Hard-tack recipes?

[coloradoclyde]

The British have different meanings for all kinds of words that we use.


Well after baking my Corntack or grit biskit, I can say that it is far, far inferior to the wheat version. I tried one at partial bake and one after the first bake and one after the second bake. I even covered one with butter to help the taste. but the more cooked they were the worse they tasted. maybe that is why I don't see corn crackers in the store. anybody who has made their own corn chips knows two things. 1. they need some fat, and 2. they taste terrible if overcooked.


I now understand why sailors mutinied and why soldiers deserted; as well as why starvation was a leading cause of death in the civil war. :haha:

 

[George]

I conclude that corn was a synonym for grain other than maize

And Samuel Johnson, in his famous dictionary, defined ”¦.

"Maize, or Indian wheat."

Spence

 

[coloradoclyde]

:thumbsup:
Like Tenngun said this has been a most enjoyable discussion. :grin:

 

[George]

Anyone interested in ships biscuit will enjoy this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyjcJUGuFVg

Spence

 

[coloradoclyde]

Yep that's a great video. like he said, "they are not meant to be enjoyed". :haha:

The two sea bisket videos I posted way back at the beginning taste much better than ships bisket, and that's what I use on day treks.

 

[George]

Sorry for duplicating your link, Clyde, I had forgotten you provided it. Your other link is essentially identical to the Townsend video and recipe for Simple 18th-century Biscuits. That's the one I use, too, except I use WW flour and add some caraway seeds for an 18th-century taste. They work very well on treks.



Spence

 

[coloradoclyde]

No problem, I clicked on your link and watched it again :haha:

I leave the caraway out of mine and cut back on the sugar some. can't stand caraway ....YUK!

Umm...how do you tell a caraway seed from a weevil? :rotf:

 

[coloradoclyde]

Just found a treasure trove.

Early Modern English

I'd love to find Samuel Johnsons First Edition (Dictionary Of the English Language)published in 1755, this has a link to the Third Edition published in 1768.

Page 159 check out the definition for corn. http://books.google.com/books?id=z3kKAAAAIAAJ&pg=PP5#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

[Loyalist Dave]

And what's your conclusion as to the meaning of the term "English" flour in the ad?
Spence

Well! from what I gather, "English" referred to the finest siftings that came from a single mill pass. "Corn" referred to the second and coarser siftings

Folks, are you aware that "Corn Flour" (the second part of that referenced sentence) is available today in England...we call it in America "corn starch", and granted it's a couple of centuries since the reference, but it's possible that what it was called then is what it is still called today.

LD

 

[coloradoclyde]

Ships bisket made out of corn starch?
:shocked2:

I have my doubts. http://www.oldandinteresting.com/laundry-starch-history.aspx

And

Cornstarch was invented in the 1840 by Thomas Kingsford, while he was working as the superintendent of a wheat starch factory in Jersey City, New Jersey. Until 1850, cornstarch was used primarily for starching laundry and industrial uses.

 

[Ringel05]

Just found a treasure trove.

Early Modern English

I'd love to find Samuel Johnsons First Edition (Dictionary Of the English Language)published in 1755, this has a link to the Third Edition published in 1768.

Page 159 check out the definition for corn. http://books.google.com/books?id=z3kKAAAAIAAJ&pg=PP5#v=onepage&q&f=false

Yup, I looked at it when I found the link, also looked up 'flower' (flour). :grin:

 

[coloradoclyde]

1st let me say I have learned a ton I did not know reading this topic :applause:

A bit ff but as to storage of Ships biscuits.

My guess would be that the weevils (most likely their eggs) were introduced after the biscuit was baked, from the raw flour in the bakery.

I understand this was not done....but my 1st thought was to keep the weevils at bay, crate or barrel the biscuits, remove a bung (to vent any moisture), reheat to say 200 for 8 hours, replace bung while they were still hot.

Sorry I know it is ff but ya all got me thinking of all the book & movies where they were tapping the weevils out. Odd to think no one tried this until you remember Louis Pasteur came up with his Idea in 1864

You might not be to far off after all. http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/iiin/ricewee.html

 

[George]

Umm...how do you tell a caraway seed from a weevil? :rotf:

You are missing the point, don't you see. You can't, so you can tell yourself all the brown spots are caraway seeds. :grin:

Off topic: The use of seasonings in the 18th century was different than today. As a couple of quick examples, they used caraway in sweet things, and they used nutmeg, mace, cloves and such spices in savory dishes, especially on meats, not so much in sweets as we do, today. When I cook 18th-century recipes, I at least try them their way, not as we do it. I've found some surprisingly tasty combinations, even though they sound weird. For instance, try a bit of ground cloves in your next venison stew.

Spence

 

[Ringel05]

Umm...how do you tell a caraway seed from a weevil? :rotf:

You are missing the point, don't you see. You can't, so you can tell yourself all the brown spots are caraway seeds. :grin:

Off topic: The use of seasonings in the 18th century was different than today. As a couple of quick examples, they used caraway in sweet things, and they used nutmeg, mace, cloves and such spices in savory dishes, especially on meats, not so much in sweets as we do, today. When I cook 18th-century recipes, I at least try them their way, not as we do it. I've found some surprisingly tasty combinations, even though they sound weird. For instance, try a bit of ground cloves in your next venison stew.

Spence

When I make a pot roast I quarter an onion and stick whole cloves in each quarter, got that from my mother.

I also hate the taste of caraway in anything.

 

[Sean Gadhar]

You might not be to far off after all. http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/iiin/ricewee.html[/quote]

See! If I was as old as my kids think I am Folks would be putting Gadharerized Cheese spread on their crackers :grin:

:rotf: :rotf:

 

[Loyalist Dave]

OR...maybe not.... :haha:

LD

 

[Stophel]

http://colonialbaker.net/Reproduction Biscuit article JOTEA 2011.pdf

Flour, water, no salt.

Ok, mine get salt. :grin: I need to try again with "soft white" flour. I have attempted one batch with "bread maker's" flour, which is hard red with some barley. Tastes good. And it is truly HARD. Whether or not white wheat will really produce anything softer, I don't know yet, but will try.

What I also did was make simple bread. Same flour, a little salt, and added some yeast. Now, my yeast was out of date, and probably not near full potency, so it didn't really rise until I put it into the oven (I didn't preheat it, hoping that the warming-up oven would help it rise before cooking, which it did). I got a hard-shell tough, but imminently edible bread, tasting much like a cracker or pretzel. With good yeast and proper rising, it may or may not end up "fluffier". One could try with sourdough, but I am NOT a sourdough fan at all.

Hard tack, made from a "modern" recipe (cut in half... I don't have room to handle that much at a time) with salt:

Apparently, more kneading will produce a better product (which, along with the white wheat recommendation, I did not know at the time).

My simple bread:

... which was really good, I ate it all in a couple of days... I need to make some more! :wink:

Oh, and yeast seems to be referred to as "brewer's yest" in period cookbooks.

 

[coloradoclyde]

I wonder if you could take hard tack/ships bread and pulverize it, add yeast or sourdough starter, let rise and bake it back into a loaf of bread. :hmm:

 

[Stophel]

I've thought about taking my HARD biscuits, busting them up into crispy flakes that might be a little easier to eat!

Now, I CAN bite off my hard biscuits and chew them up, but it's not easy.

I found this earlier today. Supposedly a 1759 recipe (they did all kinds of stuff like this, so I don't think you can really go "wrong" with these basic ingredients). This, of course, won't keep like ship's biscuits (which can basically last forever), given the butter and egg that's in it, but it will keep well enough for our normal purposes, I'm sure. I'm going to give this a try after while.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYGEi8zpBrM&feature=youtu.be

 

[coloradoclyde]

:rotf: Funny!
I posted that video way back at the beginning of this topic.
I do much prefer those biskits over hard/tack