Place 1 pound dried Great Northern beans in 8 cups cool water at 65°F to 72°F. Soak them for 8 to 12 hours. Swirl the beans with your hand twice during the first minute so trapped dust lifts. Then drain and rinse for 30 seconds under cold water. Keep the soak below 12 hours because longer soaking can split the skins. The beans should look plumper and evenly pale cream. Their skins will feel smooth instead of wrinkled. A few loose skins are normal, but a sour smell means the bowl sat too warm. Miss this window and the beans can cook unevenly. Soak fully because hydrated centers soften at the same rate as the skins.

Keep the smoked ham below 40°F while you cut 2 cups into rough 1/2-inch cubes. Dice the yellow onion into 1/4-inch pieces. Slice the carrots into uneven 1/4-inch coins and the celery into thin crescents. Mince the garlic. Finish within 12 minutes and use a steady rocking motion so the pieces stay rustic rather than crushed. (My first batch used large onion chunks, they stayed sharp after seven hours.) The ham should show pink centers with darker smoked edges. The onion should look moist but not mashed. If the carrots exceed 1/2 inch, they'll stay firm while the beans soften. Keep the cuts small because matched sizes cook through together.

Add soaked beans to a 6-quart slow cooker. Scatter the diced ham, onion, carrot, celery and garlic across the beans. Pour in 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth. Add 2 bay leaves, 1 teaspoon dried thyme and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Stir from the bottom with three broad folds. Cover and cook on HIGH at 205°F for 1 hour. The broth should turn lightly cloudy while the ham and vegetables shift between the beans. Tiny bubbles should appear around the edge by minute 50. If the center stays cold, don't switch to LOW yet. Ham and Bean Soup Recipes Crockpot: Slow Cooker Comfort Dinner needs this hot start. Heat quickly because early simmering keeps the beans out of the lukewarm zone.

Switch the slow cooker to LOW and hold the soup near 190°F to 200°F for 5 1/2 to 6 1/2 hours. Stir once at hour 4 with a slow bottom-to-top sweep. Keep the lid closed otherwise. Start testing three beans at hour 5 1/2 by pressing them gently between two fingers. The beans should crush without a chalky center. The carrots will look soft and the broth will turn pale beige. You'll smell smoky ham and thyme when the starch releases. Go past 7 hours and the beans may collapse into paste. Slow heat matters because collagen and starch soften without shredding every bean.

Scoop 1 cup of beans and broth from the slow cooker at 195°F. Mash it with firm circular presses for 45 seconds until mostly smooth. Fold it back through the soup for 2 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon kosher salt and 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice. Cover and cook on LOW for 15 minutes. (I used cream once, it muted the smoky ham and made the bowl heavy.) The broth should coat a spoon in a thin creamy layer. Whole beans must still remain visible. If you mash more than 1 1/2 cups, the soup becomes pasty after cooling. Mash only one cup because released starch thickens the broth without dairy.

Remove both bay leaves. Turn the slow cooker to WARM at about 165°F and rest the soup for 10 minutes. Stir once from the center outward. Ladle 1 1/2 cups into each bowl and divide the ham and beans evenly. Finish each serving with 1 teaspoon chopped flat-leaf parsley. Serve within 20 minutes while the broth stays creamy. The bowl should show whole white beans, orange carrot coins and irregular pink ham cubes in a beige broth. A few beans will split and the surface won't look perfectly smooth. That's right. If it sits uncovered, a skin forms and the soup thickens too fast. Rest briefly because the starch settles into a silky homemade texture.