How Do You Cook Chuckwagon Style Pinto Beans?
• Pour the beans out, cup by cup, onto a surface where you can carefully go through them, looking for and discarding chunks of dirt, small stones and any withered unhealthy looking beans. • As each bunch of beans are “sorted”, add them to a colander. • When all the beans have been sorted, hold the colander under cold running water, mixing the beans around, looking again for any rocks and rinsing out any mud. • Pour the beans into a large sturdy pot and add enough water to cover the beans by about four inches. • Put the lid on tightly and bring the beans to a hard rolling boil. • Boil like this for 10-15 minutes. • Turn the heat off, but don’t peek – leave the pot lid tightly on for a minimum of two hours. • Add several minced cloves of fresh garlic. • Add the ham hock or, alternatively, small half-inch squares of salt pork. • Add enough water to cover the beans by a few inches. • Turn the heat up and bring to a full boil again for about 10 minutes. • Reduce the heat and cook the beans
