Boston Baked Beans

NOTE: In order to make this recipe, you really need a bean pot. This is not some kind of weird advertising for bean pots; it’s simply that the shape of the pot and it’s material (pottery) are essential parts of the baking process.

My dad grew up in Connecticut, which was really cool and pretty exotic for two kids who grew up in Texas. We visited Connecticut once on a family trip, but for the most part, our travels to New England centered around Boston, where my aunt, uncle and cousins all live. Because of Daddy’s Yankee roots, we often had things like Yankee pot roast and Boston baked beans for dinner. They were scumdiddlyumptious. Anyway, here’s the recipe for the Boston baked beans. They’re a favorite of mine, though they do take all day long to bake. Your house sure will smell good all day!

Ingredients

  1. 2 packages of Navy beans (dried)
  2. 1/2 lb salt pork (you can find this near the bacon usually) – cut off the big, heavy rind on the end. You don’t want that!
  3. 1 sliced onion
  4. 6 Tbsp molasses (or maple syrup if you want them sweeter)
  5. 2 tsp salt
  6. 1/4 tsp black pepper
  7. 1/2 tsp dry mustard

Directions

  1. Soak the beans overnight in cold water (make sure you fill the pot as full as you can get it… get the water to about an inch from the top).
  2. In the morning, simmer the beans in the same water for 1-2 hours.
  3. Drain the beans and remove any rocks, etc. that might be lurking in there, but save the water in which they soaked. You’ll keep that water in it’s pot on the stove all day so you can add it to the beans as needed.
  4. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
  5. Layer the beans, pork and onions in your bean pot. The layers should be as follows: a few scoops of beans, eight to ten slices of onion, a few scoops of beans, three or four pieces of pork (not layered on each other), a few scoops of beans, eight to ten slices of onion, a few scoops of beans, three pieces of pork (again not layered on each other) and maybe six or seven slices of onion.
  6. In a measuring cup with a spout (like those Pyrex two-cup glass thingies), combine the molasses and seasonings. Add some of the bean water that you saved to the molasses mixture to loosen it up and then pour it over the beans. Add some more water to the stuff that stuck to the bowl, stir, and pour over the beans again. Continue doing so until you have the beans covered with bean water.
  7. Put the lid on your bean pot and place in oven. You will bake, covered, for four hours. After four hours, remove the lid and bake for another four hours. Check the beans each hour during the last four hours to make sure they aren’t drying out. If so, add some of the saved bean water you have on the stove.