My husband asked me to make beans when we first got married. He told me how and went to work looking forward to beans for dinner. Well he was very dissapointed. I was used to really thick baked beans...so...I poured out all the juice! This recipe is almost like soup. For those who like thicker beans just cut down on the water, but the beans will be thicker the next day. Ham shanks usually come in a package cut up into 2 or three portions. This is one of those recipes that you can tweak to suit your taste.