Not even close to the truth. My Georgia mom used good ol’ Gold Medal all purpose flour for her biscuits, and we lived all over the planet.
Up to this point in my life, I have not been a baker (but I love to cook). Since I ride a road bike many miles/hours a week, I can probably eat biscuits without blowing up like a balloon (maybe, not certain). Given that, I have been thinking about baking some good biscuits and this article caught my eye.
Carbs.
Cake flour.
My Mother made excellent biscuits. She was born in 1918 just South of the Alabama State Line.
She did one thing I have not seen anyone else do. She would put a teaspoon of salty meat grease on each one before placing it in the oven.
One of the few things that fast food chains do well is biscuits. Some of them are as good as Mothers”s.
Biscuits are the least of her problems.
So, cake flour if you can’t get Lily?
I confess my biscuits are flatter than I would like but they are tender.
One hint; sift the flour. And use cold lard. Okay, two hints.
White Lily or Martha White self rising flour makes great biscuits. To make them even fluffier add a teaspoon of baking soda to react with the acidity of the buttermilk.
White Lily self-rising flour is available on Amazon. About $9.50 w/free delivery if you’re a Prime member.
IBTELP (In before the “Eat Lard” poster).
almost half of the country is too busy making trouble...
the other almost half of the country is too busy complaining about what the first almost half is doing...
the result is relying on fast food wondering what the hell happened...
Can’t? Just go to your frozen food section and you can select all the biscuits there are, all sorts.
Thank you. I actually find this very helpful.
https://www.southernkitchen.com/articles/eat/why-southerners-are-obsessed-with-white-lily-flour
What’s so special about this revered Southern flour? Essentially, it all comes down to protein, or lack thereof. White Lily flour is derived from soft winter wheat, which is low in protein and gluten. When a liquid is introduced to flour, the proteins in the flour—glutenin and gliadin—swell and develop an elasticity that becomes enhanced when worked by hand or machine. Gluten development provides flour-based foods with structure and a toothsome quality, beneficial for foods like French baguettes or homemade pasta that need to hold together. Conversely, biscuits fall under the quick bread category, which are much more soft and tender than their well-kneaded cousins. Even if the amount of kneading or physical work to the dough is minimized, biscuits made from all-purpose flour can still emerge tough and dense.
Dont overmix, break up the shortening in small chunks
White Lily is the only flour I use. My Nannie made the best biscuits and pound cake, and she only used White Lily, so I followed her tradition.
It isn’t that difficult.
It also never hurts to experiment with ingredients.
And always smother your biscuits with real butter.
The real answer is that overworked dough = hard biscuits. Kind of like the hots cakes that Lisa made on Green Acres.