Boston Baked Beans...bean pot required?

I cook baked beans a good bit, using canned beans. I have some Mississippi friends that cook them from dry navy beans, and they all use a bean pot and swear that the pot is the secret. Their beans are delicious and nothing like the barbque baked beans I put out.

Does anyone have a secret recipe for cooking dry navys and making baked beans? And do you use a bean pot as well?