Rinse and sort the dried beans, removing any debris and broken beans.
In a large saucepan, add all ingredients and bring to the boil.
Reduce heat to medium and cook uncovered for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
Notes
Add water 1 cup at a time as needed to avoiding scorching the beans. Ideally, there should be enough liquid to have a gravy-like consistency but not so much that it appears soupy.
You can use fresh onion in the place of dehydrated. 1 cup of fresh diced onion is equal to 3 Tablespoons of dehydrated minced onion.
Recipe by My Earth Garden at http://www.myearthgarden.com/2011/08/perfect-dried-pinto-beans/