Slow Cooked Baked Beans

 Ahoy the great bean controversy.  Great Northern beans or Navy Beans to make Slowed Cooked Baked Beans from scratch.  Great Northern beans are larger than Navy Beans, great for soups.  Navy beans are smaller and cook faster, great for baked beans aka Boston Beans to some.  I follow along with generations of cooks in our family, Navy beans is the bean of choice for this family recipe.  Slow Cooked Baked Beans is "dump" recipe for me. I never measure the ingredients, just dump into the pot.  The ingredients listed have approximate measurements, season and ingredient measurements should be made to your preferred taste. This pot of beans will be made not from a Dutch Oven in the oven, instead I am breaking out the crock pot to make the beans.

Ingredients:

Navy beans (1 package)

brown sugar (1/2 - 3/4 cup)

molasses (3/4 cup)

chopped onion (1)

garlic powder (2 teaspoons)

bacon/ham

crushed tomatoes (1 large can)

Dijon mustard (2 tablespoons)

liquid smoke (a drop or two goes a long way)

Place beans in a large pot and cover with 2 inches of water. Soak overnight and drain. Rinse and drain again.  Discard "duds" and any beans that do not look good.

 

Put your soaked beans into your crock pot
and add remaining ingredients. 
Turn crock pot on low and cook 8 -10 hours, stirring occasionally, until beans are tender.

 

Keep an eye on liquid level as you may need to add some water to finish cooking if your beans are still hard.
This batch is at the 8 hour mark more or less,
perfect beans, firm yet soft.

Slow Cooked Baked Beans takes patience : )