Rinse the beans in a colander. Pick out any bad beans.Combine all the ingredients in the crockpot. Remove any floating beans. Cover, and cook on HIGH for 4 hours and on LOW for 2 hours.Uncover, and remove extra liquid. Leave enough liquid to reach the desired consistency when the beans are mashed. (We like our beans somewhere between the very-liquidy restaurant style beans, and the canned version of refried beans.)Mash beans with a potato masher to desired consistency.Serve warm. Store in air-tight containers in the refrigerator and use within 2 weeks, or freeze in ziplock bags for later use.
