Name: Chef John's Boston Baked Beans
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 2 h 30 min
Total time: 10 h 45 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: U.S.
Ingredients: 1 pound dry navy beans; 6 cups water; 1 pinch baking soda; 1 bay leaf; 6 slices bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces; 1 yellow onion, diced; 0.33333334326744 cup molasses; 0.25 cup packed dark brown sugar; 1 teaspoon dry mustard powder; 1.5 teaspoons salt; 0.5 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste

Chef John's Boston Baked Beans

Bacon, navy beans, molasses, brown sugar, and mustard are the key ingredients in this simple, inexpensive side dish.

10 hr 45 min total 15 min prep 2 hr 30 min cook 6 411 cal

Instructions

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1 Place navy beans in a large bowl and cover with several inches cool water; let soak overnight.
2 Drain beans; place in a large Dutch oven or heavy pot with 6 cups water, baking soda, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and boil for 10 minutes. Drain; save bean-cooking liquid.
3 Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
4 Place beans in a clean Dutch oven; add bacon, onion, molasses, brown sugar, dry mustard, salt, and black pepper. Pour in enough hot reserved bean-cooking liquid to cover beans; stir.
5 Cover Dutch oven; bake in the preheated oven 1 hour. Check liquid level; add more reserved bean-cooking liquid to cover beans. Return to oven; continue baking until beans tender and almost all liquid absorbed, about 1 hour.
6 Increase oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Uncover beans; continue baking until top develops a flavorful crust, 20 to 30 minutes more.