Baked Beans

Method

1. brine480 min
   room temperature, beans covered by 2 inches
   navy beans + 4 cup water + 1 tsp salt — the sodium displaces calcium and magnesium in the pectin of the skins, so they hydrate evenly instead of splitting and spilling starch; an unsalted soak is the usual reason half the beans blow out and half stay hard
2. simmer40 min
   bare simmer, fresh water, no sweetener
   drained beans + 4 cup fresh water, until a bean's skin ruptures when you blow on a spoonful and the interior crushes to a paste. Nothing sweet or acidic goes in yet: the acid and dissolved calcium in molasses cross-link pectin and lock the skins, and a bean that enters the oven chalky comes out chalky six hours later. Reserve the cooking liquid
3. mix5 min
   molasses + brown sugar + dry mustard + 0.5 tsp salt + black pepper + 1 cup reserved bean liquid, whisked until the molasses dissolves rather than sitting as a layer on the bottom = the sauce
4. prep5 min
   drained beans + diced salt pork + onion layered into a deep bean pot or small Dutch oven, sauce poured over, liquid brought up to just level with the beans; lay the scored pork slab on top rind up
5. bake270 min
   275°F / 135°C, covered
   the whole pot, checking hourly and topping up with reserved liquid or hot water to keep the beans barely submerged — any bean that stands above the liquid dries into leather, and the low temperature is what lets the pork fat render and the molasses caramelize without the sugars scorching on the sides of the pot
6. bake45 min
   275°F / 135°C, uncovered
   uncovered so the surface liquid reduces and the exposed rind and the top layer of beans darken into a glazed crust; this is also where the sauce finally thickens, from bean starch, not from any added thickener
7. rest15 min
   off heat, covered
   the pot, so the beans reabsorb the loosest liquid — straight from the oven the sauce looks thin and fifteen minutes later it clings