Traditionally, New England baked beans were cooked in crocks in dying ovens or ember-filled holes in the ground, where the beans could slowly turn tender overnight. To re-create this gentle cooking environment, we turned to our heavy Dutch oven and a low oven, which surrounded the beans with even, ambient heat. Brining the beans overnight helped jump-start hydration and also softened their skins so they cooked up tender, with few blowouts. Uncovering the pot for the last hour of cooking ensured that the liquid reduced sufficiently to coat the beans in a thick sauce. Molasses, brown sugar, dry mustard, bay leaf, onion, and salt pork, plus one nontraditional ingredient (soy sauce), gave the beans rich flavor. You’ll get fewer blowouts if you soak the beans overnight, but if you’re pressed for time, you can quick-salt-soak your beans: In step 1, bring the salt, water, and beans to a boil in the Dutch oven. Remove the pot from the heat, cover, and let sit for 1 hour. Drain and rinse the beans and proceed with step 2.
Ingredients
- Salt and pepper
- 1 pound (2½ cups) dried navy beans, picked over and rinsed
- 6 ounces salt pork, rinsed, cut into 3 pieces
- 1 onion, halved
- ½ cup molasses
- 2 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons dry mustard
- 1 bay leaf
- Dissolve 3 tablespoons salt in 4 quarts cold water in large container. Add beans and let soak at room temperature for at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours. Drain and rinse well.
- Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. Combine beans, salt pork, onion, molasses, sugar, soy sauce, mustard, ½ teaspoon pepper, bay leaf, ¼ teaspoon salt, and 4 cups water in Dutch oven. (Liquid should cover beans by about ½ inch. Add more water if necessary.) Bring to boil over high heat. Cover, transfer pot to oven, and cook until beans are softened and bean skins curl up and split when you blow on them, about 2 hours. (After 1 hour, stir beans and check amount of liquid. Liquid should just cover beans. Add water if necessary.)
- Uncover and continue to cook until beans are fully tender, browned, and slightly crusty on top, about 1 hour. (Liquid will reduce slightly below top layer of beans.)
- Remove pot from oven, cover, and let sit for 5 minutes. Using wooden spoon or rubber spatula, scrape any browned bits from sides of pot and stir into beans. Discard onion and bay leaf. Let beans sit, uncovered, until liquid has thickened slightly and clings to beans, 10 to 15 minutes, stirring once halfway through. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve.