Boston Baked Beans

Boston earned the nickname Beantown honestly: colonial Puritans slow-baked navy beans with salt pork and molasses on Saturday night, kept warm through the Sabbath when cooking was forbidden, and served them for Sunday breakfast with brown bread. The dish is one of the oldest continuously made recipes in American culinary history.

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 450g (1 lb) dried navy beans, rinsed and picked over
• 170g (6 oz) salt pork, cut into 2.5cm (1 inch) cubes
• 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
• 120ml (½ cup) unsulfured molasses
• 2 tbsp (30g) packed dark brown sugar
• 1 tbsp dry mustard
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• ½ tsp ground ginger
• ½ tsp fine sea salt, plus more to taste
• ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 480ml (2 cups) hot water, plus more as needed

Instructions

1. Soak beans: Cover dried beans with cold water by 10cm (4 inches) and soak overnight, or use the quick-soak method: bring to a boil, boil 2 minutes, cover, and let stand 1 hour. Drain and rinse.

2. Preheat oven to 150°C (300°F).

3. Layer the bottom of a 2-litre (2 qt) bean pot or heavy Dutch oven with half the salt pork. Add onion and drained beans.

4. Whisk together molasses, brown sugar, dry mustard, vinegar, ginger, salt, pepper, and hot water until combined. Pour over the beans. Top with remaining salt pork.

5. Cover tightly and bake 4 hours, checking every hour and adding hot water as needed to keep beans just submerged.

6. Uncover and bake a further 30–60 minutes until the liquid has reduced to a thick, glossy sauce and the beans on top are lightly caramelized. Season to taste.

Cook's Notes: The authentic bean pot is traditionally a rounded, thick-walled crock with a lid — it creates gentle, even heat that cream or cast iron does not replicate exactly, though a Dutch oven is a worthy substitute. Do not add the molasses until the beans are partially cooked if you soak and parboil first — here they go in raw because the long low-heat bake is slow enough that the skins stay intact.