Homemade biscuits

[Major Nikon]

Homemade biscuits are one of those things that if done right they are truly incredible, but not many people do them because they either think they are too hard to make or they have had bad experiences trying. There's a couple of techniques that are essential to making good biscuits. It isn't hard to do, but just requires a little knowledge. The biggest problem people have is their biscuits don't rise properly and come out hard as a rock. I'm going to explain why this happens and how you can avoid it.

The first thing you need to do is make sure you are working with fresh baking powder and baking soda. When I buy baking powder I check the expiration and look for it to be at least a year out and the later the better. I usually go through what's available at the market and find the best one. As soon as I open it, I mark a "use by" date that's six months out. This will generally be much less than the expiration. With baking soda I buy a box each month and rotate the old one into the fridge to absorb odors and for use with cleaning and polishing.

I use whole wheat pastry flour for my biscuits. I prefer using whole wheat flour when possible because it's more nutritious and tastes better. In general it tends not to rise quite as well as all-purpose flour, but this is not a huge problem with biscuits and the lightness of the pastry flour compensates for this. You can certainly substitute all-purpose flour in this recipe and get good results, but the former makes my biscuits special and adds quite a bit to the finished product so I recommend trying it that way.

320 grams (3 cups) Whole Wheat Pastry Flour (or 2 2/3 cups All-Purpose Flour)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
25 grams (2 Tbs) sugar

35 grams butter (1/3rd stick) cut into 1/4" cubes and chilled
35 grams lard or shortening chilled
(alternately you can use all butter, shortening, or lard)

240 grams (1 cup) buttermilk
(alternately you can use regular milk and substitute 1 more tsp of baking powder for the baking soda)

~2 Tbs butter melted

1) Place 12" cast iron skillet into oven and preheat to 425F

2) Mix all dry ingredients

3) The first technique you'll need to get down is mixing the fat with the dry ingredients. You really have to do this by hand. I've tried using a food processor and the results are a disaster. In fact, you want to do the entire operation by hand so forget the electric mixer as well. Use a dough blender aka a pastry cutter for best results. If you don't have one a potato masher works and if you don't have either of those just use your fingers, which you want to finish with anyway. The idea is you want to fat to be broken up into very small chunks, but you don't want them to be too small as in the way a food processor would do it. As the biscuits cook the liquid in the fat will turn to steam and the steam will leaven the biscuits. If the chunks are too small, no leavening occurs and the biscuits are hard. If the chunks are too large you'll get inconsistent results throughout the biscuits. The basic method is just to chop for a while with the dough cutter, and then feel through and break up any pea sized chunks that were left. You don't want the fat to melt, so if it's hot in your kitchen, put the mixture into the fridge for 30-60 minutes before continuing.

4) The next technique is to work the dough as little as possible. The more you work the dough the more gluten will develop and the tougher your biscuits will be. What I do is make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the liquid ingredients into it. Then use a fork to create a slurry and gradually work the rest of the flour in. Stop when everything just comes together. It's OK if there's plenty of lumps. Turn the dough out onto a clean, dry, flat surface that's been well floured and coat your hands with flour as well. The dough will be very sticky at this stage and you'll be incorporating more flour to make it less so. Sprinkle some flour on top and flatten the mixture with your hands. Fold in half, sprinkle some more flour on top, flatten again, then repeat about 3 more times or just until the dough is combined and able to be cut. Flatten the dough to about 3/4" thick. You can use a rolling pin or just your hands for this. Ideally you want a uniform thickness across the entire mass.

5) Cut the biscuits with a floured biscuit cutter. Mine is 2.25" and something close to this size works best. You want to get as many biscuits as you can from the first cutting, so it's OK if they all aren't perfectly round. Ideally you should only have enough dough left over to recombine and make 1 more biscuit. This one won't be as good so save it for the mother-in-law.

6) Brush the bottom of the heated skillet with the melted butter and place the biscuits inside, sides touching. Use the remaining melted butter to brush the tops.

7) Bake for 15-20 minutes to as brown as you like and remove from the skillet immediately.

[hlthe2b]

1. I stay away from "sweets" but my rare splurge is either fresh biscuits or home-made bread...

I too like using whole wheat pastry flour.

Yumm.

[OnDoutside]

2. Are they the sort of biscuits you would get in

KFC ? Not being disparaging about your biscuits of course !

[Major Nikon]

6. Similar, but much better

Mine rise better, have better flavor, and more of a melt in your mouth type consistency.

[OnDoutside]

10. Great ! My wife will be most pleased ! Thanks.

[CrispyQ]

3. One winter season I committed to learning how to make biscuits.

I had several batches that weren't very good, but now I can mix, roll out, cut & have fresh biscuits in about half an hour. I will give your ww pastry flour recipe a try!

[Major Nikon]

9. I also like using whole wheat pastry flour for pancakes and waffles

It works for a lot of things you might normally use A/P flour. Just add about 2 Tbs per cup additional.

[procon]

4. I can't make biscuits. I've tried everything, but they always turn out

flat, not high and fluffy. My SIL makes scrumptious, cooking show quality biscuits, but using her recipe, I get tan hockey pucks. It's my one culinary shame, ranks right up there with my inability to grow tomatoes. I'm cursed.

[Major Nikon]

8. I struggled with the same thing

The two most important parts are incorporating the fat correctly and rolling them out without over working them. Old baking powder will ruin them as well. When your baking powder starts to get old, you can use a bit more, but too much and it starts giving off flavors, so it's better to just buy a new can.

[Phoenix61]

5. I just bought a cast iron skillet and have been

wondering what I could make in it. Now I know, thanks!

[Major Nikon]

7. You don't really have to use a cast iron pan, but it browns the bottoms better

[becca da bakkah]

11. I Borrowed A Technique For Making Biscuits.....

....from Alton Brown, of "Good Eats" fame. Use frozen butter, rock solid, about 1/3 cup per 2.5 cups of flour. Grate it on a cheese grater, then mix into dry ingredients with a pastry blender. Avoid too much mixing, or the frozen butter will get too warm. I've used that method for years, and it always gives great results.

I've been a bread baker, professional and otherwise, for more years than I care to claim. I discovered, the hard way, that my usual kneading method just wouldn't work on biscuits. They were hockey pucks, until I learned to "lighten up"!

Alton Brown once challenged his late grandmother to a biscuit-baking contest, and she won! Much to his chagrin. She also always put a thumb indentation in the top of each biscuit before baking. She said it kept them from looking lopsided. I haven't tried that one yet.

Sometimes I use the whey leftover from yogurt making, after draining, for the liquid. That gives a good, tangy flavor, similar to buttermilk. I also skip the sugar...but, that's just me. Coincidentally, I made biscuits for breakfast this morning. I added grated cheddar cheese, dry garlic, and a pinch of smoked chili flakes. As usual, they're nearly all gone!

[Major Nikon]

15. It's a good idea to keep the butter as cold as possible

I might try freezing and grating it as that sounds like a good way to do it. Usually what I do is dice the butter up into small bits and put it in the freezer for 15 mins or so to give it a good chill.

I like using both butter and lard for a few reasons. I use European style butter from grass fed cows as it has more butter flavor, but too much of it is a bit of overkill. Lard also has a different melting point so you get additional leavening at a slightly different stage in the rise and it produces a slightly different texture that I like.

I have never tried using yogurt whey, but I always have a surplus of it so I'll give that a shot. I usually use homemade buttermilk from a commercial culture.

I use a bit of sugar just to help with browning, but it's completely optional. Some southern recipes use more of it to make a sweet biscuit which I don't particularly like.

[becca da bakkah]

20. Yes, I've Noticed The Same Thing Regarding....

....Irish butter. It has more butter flavor, but it's easy to quickly go over the line. I no longer use it for cooking the biscuits, just for eating. But I do brush melted butter on the biscuits before baking, and first thing when they come out of the oven. I think it makes them more tender, and I don't need to butter as much on the finished product.

I tried using lard once, real leaf lard, not the junk in the stores. It tasted like something was missing. Maybe combining it with butter would give a better flavor. I know it makes awesome, tender pie crust.

I can see where a little sugar would aid with browning. I.E. the "maillard effect", or is that only for meats? But I'm enough of a die-hard purist I could never be OK with sugar in cornbread. Or flour. That statement alone is likely to start a S**T storm around here!

[Major Nikon]

21. Both wheat flour and corn meal contain small amounts of sugar

That's why they turn brown when baked. Meats also contain sugars. Without them, there is no maillard reaction. Adding a bit of supplemental sugar aids this process, although it isn't required.

[LisaM]

26. I keep my "biscuit butter" in the freezer, I usually have a stick frozen in there.

I tried the grating method last time I made biscuits, after having seen it on some cooking show.

It didn't work as well for me as cutting the frozen butter into little tiny squares. Part of the problem was that it got warmer faster and I think the other problem was that the pieces of butter were too small. Just my observation.

[Saviolo]

12. It's become part of schedule to make biscuits every Sunday morning

We swear by cast-iron because it does great things for heat distribution, and you don't need to do any additional oiling of the pan.

Also, we like an egg wash on top instead of butter, but that's all down to personal preference.

&t=7s

[Lars39]

13. So technical!

Much different from watching my mil make biscuits by hand with buttermilk and bacon drippings in her giant bowl of flour. Working it all with her hands until it "looked" right. Light and fluffy, and imo, better than those at the Loveless Cafe.

[Major Nikon]

14. Much of it is by feel

Once you get the hang of doing it you just know how the dough should be. I really enjoy making bread by hand for this reason and I also make regular bread by hand.

[Lars39]

18. Yes! And now I'm hungry lol

[dem in texas]

16. My MIL taught me how to make biscuits, so simple

My mother in law was a great Southern cook and she served biscuits almost every day. When I knew her, she was using self rising flour, lard and milk for her biscuits. She would first turn on the oven to 425, so it would hot when she put biscuits in to bake. Then she'd put 3 or 4 cups of flour in a large bowl. make a hole in the center of the flour and put her lard in the hole. She would then pour milk into the hole. She'd take a big spoon and stir and work the lard and milk together and at the same time work the mixture into the flour. She knew exactly when to stop stirring. Then she'd have a big kind of sticky mess that she'd put on her welled floured breadboard. She sifted some flour on the dough, then worked it very briefly and lightly rolled it out to about 1/2 and inch. She cut the biscuits, placed them on a big heavy metal cookie sheet that was only used for baking biscuits. No greasing the pan, no preheating the pan. She'd make the biscuits touch each other, that way they will rise higher and be lighter. If you wanted some crusty ones, she placed some at the end of the cookie sheet, not touching. She'd bake them in a 425 degree oven and they were the best biscuits bar none.

I don't make biscuits often anymore, but when I do I always follow her instructions. the only difference is that I use shortening instead of lard. Still get great results. I have an ex-daughter-in-law who is a foodie like me and she made the biscuits and said they were the best she'd ever baked. Once you master the technique of working the liquid into the dough and not over-kneading, biscuits are easy to make.

I read in a book on cowboy history that the chuck wagon cooks used a similar technique. They mixed the dough right in the 100 pound flour bag, working in the fat and liquid just as my mother did. Once they had a dough, they take it out of the bag to make the biscuits..

[Lars39]

17. My mil makes the dough in a large bowl of flour...

No measuring, then takes the dough out to finish it. The flour bowl is replenished as needed.
Amazing to watch.

[Phentex]

19. I used to make the big cat's head biscuits

but, like you, we aren't eating biscuits very much these days. There's also the very easy to make drop biscuits which I like because I love the little brown nooks and crannies.


Ah, I remember bread...

[mainer]

22. One southerner told me if you're not using White Lily flour, you're wasting your time

I did manage to get my hands on some White Lily flour. The biscuits were extraordinary.

[Major Nikon]

23. The protein content is not always the same between brands

Southern mills tend to have lower protein contents than Northern mills due to the differences in baked goods typically made in both regions.

White Lily flour has a lower protein content than say King Arthur at least for all-purpose from either brand. Less protein means less gluten which means the finished product will tend to be more tender, but won't rise as well all things being equal.

My recipe calls for whole wheat pastry flour which has a protein content that is probably close to White Lily all-purpose. I could probably author an entire post on flour, but suffice it to say it's not a bad idea to have a good working knowledge of the types of flours available and what each one is going to do for you. If you think of a cake vs a bagel, one is very tender and the other is chewy. The biggest difference between the flours used for each (cake flour vs bread flour) is the protein content. Gluten is protein and it binds together to form a structural network in the bread which allows it to rise more, but also makes the bread tougher and more chewy. When you knead bread or use extended rise times, you are developing those gluten structures which are important for many types of yeast breads. Quick breads like biscuits, cakes, corn bread, etc. favor a more tender crumb, so the idea is to work those less so you don't create those gluten structures.

[dem in texas]

24. Biscuit Trivia

In Texas, the favorite flour was Light Crust flour made by Burris Mills in Fort Worth. The noon-time radio show on WBAP was always sponsored by Burris Mills, with the Light Crust Dough Boys performing. Famous Texas Swing musician, Bob Wills, was once part of the group. My Mother listened to this show every day.

One of the executives for Burris Mills ran and was elected governor of Texas. He went by the name of "Pappy" O'Daniel. His campaign slogan was "Pass the Biscuits, Pappy".

[Lars39]

25. Heh...memorialized in Oh Brother Where Art Thou...

Played by Charles Durning.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

27. I'm glad you made the point about not over-working the dough.

I know people who make cookies by mixing up the dough in a food processor or blender, and their cookies are always incredibly hard. When I can, I'll tell those people to stop doing it that way, but I don't think any of them ever follow my advice.

[Major Nikon]

29. The fun part about cooking is the experimentation

When some recipe goes wrong, it's often the fault of technique and the challenge is to figure it out and try again. I'm a big fan of my kitchen machines, but sometimes they are just not the right way to go, especially if the recipe involves baking powder.

[pansypoo53219]

28. i tried the clabber girl recipe after i tried cook's kitchen cat's head biscuits. BLEGH! BISCUIT?!?

clabber good, but then i tried the settlement cookbook. easier. much less detail oriented & have gotten good biscuits. i used up old BP + kept adding more. 3 heaping tsp. one batch got HUGE. but i need to try the cast iron thing + more butter. + 'buttermilk'.

[trof]

30. Mary B's Frozen Buttermilk Biscuits.

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Four bucks. Walmart.
Yeah, I know.

These are actually as good as or better than my granny used to make.
In Alabama.
And if you just want ONE biscuit...

[Major Nikon]

31. I used to do that before I learned how to make them from scratch

They are much better than anything that comes out of a can, but not as good as fresh. Hard to beat the convenience, though.

[trof]

32. Yep, and if you're making your own breakfast...

Pop a couple in the oven and then start the bacon/sausage.
Fry the eggs (2) in the rendered fat (which sounds a whole lot better than 'bacon grease') on medium high.
7.5 on my stove.
Fry them suckers with a lid on top till the edges are brown and frizzy and crunchy.
Perfect sunny side up with NO runny whites.
Sop up the yolks with the now done biscuits.
Sop Eggs!