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Boston Baked Beans

Makes: 8 servings

cast iron skillet with baked beans

Ingredients

  • 2 cups dried navy beans or great northern beans
  • ½ pound salt pork
  • 4 tablespoons molasses
  • 1 teaspoon mustard
  • 1 ½ teaspoons salt (depending on saltiness of pork)

Directions

  1. Soak the beans overnight in cold water. Cover.
  2. In the morning drain the beans through a strainer and then return them to a pot. Add a quart of water, and simmer in an oven-proof pot for 45 minutes, or until the beans begin to soften, and drain.
  3. Score the rind of the salt pork by making ½ inch slits across the top. Put half of the pork in the bottom of the bean pot and add the beans. In a separate bowl, mix the molasses, mustard, and salt with a little hot water, and pour over the beans. Add enough hot water to cover the beans.
  4. Place the rest of the salt pork on top, cover the pot, and cook the beans in the oven at a low temperature (about 250°F) for 6-7 hours. Add a little hot water from time to time to replace that which cooks away and is absorbed by the beans.
  5. Keep the lid on the bean pot until the last hour of cooking, then uncover, and allow the beans and pork on the top to brown.

Notes

  • For a different flavor – Add ½ cup chopped onion to the bottom of the pot. Use 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, ½ teaspoon ginger, and pepper to taste for seasoning. Or, add ¼ cup catsup to the molasses, salt, and mustard.
  • Salt pork can be replaced with bacon.

Recipe from: Aunt Sammy's Radio Recipes Revised, 1931, and Dry beans peas lentils modern cookery, adapted by the USDA Food and Nutrition Administration.