Soak the pinto beans overnight. Mom soaked extra pinto beans in advance and froze them so she was able to skip right to the cooking.
Cut the pork butt into large cubes. Cut the uncured thick bacon into bite-sized pieces. Separate them from each other so that they'll cook evenly in the dutch oven.
Set the dutch oven on the stove at high heat. No oil. Add in the uncured thick bacon and stir for 1 minute.Add all of the pork into the dutch oven and stir for 1 minute. Adjust the temperature to medium.
Add in the taco seasoning, paprika, and chili powder. Stir for 5 minutes.
Chop round onion into large chunks and put into dutch oven. Stir for 1 minute.
Add in all of the pinto beans into the dutch oven. Adjust temperature to high heat. Stir for 1 minute.Add pepper.
Add about 10 c water.Note: This will vary depending on your pot size and amount of meat and beans. But for us 10 c was just right. Add too much water and you'll have to cook this longer to get rid of the water, which will melt the fat out of the bacon and pork. It's safer to put less water and add if you feel it needs more as you check it while it cooks.
Cover and let it reach a boil (about 15 minutes). Lower the heat to medium and let it cook for 2 hours with the lid slightly open to let the water evaporate.Check and stir every ½ hour. Add more water if necessary.
After 2 hours the color should have deepened significantly and much of the water should have evaporated leaving a thick, stew-like consistency. Serve with some hot bread!
Notes
Mom soaked extra pinto beans in advance and froze them so she was able to skip right to the cooking.