Herb's Popular Baked Beans

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This was my dad’s recipe that was vey popular and requested for family gatherings. No canned beans, no barbecue sauce and no brown sugar, just great country baked beans made from scratch. The bacon came from my family’s farms in mn where we butchered our own hogs and smoked the hams, bacon and sausages in our large smokehouses. This is old world deutsche (german) heritage. Ah, memories. I remember the delicious aroma of those smokehouses.

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Steps

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Sort and rinse the beans in a colander under cold running water , removing any stones or foreign matter.

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Place the beans in an 8 quart pot , cover with 8 cups cold water , bring to a boil and boil for 10 minutes.

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Remove from heat and drain off the water.

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Rinse the beans under cold water in a colander and return the beans to the rinsed out 8 qt pot.

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Slice the bacon crosswise into 2 pieces , fry the bacon in a large skillet over medium-low heat till the bacon is browned yet still quite limp , remove from the skillet and set aside.

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Repeat for the remaining uncooked bacon.

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Pour the bacon grease through a steel mesh strainer , lined with cheesecloth , into a sealable container and store it in the fridge for future use.

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Add the cooked bacon and the remaining ingredients to the pot of beans.

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Add enough cold water to cover the beans + 1 more inch above the beans and stir gently.

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Heat the pot over medium heat on the stovetop till bubbles form at the surface , gently stirring every on.

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Ingredients

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dried navy beans, cold water, baking soda, bacon, onion, dark molasses, salt, ground black pepper, prepared yellow mustard, apple cider vinegar