Low-N-Slow Boston Baked Beans

4.50 (7)
⏱ 330 mins 🍽 8-10 serving(s) 🏷 Beans

This traditional recipe yields deeply flavoured, tender baked beans without the need for pre-soaking. Salt pork and bacon provide a savoury base, which is sweetened with mild molasses and balanced with mustard and cider vinegar. The beans cook slowly in the oven for about 4 hours, then bake uncovered until the sauce becomes wonderfully thick and syrupy. It makes enough for 8 to 10 servings and can be prepared up to 4 days in advance.

Low-N-Slow Boston Baked Beans

Ingredients

  • 4 ounces salt pork, trimmed of rind and cut into 1/2 pieces 2 ounces bacon, cut into 1/4 pieces (about 2 slices)
  • 1 medium onion, chopped fine
  • 1/2 cup mild molasses, plus
  • 1 tablespoon mild molasses
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons brown mustard
  • 1 lb small dried white bean, rinsed and picked over (but NOT SOAKED or boiled at all... just dry beans)
  • 9 cups water
  • salt
  • 1 teaspoon cider vinegar
  • ground black pepper

Method

  1. Position your oven rack to the lower-middle shelf and preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
  2. Place the trimmed salt pork and chopped bacon into an 8-quart Dutch oven. Cook them, stirring now and then, until they are lightly browned and have released most of their fat, which should take about 7 minutes.
  3. Stir in the finely chopped onion and continue cooking, with occasional stirring, until the onion pieces have softened, for approximately 8 minutes.
  4. Pour in 1/2 cup of molasses, add the mustard, the rinsed beans, 1 1/4 teaspoons of salt, and 9 cups of water. Turn the heat up to medium-high and bring everything to a boil. Cover the pot and transfer it to the preheated oven.
  5. Bake the beans until they become tender, which will take about 4 hours. Give them a single stir after 2 hours of cooking.
  6. Take the lid off the pot and continue baking until the cooking liquid reduces to a thick, syrupy consistency. This stage requires 1 to 1 1/2 hours longer.
  7. Take the Dutch oven out of the oven. Mix in the remaining tablespoon of molasses, the cider vinegar, and season with extra salt and ground black pepper according to your taste.

Nutrition (per serving)

Sodium221600 mg

Recipe details

CategoryBeans
AuthorTracy K