Thread: Lard -vs- Crisco (et all)

Originally Posted by mainaman

My question about the recipe is , how much butter? I want to try it.

Uhh.. does not really matter the butter is only used to brush the tops in this recipe.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

I want a more tasty, more healthy, more old fashioned style biscuit.

Tasty and old-fashioned may very well go together but they are rarely seen in the company of healthy.

There is Chef Michael Smith that has a recipe that uses frozen butter grated into the recipe. They are very good.
Frozen Butter Biscuits - Chef Michael Smith

Use your favourite recipe but replace the wheatflour by 50% oatmeal and 50% porridge oats.

Now for something different ....... I found it interesting, and IIRC she mentions lard ;

Pass the Chicken Fat! They Say It's Good for You...Â*|Â*Judith J. Wurtman, PhD

Don't hate me because the link is from Huff post ........

And one more ....... The U.S. government is poised to withdraw longstanding warnings about cholesterol - The Washington Post

Schmaltz, the elixir of the Gods. Learned to render it as a child. Haven't done so in years. But it's commercially rendered now. A tub lasts over a year 'cause I only use it once a week, Homemade is rendered with some diced onion and apple for subtle flavor. Need to remelt the commercial and simmer those two in it for 30 minutes and relive my childhood.

Mother used to take the heavily fried onion and apple scraps and and use them as filing for matzo balls. Called them griven.

Originally Posted by OCDshaver

Tasty and old-fashioned may very well go together but they are rarely seen in the company of healthy.

I know what you mean. I've had 3 heart attacks and type 2 diabetes. but ever now and again I eat what I want. you know a person can do most anything once in a while even if it's drinking white whisky.

Originally Posted by OCDshaver

Tasty and old-fashioned may very well go together but they are rarely seen in the company of healthy.

Late to the thread, but OCDshaver saw what I did...

I have already been on the war path for making the perfect biscuit and will give you the end result, THE perfect biscuit. I also go on food making binges to perfect recipes, white cake, biscuits, muffins, etc.

Biscuits are basically a quick bread (chemical reaction rise vs. yeast). so you need to understand what causes quick bread to fail. The biggest cause is overworking the dough once it is wet. Every time you move a wet dough it causes gluten in the flour to release. Too much gluten release and you are using the biscuits for hockey pucks. I actually tested various levels of "dough movement" and that is part of the recipe. Needless to say, you are not the only OCD. 2nd to movement is the flour type. There has already been one response referencing a southern cook who stated using White Lilly flour. There is truth to this. If at all possible, find a "soft" flour. These are different wheat plants and there is less gluten in the flour to be released so it is more forgiving. White Lilly is one, King Arthur is another. I am sure there are more but these two are the best.

Next important thing is the wetness of the dough after you add the liquid. My recipe is really an approximation. The dough should form on its own, not crumbly, almost sticky, but not so sticky you can't work with it. This is an art, you have to get a feel for it. Depending on the humidity that day it could be more or less liquid. It is like feeling the blade on a hone to know if it is done or not. This I cannot teach.

Here is the recipe. The best version is the original script, noted substitutions are okay but try to go for original if you can.

2 cups King Arthur all purpose unbleached flour (red bag)
3 teaspoons Bakewell Cream (can use cream of tartar)
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 cup King Arthur dry buttermilk powder (if using water as the liquid. If using real buttermilk then omit)

sift above into a bowl.

1/2 cup butter (can use crisco or other solid fat, butter is better)

mix butter into dough by hand or with a fork or other method until you get a crumbly mixture.

1 cup of water (see notes above) or buttermilk.

Turn the flour just until the dough is wet and slightly sticky (then stop mixing, no, I mean it, stop mixing the damn dough).

lightly dust a sheet of wax paper. Turn the dough onto the wax paper. Lightly dust the top of the dough ball. Make the dough ball about half flat (about half the height of a round ball).
Fold the dough in half and press down to about 1/2 the height. Do this fold and press 5 times (not 4, not 6, I am serious about this). The fifth time make the height the height you will cut the biscuits.
Cut as many as you can out of this piece. You will have to fold up the dough a couple more times to get all the biscuits obviously but try to keep this to the fewest possible. Be efficient with your cutting pattern.
The biscuits should touch each other on the edge when in the pan. This will help the rise. If you put a thumb in the top of each biscuit they will rise with a flat top and not dome when baking.
Bake 450 for 13 minutes.

A side note, Bakewell cream is the best to use, cream of tartar is okay, don't use baking powder. I have never seen Bakewell cream in any store but you can order it from King Arthur flour online. You can also order their buttermilk powder. I don't have experience with main stream store bough buttermilk powder. Finally, about the powder. I am not normally a powder/mix user but water and powder is lighter than real buttermilk so the dough is not as heavy and rises better. Buttermilk will work okay but like I said, I am giving you the perfect recipe.

If you try it, let me know how they worked for you. So far everyone who has tried this cannot beat this recipe.

Originally Posted by ericd

I have already been on the war path for making the perfect biscuit and will give you the end result, THE perfect biscuit. I also go on food making binges to perfect recipes, white cake, biscuits, muffins, etc.

Biscuits are basically a quick bread (chemical reaction rise vs. yeast). so you need to understand what causes quick bread to fail. The biggest cause is overworking the dough once it is wet. Every time you move a wet dough it causes gluten in the flour to release. Too much gluten release and you are using the biscuits for hockey pucks. I actually tested various levels of "dough movement" and that is part of the recipe. Needless to say, you are not the only OCD. 2nd to movement is the flour type. There has already been one response referencing a southern cook who stated using White Lilly flour. There is truth to this. If at all possible, find a "soft" flour. These are different wheat plants and there is less gluten in the flour to be released so it is more forgiving. White Lilly is one, King Arthur is another. I am sure there are more but these two are the best.

Next important thing is the wetness of the dough after you add the liquid. My recipe is really an approximation. The dough should form on its own, not crumbly, almost sticky, but not so sticky you can't work with it. This is an art, you have to get a feel for it. Depending on the humidity that day it could be more or less liquid. It is like feeling the blade on a hone to know if it is done or not. This I cannot teach.

Here is the recipe. The best version is the original script, noted substitutions are okay but try to go for original if you can.

2 cups King Arthur all purpose unbleached flour (red bag)
3 teaspoons Bakewell Cream (can use cream of tartar)
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 cup King Arthur dry buttermilk powder (if using water as the liquid. If using real buttermilk then omit)

sift above into a bowl.

1/2 cup butter (can use crisco or other solid fat, butter is better)

mix butter into dough by hand or with a fork or other method until you get a crumbly mixture.

1 cup of water (see notes above) or buttermilk.

Turn the flour just until the dough is wet and slightly sticky (then stop mixing, no, I mean it, stop mixing the damn dough).

lightly dust a sheet of wax paper. Turn the dough onto the wax paper. Lightly dust the top of the dough ball. Make the dough ball about half flat (about half the height of a round ball).
Fold the dough in half and press down to about 1/2 the height. Do this fold and press 5 times (not 4, not 6, I am serious about this). The fifth time make the height the height you will cut the biscuits.
Cut as many as you can out of this piece. You will have to fold up the dough a couple more times to get all the biscuits obviously but try to keep this to the fewest possible. Be efficient with your cutting pattern.
The biscuits should touch each other on the edge when in the pan. This will help the rise. If you put a thumb in the top of each biscuit they will rise with a flat top and not dome when baking.
Bake 450 for 13 minutes.

A side note, Bakewell cream is the best to use, cream of tartar is okay, don't use baking powder. I have never seen Bakewell cream in any store but you can order it from King Arthur flour online. You can also order their buttermilk powder. I don't have experience with main stream store bough buttermilk powder. Finally, about the powder. I am not normally a powder/mix user but water and powder is lighter than real buttermilk so the dough is not as heavy and rises better. Buttermilk will work okay but like I said, I am giving you the perfect recipe.

If you try it, let me know how they worked for you. So far everyone who has tried this cannot beat this recipe.

I know that Glen specified the type of flour he had easy access to. But for things like this, I usually use KA white pastry flour. On the gluten scale, its somewhere between AP and cake flour. In the absence of pastry flour, you can sometimes soften your AP flour with a 25% mix of cake flour. I've never been a big fan of AP flour as it makes most things acceptable but usually leaves room for improvement in one form or another. I use it for things, but all purpose its not.