Here's my latest success on low-sodium alternatives. I followed this recipe, but made a couple of changes: I did NOT salt the bean-soaking water. I didn't add two tablespoons shudder of salt to the pork during the curing stage, either. I added about a quarter of a teaspoon.
And the last change, just because it appealed to me, I didn't halve an onion and shove it in the beans. I diced half an onion and added that instead. I'd rather leave the onion in the pot. The recipe calls for throwing away the onion halves after baking. And really, my diced onions and the garlic, just melted into the beans anyway.
I recommend you do the diced onion swap too. As for the salt - only you know what you can handle. I'm cooking for a husband who MUST keep his sodium very low. And he'd been missing pork and beans. This was how I made his dream come true. The beans are really good!
Pork and Beans Recipe — Lanyap Cookery
Pork and Beans Recipe — Lanyap Cookery
Good changes, yes. You can also skip all the soaking and resting parts by putting everything in a slow cooker, and let it cook for 8-12 hours. So you set it up in the evening, and taste it for breakfast, or set it in the morning, and have a meal on evening.
StereoNacht: That would work, yes! I recently bought a cast iron dutch oven though and have been VERY keen to give it a job to do! Being able to put those final three minutes of broiling on it did put a nice button on the recipe.
Ahhh! Then yes, use your dutch oven! 