Sort through your beans like you’re hiring them for a job—discard any stones or questionable beans. Rinse the good ones thoroughly. Place them in a 2-quart container, cover with 3 inches of cold water, slap on a lid, and let them hang out on your counter for 12 hours. Beans need their beauty rest too.

Pop the salt pork into the freezer for about an hour. Trust me, this makes it much easier to slice into thin pieces. No slippery pork acrobatics here.

Drain the beans and transfer them to a heavy pot. Add the apple cider (it’s bean spa day!) and slowly bring everything to a boil over medium heat. Let the beans gently bubble away, uncovered, for 30 minutes.

While the beans do their thing, preheat your oven to 300°F. In a small saucepan, mix together the molasses, dry mustard, and smoked paprika. Warm it up over medium heat until the spices dissolve into the molasses. Your kitchen should smell amazing right about now.

Drain the beans, but don’t toss the cooking liquid—it’s liquid gold. Layer half the salt pork slices on the bottom of a bean pot (or heavy, oven-safe dish). Gently mix the chopped onions, molasses mixture, and beans together, then pour it all into the pot. Top with the remaining salt pork slices.

Pour the reserved cooking liquid over the beans. If you need more to cover the beans, add some hot water. Cover the pot tightly—it’s time for the beans to get their slow-cooking makeover.

Bake the beans for 4 hours. Check on them, and if they look a bit dry, add more water. Then re-cover and continue baking for another 1–2 hours until the beans are tender and the whole house smells like heaven.