greatets of all time.

Perhaps the greatest sportsman of all time.

Did he eat beans? You bet he did.

And when he ate them you can bet they were Heinz!

The once and future king.

I knew when i wrote what I thought I was writing I was laying myself open to that kind of comment.

Can we decide that Tiger Woods is the best of this era and then get back to bean-eating please? I think this challenge from Branston is very serious and represents a potential seismic shift in the bean balance of the world, and needs to be discussed further.

PS Black pepper yes, brown sauce not this time as my stocks are out.

Ok. I'll get some tomorrow and confront my deamons.

You realise you are playing with a man's lifetime's principles and beliefs here?

But i am man enough to take on the task.

Never tried Branston but will have a go but I must say, I've never tasted a brand of baked bean that's come anywhere near the 57 varieties version.

Why oh why does Heinze of Utd not have number 57 on his shirt?????

Talk about an opportunity missed!

Got to be Heinz.

And don't even talk to me about supermarket's own brands.

I've had a taste recently and they've certainly got that Branston tang to them.

They were nice, and if on offer I'd buy them - but in a straight race it's Heinz for me (things can change tho!)

I've bought the beans

Tomorrow i dine.

The facts and not the opinions will then be in the public domain.

please no... there's already enough hot air flying out of various oriphices on this forum

Shhhhhh! I haven't told groomy about the side-efects of the extra fibre content yet

I'm definately a bean-flicker but this post could go off on a tangeant.

I always find the following recipe to be far superior to Beans when wanting a clear out.


1 sausage
1 head of cabbage
20 Jalapeno peppers
40 Walnuts
40 Peanuts
1/2 a box of All Bran Cereal
and top it off with a gallon of Prune Juice

one certainly finds out what your arse is for after eating that, trust me.

Update

At 12pm today i had a tin of Branston beans.

The colour is more orangy than Heinz and while they were tasty i did not find the sauce as good as Heinz.

However Mrs Groomy has just told me that if i dont stop trumping i'm going to have to be put in the garden!

In sumary i think they are good enough for all to try.

Now we have confirmed Branstons are rubbish - what does anybody think of Heinz 'Mean' Beanz?

I quite like the sweet chilli ones and the mexican ones. Not too spicy but enough to make them more interesting.

I'm yet to find a bean that enhances my favoured Daddies sauce topping. Open to suggestions though.

I stink

I thought you might - as I discovered I did yesterday. Still, fibre is meant to be good for you

I like beans but I hate Baked Beanz because they are so sweet.

I tried the Branston ones a quite a while ago in a taste contest outside sainsbury's. When I said I didnt like either of them they were confused, no option for that on the form. I've always prefferred HP to Heinze, much tastier sauce IMO. The Hienze meanz beanz would be much better if they were actually HOT, I found them much too tame and had to add Tabasco.

If only the superior 'Daddies' did baked beans.

the more creative of you can actually make your own beans you know - far superior to the 'orrible processed tinned varieties. think it was a delia recipe ( )... i'll dig it out later

I'm still trumping

you'll be fine by tomorrow - I can assure you. Took me 36 hours or so