My Mom's Baked Beans

My mom's baked beans bring back memories of hot and sticky Chicago summer days, eating out in our back yard on the picnic table that my mom covered with a terry tablecloth that was patterned with bright  watermelons... 


My mom has the most awesome bean pot! Chances are you do not, so I played around with her recipe:


1 lb. Great Northern Beans    
2 T. molasses    
6 T. light brown sugar    
1/4 lb. bacon, cut in 1" cubes    
1 small onion, whole or diced  
1 t. salt    
4 c. cold water

Sort beans.  Wash, but do not soak.  
Place beans in bean pot and add all other ingredients.  
Mix well.  Simmer and cook overnight, approximately 8-10 hours.  
Bake at 300 degrees, adding water if necessary.   
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Most people don't have bean pots, so I am did some experimenting with a crock pot. Truly, they are not as good in the slow cooker as they are slowly cooked in a bean pot in the oven, but even the Pfaltzgraff bean pot I had didn't turn out baked beans as nicely as my mom's old earthenware bean pot did. Sad, but true. Baked beans will never be the same.


I discovered that washing the beans and using the quick soak method worked pretty well. Put the sorted and washed beans in a large pot and cover with clean water. Put a cover on the pot and bring the beans to a full rolling boil for 2 minutes. Turn the heat off and let stand for one hour. 


After letting the beans stand for an hour, pour out the water and add the beans to your crock pot with the rest of the ingredients, except the water and the salt*. In the crock pot, you should add enough water to cover the beans. Stir and allow the beans to cook on low for about 12 hours. 


Once the beans become tender, you can add in the salt. I found that the beans ended up pretty watery, so I took the lid off after the 12 hours and let them simmer on high for an hour or so to reduce the liquid in the crock and intensify the flavor.


[I doubled this recipe and also added 1/2 t. of dry mustard at the start of cooking. I will probably increase that to 1 t. next time I try these.]


*Alton Brown says that adding the salt before beans are tender interferes with the cooking process and makes the beans crunchy, rather than tender. I always listen to Alton and adjusted the recipe accordingly.