Dutch Oven Baked Beans

Ingredients:

  • ½ # Bacon
  • 1 Chopped onion
  • 2 TBS Fresh garlic
  • Salt & Pepper to taste
  • 16 oz bag Great Norther Beans (or 3 cans if in a hurry)
  • up to 4 cups Chicken Broth
  • 1 bottle of full bodied beer
  • 1 cup Brown sugar
  • ½ cup dark Molasses
  • 6 oz can Tomato Paste
  • ¼ cup Cider Vinegar or (Rice Wine Vinegar)
  • 1 tsp Chili Powder
  • 1 tsp Dry Mustard

Instructions:
Fry the bacon in your cast iron Dutch Oven on the stovetop and cook until crispy but not burned, add the onion and garlic (salt – pepper) and cook until onion is translucent, add 4 cups broth, 1 beer, and beans (soaked overnight). Simmer 2 to 2 1/2 hours on stove top or until tender, add additional liquid (broth or beer) as needed during this process. If using canned beans, drain before adding and reduce broth to 3 cups and use 1/2 to 3/4 bottle of beer. Also reduce simmer time to about an hour. While beans are simmering, combine the Molasses, Tomato Paste, Vinegar, Chili Powder, and Dry Mustard in a mixing bown and whisk together. Set aside until beans are ready.  Once beans have simmered to the point of tenderness, Add the rest of the ingredients (ie. the bar-b-que sauce ingredients) to the beans. Bake @ 350 for 2 hours, reduce temp to 250 for additional hour. Add more beer and / or broth if beans start to get dry during baking. Another option is to move the Dutch Oven outside to your grill for the baking phase and I like to finish that last hour with the lid off and adding some wood chips to the smoke box in my grill to add some nice smoke to the beans as they finish.