• Rinse the dry beans, removing any bad beans or debris, place in a large bowl and cover with water and set aside to soak for at least 6 hours or even overnight. This step applies to Stock Pot or Pressure Cooker methods.

To use a Stock Pot

• Add the 2 quarts of water to a large stock pot and place on high heat. Drain and rinse the soaked beans and add to the water. Stir occasionally. Cook the beans until softened to where you can mash with a fork. Adding additional water as needed.
• Add the ham and onion, reduce heat to a low boil, and continue cooking, stirring occasionally until the ham and onion are cooked.
• Reduce the heat to medium or medium low, add the soup and cheese, and stir together. Stir often until the cheese is melted and mixed into the beans.
• Ladle into bowls, serve and enjoy.

To use a Pressure Cooker

• I use my 9 liter (9½ quart) stove top pressure cooker with a pressure of 80 kPa (12 psi), so this will work equally well with electric pressure cookers. Follow all safety precautions for your model of pressure cooker.
• Drain and rinse the beans, add to you pressure cooker. Add the 2 quarts of water AND the 2 tablespoons cooking oil. The oil prevents the beans from foaming, DO NOT skip the oil.
• Place the lid on the cooker and lock in place, add the weight, place on high heat. When the weight (jiggler) starts to move and vent pressure, reduce heat to low to just keep the jiggler moving. Start your timer for 8 minutes.
• When 8 minutes have passed, turn off the heat and carefully move the pressure cooker to an unused burner. Allow the cooker to do a natural pressure release, meaning just let it set there until you have indications of zero pressure inside, normally a lid lock will drop to indicate this, can take 15-20 minutes.
• When you have indications of zero pressure, remove the weight from the lid and carefully open the cooker. Now you have cooked beans and bean broth.
• Drain the beans, and keep the broth. Return just the beans back to the pressure cooker pot (now we are going to use the cooker as just a pot, no lid needed now). Add the bean broth to just cover the beans by ½ to 1 inch. Place on medium heat.
• Add the ham and onion, simmer until the onion is good and tender, stirring occasionally. Add more broth as needed for the consistency you desire.
• Add the soup and cheese and stir together. Stir often until the cheese and soup are fully mixed into the beans.
• Ladle into bowls, serve and enjoy.