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Prep Time: 0 Minutes Cook Time: 180 Minutes |
Ready In: 180 Minutes Servings: 16 |
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Ingredients:
2 lbs navy beans |
2 teaspoons salt |
2 teaspoons dry mustard |
1/2 cup molasses |
1/2 cup brown sugar |
1 onion, peeled and chopped |
6 ounces bacon, chopped (uncooked) |
Directions:
1. Soak the beans overnight in lots of tap water. Or, bring them to a boil on the stove and then turn them off, cover them and let them sit for an hour or two. The point of this is to reconstitute them some, making them easier to cook.
2. After the initial preparation boil your beans on the back of the stove for about half an hour. They won't be perfectly soft, but they will be almost soft. Drain off the cooking water. In a very large casserole (4-quart) combine the semi-cooked beans, salt, dry mustard, molasses, sugar and chopped bacon. Add enough hot water to barely come to the top of the beans. Put a lid on the casserole, or use foil. Bake the beans at 300F for about 5 to 7 hours. They will be tender, fragrant and delicious. The cooked beans may be frozen in two cup portions to substitute for canned baked beans in any recipe. They make a good main dish, or a side dish for a large crowd.
3. Another way to cook this, good in the summertime, is to use a crockpot. Boil the soaked beans for half an hour, as directed above. Then instead of combining everything in a casserole, combine in the crockpot instead. Put the lid on the crockpot after you've mixed everything up in it, and cook on High for about 3 to 4 hours, or on low for 6 or 8 hours. You can put a folded dish towel on top of the lid if your crockpot doesn't get quite hot enough to cook beans normally. The towel helps maintain a temperature hot enough to just barely simmer the beans.
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