Old-Fashioned Baked Beans with Salt Pork and Molasses -- The Recipe That Fed Forty-Five and Started Six Stories

The Historical Society talk was Friday evening. "Old Vermont Cooking." Forty-five people in the town hall — more than last time, which either means the topic resonated or the free food was a draw. Probably both. I brought baked beans, brown bread steamed in a coffee can, and maple candy. The beans were warm in a slow cooker. The bread was sliced thick. The candy was in bags. If the talk failed, at least they'd eat well.

The talk didn't fail. I stood at the front of the room and I talked about the food my mother made: corned beef and cabbage, baked beans with salt pork and molasses, brown bread, pot roast, roast chicken. I talked about how this food was shaped by the land and the climate — root vegetables that stored in the cellar, beans that dried on the vine, maple syrup from the trees. I talked about how none of it was fancy, all of it was good, and the difference between fancy and good is the difference between eating out and eating home. Home wins. Home always wins.

Jerry Thibodeau sat in the front row and nodded through the whole thing, which from Jerry is the equivalent of a five-minute standing ovation. Marie asked about the brown bread — she'd never had it steamed in a coffee can. I explained: cornmeal, rye flour, whole wheat, molasses, buttermilk, baking soda. Pour in the can. Cover with foil. Steam three hours. She said, "Three hours?" I said, "Patience." She said, "I don't have patience." I said, "Then learn. The bread will teach you." The room laughed. I wasn't entirely joking.

After the talk, six people came up to share their own food memories. A woman whose grandmother made the same boiled dinner. A man whose mother steamed brown bread every Saturday. The stories were all the same, in their way — food connecting us to people who are gone, food carrying forward what words can't hold, food as memory, food as love, food as the thing that stays when everything else leaves. This is what I tried to say in the talk. These six people said it better, without notes, in their own kitchens' language.

Helen said I was good. She didn't elaborate. From Helen, that's the Pulitzer and the Nobel combined. I'll take it.

The beans are gone. The bread is eaten. The candy is distributed. January is almost over. The talk is done. The next one is in March — maple sugaring, part two. We keep going.

Of the three things I brought to the Historical Society that Friday—the beans, the brown bread, the maple candy—it was the beans people asked about most. Not the recipe exactly, but the way they tasted like something they remembered but couldn’t quite place. That’s what slow-cooked beans with salt pork and molasses do: they reach back. Here’s how I make them, the same way my mother did, the same way hers probably did before that.

Old-Fashioned Baked Beans with Salt Pork and Molasses

Prep Time: 20 minutes (plus overnight soak) | Cook Time: 6 hours | Total Time: 6 hours 20 minutes | Servings: 10

Ingredients

• 1 pound dried navy beans, picked over and rinsed
• 1/2 pound salt pork, scored in a crosshatch pattern
• 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and left whole
• 1/3 cup dark molasses (not blackstrap)
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 4 cups water, plus more as needed

Instructions

1. Soak the beans. Place the beans in a large bowl and cover with cold water by three inches. Let soak overnight, at least 8 hours. Drain and rinse.
2. Parboil the beans. Transfer the drained beans to a large pot, cover with fresh water, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Drain, reserving the cooking liquid.
3. Prepare the bean pot. Preheat the oven to 300°F. Place the whole onion in the bottom of a bean pot or heavy Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid. Add the drained beans on top.
4. Mix the sauce. In a bowl, stir together the molasses, brown sugar, dry mustard, salt, and pepper with 4 cups of the reserved bean cooking liquid until combined.
5. Assemble. Pour the molasses mixture over the beans. Nestle the scored salt pork into the top of the beans so it sits just above the surface. Add more reserved cooking liquid if needed so the beans are just barely covered.
6. Bake low and slow. Cover the pot and bake for 5 hours, checking every hour or so. If the beans look dry, add a splash of hot water. The liquid should stay just at the level of the beans—not above, not below.
7. Finish uncovered. Remove the lid and bake for 1 more hour, until the salt pork is browned on top and the sauce is thick and dark. The beans should be tender, creamy, and coated in a rich glaze.
8. Rest and serve. Let the beans sit for 15 minutes before serving. They’re good right away. They’re better the next day. They keep in the refrigerator for up to five days and reheat well in a low oven or slow cooker.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 310 | Protein: 14g | Fat: 12g | Carbs: 38g | Fiber: 7g | Sodium: 480mg