Real Old Fashion Oven Baked Beans - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 lb navy beans
2 teaspoons baking soda
water
1/2 cup light molasses
1/2 cup catsup
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons seasoning salt, Lawry's preferred
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/2 lb thick slab bacon, diced (thick sliced is OK)

Preparation

THE NIGHT BEFORE:
Wash & sort beans for any small stones.
Place in a large kettle & cover with water, about 3 inches above the beans.
Cover & soak overnight.
THE NEXT MORNING:
Drain & add 6 cups fresh cold water.
Stir in the baking soda (this helps remove the \"music\" afterwards, but no guarantees. LOL!).
Cover & bring to a boil -- WATCH CAREFULLY so as to not boil over!
Reduce heat & simmer for 10 minutes.
Drain & reserve the bean water.
Preheat oven to 300\u00b0.
Add remaing ingredients plus 2 cups of the reserved bean water.
Place everything into the bean pot (or whatever you're using) & cover.
(Use double-thick aluminum foil to cover if need to.).
Bake for 3 to 4 hours.
IMPORTANT: Check every couple of hours, adding more bean water if needed, so the beans don't cook dry.