in search for the perfect biscuit

[JNG]

First off, you can see I have way to much time on my hands.
I am looking to make the perfect biscuit. I will try duck and goose grease, plus lard.
To buttermilk or not to. Any receipe would be welcomed.

Joe

[Blaine]

Bisquick standard recipe for drop biscuits with a big spoon of mayo is pretty good.

[wecsoger]

Bunch o' recipes out there so I'll leave you to them

Duck fat for shortening sounds...interesting. I'm a fan of real butter, but duck fat is serious good

Couple o' basic hints

Chill your fat. You do /not/ want it to be liquid going into your flour. If you do the duck fat (can't get that out of my head now!) throw it in the freezer. If you use that, chill it or better freeze it and before chop it up into small .22 caliber or smaller bits. (there's a reference we can all understand) Liquid fat to your flour, you're making gravy. Solid fat cut into your flour, you're making biscuits

Do not overwork your dough. Mix it, add your liquid, roll it out, cut 'em and bake 'em. Barely squish the leftovers together for another mutant biscuit or two. Doesn't matter what that those last bits look like, they're going to be covered in gravy anyway. Do not overwork your dough. I said that already, didn't I? And one more thing, do not overwork your dough.

If you use buttermilk you'll have to add some other ingredients to counter the acidity.

When you lay out your biscuits (did I mention not to overwork your dough?) use a /sharp/ cutter. Thin metal cookie cutter = good. Drinking glass = not good. And when cutting do NOT twist. Press straight down, move to cutter a little side to side to separate, pull that little puppy out, and onto the backing sheet.

On the baking sheet - use thin metal (heats up quicker) and I'm a huge fan of using parchment paper. Yes, back int he day, grandma didn't have parchment paper. She didn't have silverstone or teflon pans either. If she had, she would have used them.

Preheat your oven.

Be patient with yourself. Your first couple of batches are going to suck. Hope you have dogs.

Do your homework. I expect a report back in a week or so with pictures.

[Mescalero]

I am interested in this.
Because I am so incompetent, I have to buy the gravy in a can; it's not great, but it's not bad either.

[Blaine]

I am interested in this.
Because I am so incompetent, I have to buy the gravy in a can; it's not great, but it's not bad either.

Wondra Flour, and canned evaporated milk. Work the pan drippings into a rue with the Wondra, and add equal amounts of canned milk/water

[Griff]

Bisquick standard recipe for drop biscuits...is pretty good.

Fixed that. So close to grandma's homemade, that I don't bother.

[BigSky56]

Cow camp sourdough biscuits:
2 cups flour
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 to 3 Tablespoons of butter,oil or lard for greasing skillet/dutch oven
2 cups sourdough starter
Mix flour,sugar, baking powder and salt into bowl pour in starter, mix to a firm dough add flour if needed
grease up 12" iron skillet or dutch oven
pinch off egg size dough ball roll in your hand place in skillet flatten let raise in a warm place 15 to 30 mins. bake in a oven on the top rack for 24 to 30 mins @ 400* or in dutch oven with coals on top and bottom 20 to 30 mins stay down wind when you smell them they are done. danny

[Blaine]

Bisquick standard recipe for drop biscuits...is pretty good.

Fixed that. So close to grandma's homemade, that I don't bother.

FWIW, I meant mix in the mayo, not mayo on the finished biscuit....(makes them extra moist)

[wecsoger]

Because I am so incompetent, I have to buy the gravy in a can; it's not great, but it's not bad either.

Nobody is that incompetent. Even you. I want to see where this thread travels, but I'm thinking I may start another one on how to do your own gravy.

If it helps or not, a gravy is a roux, for you Cajuns, or a bechamel sauce for you fancy folk. For us old Kentucky boys, it's milk gravy. Stand by, let me collect my thoughts and I'll post something.

[Mescalero]

That would be helpful.

[Mescalero]

Big Sky,
Can you explain how to make the sourdough starter?

[JNG]

Plus one on sourdough starter. I will try with duck or goose fat. Got a goose from early winter.

[piller]

If you are home, use frozen butter cut into the flour mix. Don't let it soften too much until it goes in the oven. Buttermilk to keep them moist, never use plain milk since it makes them get dry.

[ethang]

Bisquick standard recipe for drop biscuits with a big spoon of mayo is pretty good.

OMG.....my mother is rolling over in her grave and Alton Brown is having a coronary right now...

[Paladin]

Great topic considering what I just made for dinner and haven't even finished eating.

[BigSky56]

http://www.northwestsourdough.com/ good info and for making your own starter same site
http://www.northwestsourdough.com/index ... rter-info/. danny

[soon 2 retire]

There are good biscuit recipes at the White Lily flour site as well as a video for making "perfect" biscuits. I've read that White Lily Flour is the go to flour for biscuit making in the south. It is made from 'soft' wheat. This site, http://mausersandmuffins.blogspot.com/ , has some great recipes including several good biscuit recipes. This site is Brigid's blog. She has a good blog on shooting,cooking, guns, as well as personal stories. She was a transport pilot in one of the armed forces, a commercial pilot, has earned a PhD in forensic science and is one of those CSI type people for the FBI, I believe. She has also posted on this forum several years ago. Win, lose, or draw let's have a range report on those biscuits!

Bob in Friday Harbor

[Mescalero]

Big sky 56
Thank you.

[J35]

First off, you can see I have way to much time on my hands.
I am looking to make the perfect biscuit. I will try duck and goose grease, plus lard.
To buttermilk or not to. Any receipe would be welcomed.

Joe

Where I live you can't find real butter milk anymore, so I add a tablespoon of real sour cream to the butter milk.

Never tried duck or goose grease in biscuit's but have ate my weight in dumplings that were cooked in the broth that the ducks were parboiled in before they went into the oven.

----J

[vancelw]

http://video.pbs.org/video/2365129788/

I'm watching this thread with great interest, too. Tired of not knowing what my mother knows about cooking.

[m.wun]

Whatever recipe you use, don't over mix the dough. It makes the biscuit tougher. Lightly mix and they will fluff
up mo betta.

[earlmck]

My biscuit recipe is real close to the same as BigSky's, except that I melt a cube of butter in the baking pan, slosh it around to grease the pan good plus leave a little for coating the raw biscuits, and then pour the rest (maybe 80% of the cube) melted into the mix. Then I mix the bejeesus out of it, pat out flat and cut to size, and then to overcome this overmixing I let it have an hour's "rise time" in a warm spot.

A friend gave me a sourdough "start" about 20 years ago and so I never had to try for a "raw start".

[Rusty]

Yep, white Lilly self rising flour, 1/4 t of baking soda per cup of flour. cut in the butter while cold, use real buttermilk, place in a hot greased cast iron skillet and bake in a 500 degree oven.

There used to be an Alton Brown video on youtube where he did the how with his mother.

[ndnchf]

Home made buttermilk biscuits made in a 150 year old spider skillet with White Lilly and lard, mmm good!

[rock-steady]

Great pics, ndnchf! Love the cast iron for biscuits. Now pass the Mayhaw Jelly!

[Old Ironsights]

I've spent too much time around Brits. My first thought was "looking for the perfect cookie??!?"

[wecsoger]

I'm still waiting to hear from the original poster, but this has been a good thread.

And great photos from "ndnchf". First thing I thought of when I saw them was the opening scene in "Lonesome Dove" when Gus was showing the breakfast biscuits he had ready in a Dutch oven. Funny thing though, while the cast iron was period correct, there were no ashes or coals on it, it was perfectly clean. That little detail always irritated me.

White Lily flour and lard? There's a match made in Heaven.

[Bill in Oregon]

Chief, that spider and those biscuits are top-drawer!

[earlmck]

I am looking to make the perfect biscuit.
Joe

BiscuitsDone.jpg

I made these for breakfast this morning. I don't know if they were perfect, but the wife said they were...
(These are the sourdough ones, real similar to BigSky's recipe).

[Pisgah]

Couple of cups of self-rising flour; add enough heavy whipping cream to make dough; roll it out; cut it; bake. Easy, quick, delicious.

[Old Savage]

You are on to about the best thing to clog your arteries, triglycerides and all.

[JNG]

Sorry, I am going to put this project on hold for a tic, death and health issue with in-laws. May she rest in peace.

Joe

[Blaine]

Couple of cups of self-rising flour; add enough heavy whipping cream to make dough; roll it out; cut it; bake. Easy, quick, delicious.

I use half/half SRF, and cornmean, thin it with water-diluted evap. milk and make corn cakes.....They eat good with just butter and honey.....It makes a good, solid cake...not soggy, or real fluffy....

[Bullard4075]

On the commercial front I've heard that KFC has the best biscuits. I intend to research this. To be fair it might take 6 or 7 times to get an average. Any other places to check out?

[Blaine]

On the commercial front I've heard that KFC has the best biscuits. I intend to research this. To be fair it might take 6 or 7 times to get an average. Any other places to check out?

Man, that place is a guilty pleasure.....Bucket of extra crispy dark, a vat of cole slaw, and a dozen biscuits, and my glucometer will glow in the dark

[vancelw]

On the commercial front I've heard that KFC has the best biscuits. I intend to research this. To be fair it might take 6 or 7 times to get an average. Any other places to check out?

Nope, Popeye's Chicken has the best biscuits. KFC always had rolls until Popeye's got so popular. KFC original chicken is better though.

[Mescalero]

We always called Popeyes biscuts " lead biscuts "
I think Popeyes chicken is better.

[vancelw]

I can't remember for sure....I think it is Red Lobster that makes biscuits that I think fit that "lead biscuit" description..
I never did understand biscuit with seafood....hush puppies, maybe