Posted on 02/13/2020 4:27:29 PM PST by RoosterRedux
For 25 years in Georgia, I watched my mom make the same batch of six light, fluffy biscuits for breakfast almost every Sunday. Then I moved to New York, never to see a light, fluffy biscuit again. I arrived in the city in 2011, just in time for southern food to get trendy outside its region, and for three years, I bit into a series of artisanal hockey pucks, all advertised on menus as authentic southern buttermilk biscuits.
With every dense, dry, flat, scone-adjacent clump of carbohydrates, I became more distressed. I didn’t even realize biscuits could be bad, given how abundant good ones were in the South. Even my mom, a reluctant-at-best cook, made them every week without batting an eyelash. The recipe she used had been on my dad’s side of the family for at least three generations.
The more bad biscuits I ordered in New York, the clearer it became that there was only one way out of this problem if I ever wanted to have a decent Sunday breakfast again: I had to make the biscuits for myself. I did not anticipate the hurdles of chemistry and the American food-distribution system that stood in my way.
I asked my mom to email me the recipe, and it was three ingredients (self-rising flour, shortening, and buttermilk), mashed together with a fork. I’m not an accomplished baker, but I cook frequently, and this was the kind of recipe that had long been used by people without a lot of money, advanced kitchen tools, or fancy ingredients. Confident that I could pull it off, I marched right out and bought the ingredients. The result: biscuits that were just as terrible as all the other ones in New York. Not to be dramatic, but my failure destabilized my identity a little bit. What kind of southerner can’t make biscuits?
In subsequent attempts, I tried everything I could think of to get it right. I worried about buttermilk quality, so I bought an expensive bottle at the farmers’ market, which did nothing. I tried different fat sources, including butter and lard, which made small differences in flavor and texture but still resulted in a shape and density better suited for a hockey rink than a plate. I made sure all of my ingredients were ice-cold when I started mixing, which is a good tip in general, but did not fix my problem. I kneaded the dough more or less, made it wetter or drier. The only thing left was the flour, but I figured it couldn’t be that—wasn’t self-rising flour the same everywhere? We had just used regular grocery-store flour back home.
Out of ideas, I did what any self-respecting Millennial would do: I Googled it, and then I called my mom, and then I placed an Amazon order.
The one ingredient I took for granted had indeed been the key all along, says Robert Dixon Phillips, a retired professor of food science at the University of Georgia.
(Excerpt) Read more at getpocket.com ...
I prefer flaky biscuits, just to chime in where I am not wanted, LOL
Don’t worry if they don’t come out so good the first and second time or the third for that matter. Simple things like biscuits can be very difficult. I make great cakes and make horrible cookies. Go figure!
It helps to understand the baking science behind successful biscuits.
1. Why use a soft wheat or other low protein flour? The lower the protein content the less gluten will build up during handling. Gluten is great for making bread but not for fluffy biscuits or scones or cakes. If you don’t have access to soft wheat flour you can lower the protein content of regular all purpose flour by subbing some cornstarch for equal parts of flour. I use a ratio of 1 tablespoon for 1 tablespoon of flour for each cup of flour.
2. Why sift the flour several times? Aerating the flour will help lighten it and make it easier to mix in the cold butter.
3. Why cold, very cold butter. Butter consists of water and fats. When your biscuit dough hits the hot oven the water in the butter becomes steam and helps lift the biscuit. A good butter such as Kerry Gold makes all the difference in taste and texture.
4. Why mix the liquid ingredient in quickly? See above about gluten. Even a low protein flour will develop gluten when liquid is added. So over mixing will give you a chewy biscuit.
5. Why be precise in your measurement of dry ingredients but not the butter or liquid? How flour behaves (for want of a better word) depends on a few variables. If working in a humid room the flour will absorb moisture and you may need to use less liquid. If in a very dry environment extra liquid may be called for. It also depends on if you want dough that will roll our or dough for drop biscuits or hand formed. This is where you can experiment to see what results you like best.
If it ends up looking too wet let the dough sit to hydrate for a few minutes. That usually does the trick. Don’t add more flour to the dough. Doing so will mean a tougher biscuits. Instead put extra (AP) flour for rolling it out. For drop biscuits put some flour on a plate and drop each scoop/spoon of dough into the flour. Toss the portion in the flour then shake off any excess before putting in the pan.
As for the butter you can use as little as two tablespoons up to a stick. Again find out what you like. As long as the amount you use is disbursed through the butter it will work.
PS. If using volume measurements for flour instead of weighing it how you measure out the flour is very important. Do not pack it into your measuring cup. Instead loosen the flour by stirring it with a fork then spoon or scoop it in, and then use a butter knife to level off any excess.
I like fluffy biscuits. But I like my scones flaky. Go figure. And of course you are always wanted.
Yep. I sift at least 3 times as well as whisk them.
Well, thanks for the lesson. Never hurts to LEARN something every once in a while.
I DO have the feeling that I would like country ham as well I like the "other" hams.
Awww. You are most welcome.
EVERYTHING is better with butter but I'm not a garlic fan.
When my husband and I were dating:
I asked him if he liked "onion breath." He said YES!!
I then asked him if he like "garlic breath. He said NO!!
I was the same. It was a marriage made in heaven. :o)
Sorry about your wife. My husband and I were married 35 years before he passed away.
He was SO EASY to cook for! I still miss him.
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There IS always "take out" and the "Grub Hub."
"Take out," yes, but due to the fact that I live out in the country side (45 miles North of Seattle) "Grub Hub" is not a happening thing, unless your talking of bagging one of the Russian invaders LOL. That would be a Russian Snow geese / goose. In case you don't know, when it comes to the Russian invaders, we're talking thousands of these birds.
The lesser snow goose stands 64 to 79 cm (25 to 31 in) tall and weighs 2.05 to 2.7 kg (4.5 to 6.0 lb)
So, you live in the boonies and you get to see snow geese--big'uns. That HAS to be enough for you.
I could call in but I fix all my own meals...BECAUSE when I get to be REALLY old I want to be able to;
Get out of bed by myself;
Get to the bathroom by myself;
Bathe myself;
And NEVER, never, never, never, never, never, never, ever, ever, ever, never need ADULT DIAPERS.
.
.
HONK! HONK!
That's thank you in goose-talk.
The other (MUCH BIGGER) Russian invaders, are Trumpeter Swan's. Can't tell them apart from the "Arctic Swan's," except when they Honk, they shall we say have their own voice, and in no way can you confuse the two different species {Arctic vs Trumpeter Swan's.} Beautiful bird {Trumpeter Swan's} when in flight. When I get a chance to see these birds land in a field, is like watching a 747 Airplane coming in for a landing, same with take-off, i.e. for a bird in my opinion, takes way to long to land or take off.
I’ll watch SWAN LAKE with a completely different point of view now!
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