August 31, 2014 - 2:50pm
Beaten biscuits
What are beaten biscuits like in texture and taste? Doesn't all the pounding produce a tough, hard slab instead of a tender biscuit?
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What are beaten biscuits like in texture and taste? Doesn't all the pounding produce a tough, hard slab instead of a tender biscuit?
but recipes I've seen say to roll them out thin and pierce with a fork. Many recipes don't use any leavening. They sound more like a type of cracker than a risen biscuit.
In many of the images of beaten biscuits in Google images, they look like a thick cracker.
https://www.google.com/search?q=beaten+biscuits&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=o8MDVIuRIIXBiwLkg4GABg&ved=0CAoQ_AUoAw&biw=1149&bih=515&dpr=1.38
Because I was curious, and I also wanted to do the pounding thing. I found the result disappointing, plain and hard.
Beaten biscuits are often served with thinly sliced and very salty Country (Smithfield) ham, usually with something to drink :) They split conveniently into two halves with high integrity (tough). My mother used to make them, and used what looked like an old washing machine roller with steel rollers (think manual sheeter without feed or takeup). I think they derived from hardtack, sailors' rations. They are not related to our notion of biscuit, but more to the French 'twice baked'. I'd say they are an acquired taste.
shows that they seem to be a softer biscuit than I thought. Maybe there are different types of beaten biscuits, depending on the recipe? Here is a link to a 39 minute video showing detailed steps for making an old family recipe for Maryland Beaten Biscuits:
The Maryland Beaten Biscuit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EL1WODsj6EY