Bean bonanza

Bean bonanza

Bush’s Grillin’ Beans, heat-and-eat baked beans in barbecue sauce, bring quick, satisfying flavor to summer meals. The four sauces (Bourbon and Brown Sugar, Smokehouse Tradition, Southern Pit Barbecue and Steakhouse Recipe) are sweet but well-balanced. A 22-ounce can costs about $2.

A smokin’ smoker

Chicago Tribune testers had great results with the Orion Cooker, which uses convection and steam (and smoke, if you wish) to prepare meats in less time and with very little hassle. A large pork butt took 23‚Ñ4 hours; a roast chicken about 11‚Ñ4 hours — both emerged moist and beautifully cooked. The stainless-steel unit is easy to assemble and clean; its light weight makes it portable. Three rib hangers can cook six racks of ribs, three cooking grates have 398 square inches of cooking surface, and a poultry stand and lifting handle hold up to a 24-pound turkey. The unit does require a lot of charcoal (we used one small bag each time). It’s $150 at Home Depot stores, or by mail: Visit orionoutdoors.com.

Keen on kettle-cooked

CT testers loved Miss Vickie’s Kettle Cooked potato chips for their thick, crisp crunch as much as for their great flavor. Four varieties are available, including two new ones: country onion with three cheeses and buttermilk ranch. A 5-ounce bag is $2.50 at various grocers.

Seeing the ‘light’

The “Cooking Light Complete Cookbook” (Oxmoor House, $34.95) winningly mirrors the popular food magazine’s emphasis on low-calorie, low-fat dishes and creative menus. This is a primer a la Betty Crocker and “Joy of Cooking,” with features you expect (more than 1,200 recipes, nutritional information, gorgeous photos) and some you don’t (a DVD with how-to videos, menus and recipes). It’s at bookstores and at amazon.com.

Where buffalo roam

Bison River Buffalo Steak Strips aren’t jerky, per se, but that’s the idea. The flavor (original, pepper and teriyaki) is great, and the texture is terrific (the product contains more moisture than standard jerky). The buffalo are grass-fed and raised without antibiotics. Though the product contains some preservatives and is shelf-stable for about 1 year, opened bags need to be refrigerated. A 3-ounce bag costs $8 in some stores, or by mail, call (800) 970-5204.