Two men who created a giant baked bean have said it could replace the turkey at Christmas as the main dish.

Friends Tom Snell and Dylan Hartigan, who live in England, also mocked up a fake tagline for their creation.

They told Moncrieff this is something they first spoke about creating years ago as advertising students.

"We just had this thought a couple of years ago: just how can we elevate the baked bean... and then it just kind of went from there," they said.

"We decided to do it a couple of days ago on a weekend".

They said they initially posted it to see if their friends liked it, "but it's gone bigger than that."

"We just kind of assumed if you put [tins together]... we just thought two would do the job, really," they said.

A mock up of a Heinz tin for the giant baked bean. Picture via @TomandDylan on Twitter

They pair said they then had to get the shape right.

"We knew we had to mold it into that shape, so we thought these beans need to be as dry as possible," they said.

"We drained all the juice out of them... and then mushed it all together.

"[We] put it in a blender, mushed it all together, molded it into that bean shape and then poured the juice over the top".

The giant baked bean. Picture via @TomandDylan on Twitter

They said there is one important element to this.

"The trick there is to get the beans as dry as possible.

"Once you drain the juice out of them, you keep the sauce to the side and the beans - either drain them, or put them in kitchen roll to get all the moisture off them.

"Once you blend the beans, that'll give you a nice thickness to it and then you can kind of mush it together in your hands.

"Getting that bean shape is actually probably the trickiest bit because it's got a nice little curve to it".

'It's pretty disgusting'

They said going by people's reactions, this is a monster.

"Judging by everyone's reactions online, it's pretty disgusting," they said.

"We sort of stood back and looked at it and thought, 'What have we created, we've kind of created a monster here'.

"I saw the beauty in it as well".

So what's next for their creation?

"We should have done a whole recipe book and serving suggestions around it," they said.

"I saw someone online say it could replace the turkey at Christmas - put a big bean in the middle of your table and slice it away".

Food company Heinz had a one line response: "Yeah… that’s enough Internet for one day".

Yeah… that’s enough Internet for one day.

— Heinz (@HeinzUK) April 5, 2023

Main image: The giant baked bean. Picture via @TomandDylan on Twitter