Questions on 18th Century British/American Military Bread

[coloradoclyde]

Yes!. But more importantly the yeast and bacteria experience mutations with each new generation.....This can cause subtle and sometimes drastic changes in flavor profiles and characteristics........

It is said that if you take a San Francisco sour dough starter and take it to New York, in a short time you won't have San Francisco sour dough anymore...

The solution is to store the microbes on slants and then make your starters from a slant culture...

 

[Artificer]

Whys that? Does it get to infected with other yeast?

No, it isn't that at all. It is because I am a poor baker even with Pilsbury products. Can't tell you how many times I ate "half biscuits," because the bottoms were burnt/inedible. :rotf:

Gus

 

[tenngun]

:rotf:

 

[tenngun]

Well that make sense, Like Gus Bread beyound hard tack is to much for me

 

[coloradoclyde]

Pilsbury products.

:shocked2: ..There's your problem....Franken bread....You're trying to leaven with chemicals instead of yeast.... :haha:

All you knead ( :haha: ) is love and patience....

 

[Artificer]

Happy Birthday, Tenngun

I have baked hard tack successfully before, but that stuff is supposed to come out hard and almost inedible. :haha:

In my case since I can't bake good bread, but what is really important is I know places where I can buy good bread. :grin:

Gus

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Often folks mess up hardtack or ship's biscuit by using modern, whole wheat flour, instead of using whole wheat pastry flour, plus 30% - 50% bran. Modern whole wheat flour has too much gluten, and ship's biscuit was made from the lowest quality flour which had a lot of..., chaff. Ship's biscuit made from modern flour makes good, biodegradable, rifle targets.

LD

 

[tenngun]

Next batch of ships bread I'm going to make will try that.
Using my flour based targets it will make a good lobscose or beaten with my hawk a good puddings in a haste. Also beat it to crumbs and coat freshened salt pork and fry, it is better then just bread crumbs.

 

[Artificer]

GREAT info, LD,

Will have to try that.

Not sure if it will work for ship's biscuit, but hardtack fried in fatback or bacon grease and then dusted with cinnamon and brown sugar is a treat. About as close to a Cruller that many of the boys could come up with from their rations and a couple ingredients from the Sutlers.

Gus

 

[tenngun]

Will have to try frying it. I have not made a batch since I heard about the added bran. Mine are pretty hard. I can break them up and add to soup or stew or make breading or puddings from them. They do have a rich flavor.
In a pinch I can hold one in a hand and drive tent stakes, mount on a stick and use as a club to beat intruders with, and I swear this is gospel truth, I can hit it with my steel and get good sparks :wink:
Do you soak yours in anything before frying?

 

[Artificer]

No, we did not soak them before frying, but you have to have enough fatback or bacon grease to sort of "French fry" or deep fat fry them.

Course I haven't eaten any in years because after frying, the cholesterol in them is enough to give one a double heart attack. :rotf:

Gus

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I was taught that lobscouse is meat (often twice boiled salt beef or salt pork, or already boiled corned beef) and potato stew, thickened with crushed pieces of ship's biscuit/hardtack, and slumgullion was bacon bits fried up, with crushed hardtack added, and perhaps pieces of corned beef?

:idunno:

LD

 

[coloradoclyde]

Most breads are 4 simple ingredients...Flour, water, yeast and salt....
How you combine them, shape them and cook them determines the final product. Everything from flatbreads to French baguettes.

With the addition of a little fat or sugar there isn't much you can't make....From donuts to pies...
Flour is cheap...baking is fun....even more so in a dutch oven... :grin:

 

[tenngun]

That's how I learned it. My lobscose is boiled salt meat after freshened then dried potatoes and dried onion. Smash the ships bread till its crumbs and small pieces and add enough to absorb most of the liquid. Black pepper, a little garlic, and nutmeg it be tasty.
It be a meal. Watch your waist line. Half a pound of meat a potato and a quarter pound ships bread piece comes to about a days calories. So I pay in sweat before I make it, or the next day.

 

[coloradoclyde]

I thought this topic was about bread?..... :idunno:

 

[tenngun]

Well you said it was just four basic ingredients. Then other stuff sometimes. Meat taters ect just the other stuff. You now hard tack doesn't have any yeasts so it already one ingredient shy :rotf:

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Cooking with the military bread so that it can be consumed is still taking about the military bread..., no?

:idunno:

If one really has a tough time with eating ship's biscuit....and you're at a 50/50 mix of flour and bran and it's still too hard....a cheat would be to add a half-teaspoon of baking powder to 2 cups flour with a cup or two of bran. Mix all the dry stuff first; then add the water to make the dough. The leavening agent will make it easier to chew. You will need to experiment with the amount of baking powder, maybe a little more, maybe a little less, to get it to what you prefer.

LD

 

[Tallswife]

Gus, I found this article and thought it might interest you. Quite a bit of information on feeding the military, including baking and bread.

To Nourish the Troops.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Very interesting.... :thumbsup: :hatsoff:

I think the "meat in your haversack" guys up in the trekking forum would also enjoy reading it....

 

[Artificer]

Gus, I found this article and thought it might interest you. Quite a bit of information on feeding the military, including baking and bread.

To Nourish the Troops.

Thank you very kindly. I very much look forward to reading it and saving it for future reference.

Gus