Beans for the Backyard Barbeque

My mom always made pretty good baked beans. She started with cans of Campbell's pork and beans, adding a little of this and a little of that.  Dad was the real bean-eater in the family and baked beans always remind me of him.  He'd eat pork and beans cold right out of the can if Mom wasn't round to see him do it.  I could never get my baked beans to taste as good as hers and simply gave up when I stumbled across Bush's baked beans--you know, the ones in a can made with a family recipe so guarded that the dog doesn't even know it.  They are good, really convenient and most people like them, but they lack the baked taste or texture or whatever that special something is that homemade baked beans have.

So...this past Memorial Day, with my mind and creative energies being focused on beans, I was determined to create baked beans 100% from scratch and better than Mom's.  My original intention was to use the oven and honestly bake the beans, but good baked beans require six to eight hours bake time and I just couldn't bare running the oven for that long on a ninety degree day.  I looked at several recipes and came up with what I think turned out to be a darn good crockpot version of baked beans  The secret (mine and the Bushes), I have decided, is time.  From washing the beans to scraping the bottom of the crockpot of its last sticky bean took about twenty hours.  This is just one of those things that cannot be rushed if it is to be done right.  This recipe is worth the time.  The reviewers at my Memorial Day BBQ gave these a two thumbs up!

Memorial Day Baked Beans in a crockpot

2 cups navy beans, washed well
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 bay leaf
2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup ketchup
1/2 cup molasses
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 Tblsp. yellow mustard
1/4 pound thick bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces

In  a crockpot, cover beans with 6 to 8 cups water and soak overnight.  Drain water and rinse the beans then return them to the crockpot.  Cover beans with water so that the water level is about 2 inches above the beans.  Add onion bay leaf, and salt.  Cook on high until the beans are soft and easy to mash with a fork (about 2 hours).  Drain, reserving 3 cups of the cooking liquid.  Stir into the beans the 3 cups liquid and remaining ingredients.  Cover and continue to cook on high for 2 to 3 hours or on low for 4 to 5 hours.