The Bean Hole

Digging a bean hole has long been a storied tradition in the North Woods, but there’s no reason it can’t be done at a deer or fish camp anywhere. The combination of woodsmoke and molasses flavors in this bean dish can’t be duplicated any other way.

Ingredients:
10 cups dried great Northern or yellow-eye beans
1 lb. salt pork, cut into 2-inch strips
2 large onions, diced
21⁄2 cups molasses
2 tsp. black pepper
4 tsp. dry hot mustard
1⁄2 cup butter
Step 1: Dig a hole that’s twice as deep as and 1 foot in diameter larger than your Dutch oven. Toss a few rocks or a length of chain in the bottom. Fill the hole with hardwood, and burn it down until the hole is three-quarters full of hot coals.
Step 2: Precook the beans by slow-boiling them for about 30 minutes. Drain.
Step 3: Place salt pork in the Dutch oven, layer onions on top, and pour in beans, ­molasses, black pepper, and mustard. Slice butter and place on top. Add enough boiling water to cover beans by 1⁄2 to 1 inch. Cover the pot with aluminum foil and then the lid.
Step 4: Shovel out about a third of the coals, and put the bean pot in the hole. Replace the coals around the sides of the oven and on top, and fill the rest of the hole with dirt. Cooking time varies, but give it a good 8 hours.