Although the preparation for this recipe can be time-consuming, there are those who say that if you haven’t tried the from-scratch version, you haven’t had real baked beans.
Ingredients
- 1½ quarts water
- 1 pound Navy beans
- 1/4 pound salt pork
- 2 tsp. salt
- 1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1 T. cider vinegar
- 2 tsp. onion juice
- 3/4 tsp. dry mustard
- 2 tsp. horseradish
- ketchup to taste
Preparation
Wash and sort beans. Heat water to boil in a large pan and add beans gradually, so boiling doesn’t stop. Boil beans 2 minutes, then remove from heat, cover and set aside to soak for 1 hour.
Remove rind from salt pork and cut pork into narrow strips. Add strips to saucepan of beans and return to heat. Bring to boil, then turn down heat immediately and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring once or twice. Remove from heat and drain beans, reserving the liquid.
Turn beans and pork strips into a greased 2-quart casserole dish or bean pot. Set aside while making sauce.
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
To make sauce, combine 2½ cups of the reserved bean liquid and remaining ingredients. Bring sauce to boil and pour over beans. Cover and bake about 21⁄2 hours, until beans are tender. Uncover and bake additional 30 minutes to brown the beans. Serve with a hearty bread and coleslaw.
Serves 8 to 10.
