Soak the beans overnight, covered in cold water

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

Drain the beans and place them in a bean pot or a 2 1/2 quart covered casserole dish with the maple syrup, brown sugar, molasses, dry mustard, salt, pepper and meat. The original recipe called for the addition of one small onion, but since we didn’t have any, I didn’t use one. And honestly, I didn’t think I was missing out on anything. But if you want to use one, you would add it to the casserole dish at this time.

Pour enough boiling water over the beans so that you are covering the beans by a 1/2 inch.

Cover the casserole dish, and bake until the beans are almost tender {about 4 – 6 hours}. Check the beans every hour and give them a slow stir, making sure to check that the level of the liquid is not below the beans. If it is, add just enough boiling water to cover the beans.

Once the beans are almost tender {it was the 4 hour mark for me} uncover the dish and cook for an additional 45 -60 minutes or until the sauce has thickened and the beans are tender.

Serve warm with a slice or two of maple syrup cornbread. And the leftovers the next day? Freakin’ AWESOME!