Why the lack of love for the noble bay laurel? 
I do the 90 minute no-soak method for most of my beans now: 90 Minute, No-Soak Beans | The Paupered Chef (The major exception is kidney beans. I’ve been told that they have to be soaked? I’m not sure, but I still soak them).
I spice them in various ways, freeze in 1-2 portion amounts and always have good beans on hand when I want them.
No cured meats go into mine. Not that I don’t like the ham hock or the salt pork, or the like, but I’ve developed a sensitivity to either sodium nitrate or nitrite in the last couple of years and I had to cut them out of my diet completely. But I spice them up. Cumin, ground chipotle pepper, salt, jalapenos, coriander, chili powder, crushed red pepper…whatever combo strikes my fancy on a given day. Sometimes unspiced. )
I DO love the noble bay laurel… just not in pinto beans.
And actually, not to put too fine a point on it, I don’t use pinto beans. I use mayocoba beans. Better taste, hold their shape better, too.
One chopped tomato, half a large onion, goodly handful of chopped cilantro and maybe some diced jalapeno if I happen to have one handy.
Lots of bacon (like 4-5 slices) or a good sized chunk of ham chopped up.
Cook low and slow for several hours.
Some people here seem to explicitly instruct NOT to salt the beans until some point during cooking, while others explicitly instruct to salt while soaking. What’s the deal? Could some from each side say more about why they think their way is better?
It’s an old myth, that salting beans while cooking will make them tough and they won’t ever soften up. I have no idea why it got started, but it’s been around for decades - or maybe centuries.
It’s also not true. I prefer salting during cooking because I like my salt in my food, not on it, and it makes beans *creamier *inside without such a tendency to blow out their skins. And if you like your beans 'sploded, just keep cooking them, and their outer skins will indeed break down, salt or no.
Number 6 on this list of culinary myths shows unsalted and salted beans side by side.
Same for acids like tomatoes or vinegar. Myth has it that the beans won’t soften if you add tomatoes early in the process. Again, it will help to keep the skins intact, but the beans will still get soft. If you prefer broken beans, then sure, save the tomatoes and add them later, or add a little pinch of baking soda to the beans while they cook - the alkalinity will break the skins more. But either way, the beans will soften and cook fine.
cite: How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman, Macmillan, 1998
Here’s another quote for salting during the soaking and cooking (by the high priest of cooking himself, Harold McGee:
http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/09/harold-mcgee-on-salt/
We never salt beans until they are cooked tender. And we cook a lot of beans.
Hey, thanks for that. I have been a multiple flipping, bean salting, low pasta water using guy for years because That is what my anecdotal experience has shown. Good to have scientific back up. 
See posts 26 & 27, along with Cook’s Illustrated, which did extensive testing that shows that salting the beans early is better.