lost Ships Biscuits info

[Sean Gadhar]

Someone

posted a recipe for ships Biscuits here a few years ago. I had it on my PC that crashed this winter and it's lost

I can't seem to find it with search

It used summer (soft) whole wheat flour and wheat bran to get closer to "ship's stuff" anyone have a copy?

 

[Sean Gadhar]

Found it!!! after my posting I thought to search "ship's Stuff"

I made some out of white flour, water, and salt. It was basically inedible when dry, hard as a brick and had to be soaked in something edible to eat it. I saw on one of those WW 2 shows where they cooked it in fat to make it edible.

It will last forever. They ate it in WW 1 and possibly 2 because it was portable and lightweight.

By the time of WWI they had changed dramatically from what they were in the AWI or before, and up to the Civil War.

The flour they used is what we today call, whole wheat pastry flour. Today's flour is from hard, red wheat, while there's was from what we call soft, white wheat. Further, it was the lowest grade flour, called "ship's stuff", which had a lot of bran. So, IF you want to try something closer to what they ate in the 18th century, use whole wheat pastry flour, AND 1/3 of it should be wheat bran. So..., Flour with wheat bran and water, and nothing else. No honey, no sugar, no oil or fat, no salt...., rolled into 1/4 thick paste and cut with a biscuit cutter, or larger, and poked with holes, then dried in a 200 degree oven overnight.

Yeah they are hard but you can eat them plain, though sometimes you have to suck on them a minute or two. I've got a test batch in the basement in a tin...three years old and not moldy yet.

LD

 

[Sean Gadhar]

I'm making a few dozen in a smaller 2" round size, for a hog hunt next week.

I am thinking about giving them 2 or 3 hours in a 200 degree oven to cover all the actual baking, then move them to my dehydrator which on high is 160f. for the overnight dry out.

I have already made jerky, 4 Lbs of fresh meat into 20 oz of jerky.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

OK, then...,

Don't forget to use a fork to poke holes in them, to aid water vapor escaping; roll them thin like 1/4 inch or 3/8ths thick, AND

Run the temp up to 225°, which is just above boiling, to help get the moisture out. :wink:

Not sure that you need the dehydrator

LD

 

[tenngun]

Thea we’re ships biscuit, biscuit means twice baked. So you can bake a few hours at low heat, let cool and do it again. Well dried like this will see you through to judgment day. Maybe beyond.

 

[Sean Gadhar]

It looks like I'll end up making over 100.
Sounds like a lot, but there will be quite a few people in camp.

I am trying the dehydrator because I have room in the oven for 30 or so at a time, while I can get over 100 in the dehydrator trays. So with a 1st bake of a few hours I can get 100+ into the "2nd bake" in one day, then let them stay at 160 for 36 hours without having the oven on when I'm not home.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

IF your people find them too hard, then you need to switch to whole wheat pastry flour, and add about 1/3 to 1/2 wheat bran to the flour.

Since I do British, I take the tip of a table knife, and mark the center of mine with a broad arrow /|\. :wink:

IF you ever need to make up some biodegradable targets, use modern whole wheat and no bran, and you can add some food coloring for contrast....OH and you can use a cookie cutter for an odd shape in a novelty match. Won't hurt wildlife. :wink: Clay birds now come in biodegradable, BUT they only come round and one size...LOL

LD

 

[satx78247]

IF we all used "clay birds" made as you suggest, there would be much more HEALTHY/WELL-FED wildlife & less trash to clean up, too.

yours, satx

 

[Sean Gadhar]

IF your people find them too hard, then you need to switch to whole wheat pastry flour, and add about 1/3 to 1/2 wheat bran to the flour.

Since I do British, I take the tip of a table knife, and mark the center of mine with a broad arrow /|\. :wink:

LD

I think you have forgotten just how whiny people can be, I watched a guy get upset that the hamburger buns were whole wheat once. I actually make them just as your recipe calls for, summer wheat (soft wheat) whole wheat pastry flour mixed 3 to 1 with wheat brain. About as hard as a dried out ginger snap. I'll try to get everyone to try them, but my experience is, if the history interests them . . . They eat the hard tack, if the history doesn't interest them :barf:

I put the broad arrow on most batches but as these are way too small to be HC, I made over 100 and I'm lazy. No kings mark this time.

 

[tenngun]

I did break a tooth on biscuit a few years ago.

 

[Sean Gadhar]

I did break a tooth on biscuit a few years ago.

Wasn't one of mine :wink:

 

[tenngun]

Nope, it was one of mine and only about two weeks old.

 

[coloradoclyde]

That's why I don't make hard tack/ships biscuits any more....
Being toothless is not something I care to reenact.

 

[NeilMacleod]

Just watched a great show on Biscuits in case anyone is interested, hard tack was covered.
"Nigel Slaters Great British Biscuit".

 

[Cruzatte]

That's why I don't make hard tack/ships biscuits any more....
Being toothless is not something I care to reenact.

What? You mean you can't soak 'em for a few minutes in water to soften 'em up, and then fry 'em in a little bacon grease? :hmm:

 

[coloradoclyde]

I could.....if that's how I wanted to eat them.... :wink:

 

[Kansas Jake]

Found it!!! after my posting I thought to search "ship's Stuff"

I made some out of white flour, water, and salt. It was basically inedible when dry, hard as a brick and had to be soaked in something edible to eat it. I saw on one of those WW 2 shows where they cooked it in fat to make it edible.

It will last forever. They ate it in WW 1 and possibly 2 because it was portable and lightweight.

By the time of WWI they had changed dramatically from what they were in the AWI or before, and up to the Civil War.

The flour they used is what we today call, whole wheat pastry flour. Today's flour is from hard, red wheat, while there's was from what we call soft, white wheat. Further, it was the lowest grade flour, called "ship's stuff", which had a lot of bran. So, IF you want to try something closer to what they ate in the 18th century, use whole wheat pastry flour, AND 1/3 of it should be wheat bran. So..., Flour with wheat bran and water, and nothing else. No honey, no sugar, no oil or fat, no salt...., rolled into 1/4 thick paste and cut with a biscuit cutter, or larger, and poked with holes, then dried in a 200 degree oven overnight.

Yeah they are hard but you can eat them plain, though sometimes you have to suck on them a minute or two. I've got a test batch in the basement in a tin...three years old and not moldy yet.

LD

I made up a batch using your recipe. I managed to find the flour and wheat bran at a local cooperative grocery store we belong to. I did add some salt to mine even though it is probably not HC. I'll use them for trekking and camp food.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Super!
You can use salt. I don't as my doctor is down on me for sodium levels at my age, but that's fine. I also don't use salt in the ones used for bio-degrading targets...don't think the critters need all that salt either. Just not too salty or you end up trying to drink the local creek dry. :shocked2:

LD

 

[Kansas Jake]

I didn't use a lot of salt, maybe a teaspoon or two in the batch. I will make more. I tried eating one and it was hard as a rock, but went well after a dip in hot coffee with small bites. The flavor was mild and the bran added a nice chewiness to it. I suspect they will make a nice filling trail snack.

 

[NeilMacleod]

Couple always add honey to it to preserve