Chefs cook up best baked beans

The two chefs gave the beans a taste test

Experts have cooked up a formula which they say produces the perfect baked beans on toast.

Two chefs at the Heinz factory in Wigan, Greater Manchester, claim there is an exact science to enjoying the traditional snack at its best.

The recipe, produced by Steve Moffitt and Julie Peeks, specifies every ingredient needed - right down to the thickness of the bread.

The pair say the key to their formula is white bread, cut to a thickness of 1.56cm, and toasted under an oven grill.

We subjected the ingredients to a punishing schedule of taste tests

Julie Peeks, Heinz chef

Unsalted butter, chilled to 16.8C, is next on the list, finally topped with baked beans, cooked to a temperature of 64C.

Julie said: "Believe it or not a lot of people ask us about the best way to make baked beans on toast so we decided to work out the ideal formula.

"We subjected the ingredients to a punishing schedule of taste tests in order to ensure that all of the components added up to the perfect dish."

The chefs' investigations were prompted by the firm putting together a book of British recipes for the Queen's Jubilee.

Baked beans were first created by Henry J Heinz in the USA in 1895.

The first cans of beans were made in Britain in 1928, and now 1.2m cans are eaten every week. Heinz says that its original recipe is known by only four people.