Smoky Sweet Baked Beans with Brown Sugar

Serves 6 in about 1 hour. The pot starts with thick cut bacon, then tsp liquid smoke.

Ingredients

• 1 lb navy beans, soaked overnight, or quick soaked*
• 7 cups water, for soaking the beans
• 6 slices thick cut bacon, chopped in 1" pieces
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced
• ½ tsp kosher salt (or 1/4 tsp table salt)
• ¼ tsp pepper
• 2 cups water
• ¼ cup pure maple syrup
• ¼ cup ketchup
• ½ cup molasses
• ½ cup smoky flavored bbq sauce
• 1 tbsp prepared yellow mustard
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar (or any vinegar you like)
• 1 tsp liquid smoke
• ⅓ cup brown sugar

Method

1. Soak beans in a bowl with 7 cups of water overnight. Then drain and rinse them. keep it nearby.
2. Turn the pot on to the Sauté function. Stir in the bacon. Simmer until mostly done.
3. Stir in onions to the bacon and cook, while stirring now and then, until onion starts turning translucent.
4. Tip in the garlic and cook for 1 instant, or until fragrant, while stirring often.
5. Stir in salt, pepper, water, syrup, ketchup, molasses, BBQ sauce, mustard, vinegar, liquid smoke, and stir well. Heat to a simmer and scrape the bottom of the pot to get up any browned bits (deglaze).
6. Stir in beans and brown sugar. Stir, and place the lid on the pot and lock in place. Set the steam release knob to the Sealing position.
7. Cancel the Sauté function.
8. Set to Pressure Cook (Manual) and use the + or - button (or dial) to select 40 minutes.
9. Leave it to the pot naturally release the pressure for 15 minutes after cooking cycle ends. Then manually release the remaining pressure.
10. When the pin in the lid drops down, open the lid and give the beans a stir. Sample a few of the beans to check for tenderness. If they are too firm, place the lid back on and set the time for them to cook another 10 minutes, and a 15 instant natural release.
11. When they are done cooking, if they are too soupy for your taste, turn on the Sauté function and stir them frequently as they cook down. Then turn off the pot. They thicken a little more as they cool.
12. You can set the pot to the Keep Warm setting if you aren't serving them right away. Put a lid on them (don't set to Sealing if using the IP lid).

More instant pot ideas are in the instant pot collection.