At this point, adjust the seasoning, adding more salt or fresh black pepper if needed. If the beans are a little too sweet for your taste, you can add a sparing splash of cider vinegar to balance the flavor, though I never felt my beans really needed it. The final stew I ended up with was creamy, rich, and saucy, with a sweet-and-savory balance that was good enough to name a town after.
I was in a Beantown all my own, and it was lovely.
The advantage of the first option is that it requires the least work. And, ultimately, all the browning and the crust that forms on top of the beans add plenty of deep flavor, rendering the sautéing of the pork and onion beforehand mostly unnecessary. But one thing I found beneficial about starting on the stovetop is that it kicks off the subsequent oven cooking at full speed: You can bring the liquid to a simmer much faster on the stovetop than you can in a moderate oven, which means the beans are already chugging along by the time you put them to bake. That leads to faster development of a deep, flavorful browned crust on top, which I think is worth it.
