Step 1: first step I begin with was to sort beans for stones, then I clean them with cold water.
Step 2: In the slow cooker, I combined the rinsed beans, along with the onion, sea salt, and pepper, along with the ham hocks or ham, which I cut into large chunks before.
Step 3: After that, I add enough water to covering beans by for 2 inches.
Step 4: When done, I covered and cooked on low for about 120 minutes, then reduced to low and continued cooking for another 4-5 hours, or until the beans are tender.
Step 5: Following this, I removed the hocks or ham hocks, removing all the beef.
Step 6: Following this, I returned the meat to the slow cooker and added the brown sugar at this point.
Step 7: I have found it extremely beneficial to strain out about 1 cup of the juice before applying brown sugar, depend on how thick or fine grains are, also gently stirring in to mix.
Step 8: And to conclude, I preferred to pour some into individual bowls to serve!
