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Funny, the kids at White Lilly's Marketing Department, probably had no idea, that bisquits as we know them in America, didn't become common until the 20th Century, when railroads enabled the efficient distribution, therefore more inexpensive wheat flour. Before then, wheat flour was saved for making bread or cakes for special occasions. Before then, Americans mostly ate cornbread, aka, Indian bread. And as Townsends pointed out, baking powder wasn't invented until the 19th century. It likely took awhile to come into common use. Bravo to the Townsend's creative way of accommodating White Lilly, instead of turning down the free flour!
Grats on an incredibly appropriate sponsorship for you guys! (Maybe do a history on the evolution of flour in America, how paper was used as a replacement for fabric during wartime).
Or it was written at a time before industrialized yellow journalism. Newspapers occasionally included good news or DIY tips for their readers at home. Books were costly, and while most people were literate, they didn't have the education industry we have today or the ability to share information on the internet. Sharing tips like this in the newspaper was a great way to communicate knowledge widely and often they might have had columnists who contributed things like this on a variety of topics, depending on the availability of authors.
The "proto biscuit" looks like it would be smashing as the base for Strawberry shortcake. Just adds a little sweetness th the dish with some sweet or whipped cream.
What a great concept for a video! I love the historical cookery episodes, but I'm intrigued by a series where you explore how techniques evolved over time. So many things you do seem wild and archaic to modern cooks, but only because we've largely lost the steps between them, too.
Well thought out. I got frustrated when stores during Christmas would advertise at high prices “mince pie” and I find out it has fillers, but really is just an apple pie with raisin. When I ask if they have minceMEAT pie they look at me confused. I go off upset. So I pulled out great gramma’s recipe and made it last year. I have her late 1800s chopper, which oddly enough google showed me someone was selling just like it for quite a bit. I chopped cooked beef after cooled in a wood bowl with it, until minced. And then sour apples the same. Then added to it the spices, sugar, and raisins, etc. cooked it. And THAT was like home. Who knows how old it is, or how many times it was altered, since her mom was in the temperance movement as a Saturday Adventist, so there is no alcohol but uses apple cider juice? I know my gramma altered it, removed citron and added currants and yellow raisins too. I know that edit so I can make both kinds. But I found out that meat was removed from mincemeat pies in late 1800s in England. Luckily we left England in early 1800s! So in a way we have a step that is lost here still preserved.
When I was working day Labor I didn't have much money, so my lunch was a bag of biscuits that I made the night before. They were baking powder biscuits, but I didn't cut them into rounds. Instead I'd just make a ball and kinda flattened them in my hands and lay them on a sheet and cook them. Sometimes, if I had a little bit of money I'd add sugar and dryed currants that came from my bushes and dryed in my dehydrator. Those were my favorite.
Back in the 80-90s there was a Southern cooking show on PBS. The cook was Nathalie Dupree. She made biscuits the way you described. Rolling the dough into balls, like how you would make yeast rolls. Personally, I think that would be the more utilitarian way to do it bc you don't need to use extra flour and equipment (read: things to wash). Just need a mixing bowl and your hands.
My mom made biscuits that way - pinch off a round, roll between your hands, and pat flat. They're called drop biscuits where I'm from, not sure about elsewhere. That way, you use a single bowl to mix and are probably more economical with the flour as well.
Outstanding show. The 1900 biscuit is what I grew up with at grandma's house. Miss that so much. Served with fried pork chop and milk n pork fat gravy. Thanks Jon and Brian!
I make my grandmother's recipe which was her mother's recipe. My grandmother was born in 1919. It's something in between y'alls recipes. Very simple flour, oil, milk. Put flour in bowl make a hole in center pour oil, lard, or melted butter 1/2 way up the hole pour milk on hoop until it just flows over the flour. Mix with hands turn onto floured board pat until about 1 inch thick. Cut with glass. Place into a greased cash iron skillet allowing edges to touch. Back until golden brown and flip out upside down on a plate. The are dense not flaky, but has this simple wholesome flavor that really stands up at dinner! They will fill a hungry belly hold spoonfuls of gravy, as balance a big meaty sandwich like loin or sausage. Try it sometime! My grandmother name was Mildred and most people called them Mildred's angel biscuits! I won a regional 4-h in 4th grade and my son also won regional 4-h in 4th grade with the same recipe. It's a late 1800s early 1900s recipe that I still make and love in 2021! Nothing better than a plate full of butter & sorgruhhm stopped up with these buiscuts! Enjoy!
My grandmother was also born in 1919 (her name was Geneva)...She had a biscuit recipe similar to this, but, what I always remember is her pie crusts...She would put a pile of flour on the counter, scoop lard (and, later Crisco) with her hand, mix it all up and roll it out right there, no bowls or utensils involved (except a rolling pin)... : )
@@60cmad yep! Mine too! They come out so flakey and delicious! Today they all have sugar in the crust which results in overly too sweet pies. But our grannies knew a sweet pie needed a balanced crust to hold the sweetness and not crumble! My favorite pie recipe was her buttermilk pie! Oh my thinking about it gives me goose bumps on my knee caps ! Yum!!! 😋
That's a real heirloom recipe! Is the flour "self-rising," i.e. does it have baking powder and salt added already? My cookbook tells me "angel" biscuits were typically so-called for being very light -- in many cases, using yeast as well as baking powder.
@@stannieholt8766 nope... No self rising flour needed. If you have it and use it they do rise more but the recipe doesn't call for it. The story behind the angel biscuits (although the recipe came from her mom Harriet Powers) was that my grandfather came home one evening with his boss unannounced. It was the 40s and money was tight. My grandmother freaked cause she didn't have anything sweet to offer him but wanted to make a good impression. She went to the kitchen and whipped this up really fast and served it with butter and sorgruhhm. The boss said " oh James you weren't kidding your wife cooks like its straight from haven. These are true angel biscuits. " after that nana would often send pans of biscuits to work for grandpal to share. He worked in TVA and lots of man traveled away from home for weeks or months so getting "Mildred's angel biscuits" were a treat. I must have heard that story a million times. Always my grandfather told it. He swore those biscuits got him more than one raise. He was so proud of his wife. My nana turned red as a beet and giggles every time it was told but always admitted that's how it went... Lol... My nana has Been gone almost 20 years now but I do my best too keep her story alive!
I remember when that happened to me. You want to tell your friends and they think you're crazy because all you want to talk about is 1700's cookery lol
I really enjoy all the cooking videos, but this one really hit me differently. At the very beginning while John is describing what the video is all about, Ryan has that grin of a real biscuit lover that can't wait to start. I have that same grin when I think and make biscuits, I know what is coming and it is nothing but goodness.
I’m so glad y’all a video on biscuits. One of the few things I knew about my great grandma was in the small town she lived in all the guys in the town worked in a mill or factory I can’t remember which but what I remember was she would get up at 4 am every morning and make biscuits and coffee for a the guys that worked at mill or factory and right before the morning shift started guys would come to my great grandma’s house to get a biscuit and a cup of coffee.
Given the fact that a biscuit in England is actually more like a cookie, and is served often with tea, then that may be the reason the earlier biscuit in this video is sweet.
we have scones. Same as an American biscuit but normally made adding sugar (sometimes fruit) and with milk instead of cream. Traditionally you'd serve them with clotted cream and jam as part of a "cream tea" but that's optional most people just have butter on them. The tea is mandatory though.
@@mclamby you say that but my mum and sister had theirs with coffee. I only have them with tea though. My sister makes some amazing apple scones. American biscuits remind me of cobblers as well.
@@mclamby I’m Australian. We do scones almost the same way. We actually can’t buy clotted cream so we use whipped cream. Fun fact, if you go to a place selling cream teas here, you would order a Devonshire tea, not a cream tea 😊
You can't really screw up a biscuit recipe short of burning them or using too much flour in relation to your liquids and fat. So until you get the "feel" for making them, always err on the side of a too-wet(within reason, obviously) rather than too-dry dough. Because if they're too wet, they're still gonna *taste* fine, the appearance and texture will just be not quite right, while too dry will result in it being floury and just generally unpleasant.
My grandmother use to make the biscuits that Ryan made. She called them "Cream Biscuits".They were the first bread she taught me. Brought back great memories. Thank You.
Iconic Food Writer, JAMES BEARD, learned to make Cream Biscuits from his Mother's Chinese Cook, Let. We found the recipe in one of his early classics, BEARD ON BREAD. WE alternate between Let's Cream Biscuits and Buttermilk Biscuits. The layered, 'feathery' biscuits go so well with jams and jellies while the 'porous' kind soak of the sausage gravy so well.
The weird thing is, the "modern biscuit" you say is a very standard recipe in 2021 is a look and taste I only associate with cracking open a can of Grands or something. Any time I've ever made biscuits, they're closer to the 1900 ones. Simple, quick, and easy to make, goes well with anything, and isn't overwrought, which I find the "modern biscuit" to be for a lot of stuff. I wouldn't use the 2021 recipe for something like biscuits and gravy, or just eating with a bit of peanut butter and molasses, etc. The least versatile of the three recipes, I'd almost say, but the modern one is really great to eat on its own at least.
There's an evolution of chemistry and technique here. The leavening agent is key. There are single-action agents like the potassium carbonate. You have to work quickly with them because they activate only once and at a certain temperature, so the result is honestly kind of mediocre. There are now double-action agents like John mentioned that activate when first wetted letting the dough rise a bit, but also a second time under heat in the oven, so you get a fluffier biscuit. Then, step three is a technique Ryan called laminating. The cold butter is key here because it's a pastry chef's technique. You mix up the dough with the double-acting leavener, roll it out then fold it over on itself, flatten it, and repeat. You want ~7 folds, and yes, there are reasons for that number that relate to your end result. The time frame is important. The double-acting leavening agents came on the market in the late 1800s, early 1900s, and the addition of the folding came in the 1930s, iirc. The type of commercial biscuit you'd get is a whole other food chemistry lesson in and of itself. Suffice it to say each component of those biscuits is designed to give you exactly what you want as a customer buying a biscuit, light, fluffy, perfect taste, long shelf life, and at a cost anyone can afford.
Yeah my go to biscuit is a cream biscuit. Two ingredients just equal parts by weight self rising flour and cream. Super easy and fast way to make biscuits for biscuits and gravy. I've done the grating the butter method and its too involved for me to really want to do on a weekend mourning.
The flaky biscuit is perfect for breakfast sandwiches. Sausage patty, egg, cheese, and strawberry jam in-between the top and bottom halves. The less worked biscuit is best for gravy though.
@@sheldoniusRex Yet a lot of breakfast sandwich biscuitstoday are closer to the 1900 recipe than to the ultra flaky super soft biscuit. At least, most restaraunts, company kitchens, and fast food places use a little more solid type than fall apart in your mouth. I do very much like the flaky one for most breakfast sandwiches. Just saying.
White Lily is very difficult to find outside of the Deep South. I think it’s over $20 for a 5# bag on Amazon or was the last time I checked. It is, however, considered by many to be THE key to southern biscuits because it is made of soft winter wheat (instead of hard winter wheat which is good for bread, or soft spring wheat used for cakes and pastries). If you can’t get White Lily self-rising flour for biscuit making, King Arthur also has a self-rising soft winter wheat flour that is easier to find all over the US (and it’s excellent flour). I’d love the chance to use White Lily for biscuits because it is supposed to be the very best-I just can’t get it even on the outer edge of the south.
Were the masters of the art of biscuits are, there is love. Ever Girl in the south learns this art, As does most men. My Mom would always tell daddy to, leave her biscuit makings alone.
Tip from New England: if you can't get soft winter wheat flour like White Lily and there's only hard wheat flour where you are, or if shipping is an issue, or even if your biscuits still won't fluff up with White Lily, you can use a leavener called Bakewell Cream instead of baking powder to get light fluffy biscuits. It's from Maine but you can find it online.
We've used Bakewell since forever. Makes a mighty fine, tall biscuit. Of course, we are from Maine. One can purchase Bakewell direct from the company in Bangor...
@@davestelling Yup! Anyone whos says Yankees can't make good biscuits hasn't tried one made with Bakewell. Works a treat. My biscuits have been approved by friends from Tennessee, Mississippi, and Idaho, so I must be doing at least okay! :D
when white lily first came out they had a contest to name it, my great grandma a Cherokee Native won with the name white lily we have always used it here in the south
Potassium carbonate has a very high thermal decomposition temperature. That is why it is a poor leavening agent. Great walk through on the biscuit history. The older ones reminded me of some of the drop biscuits I have made and that my family makes sometimes. Far faster to make, but less airy and flakey.
I have always used White Lilly to make biscuits. It is a nice soft wheat flour. Ryan, you are the man for doing laminating biscuits! I just don't have the patience. I do a simple cream biscuit with self-rising flour or a buttermilk biscuit. I only laminate puff pastry! Loved this video.
Good ad Integration, I hope that they can remain topic specific, you have an audience that will support ads ad long as they are relative and not like “George Washington had spies reading his letters, protect your letters with Nord VPN”
Actually an april fools episode would be a good time to use such an ad. Something like an episode that would speculate what if the founding fathers would react to modern america or something...
I made a tinned steel biscuit cutter in a hexagonal shape. The biscuits came out the same as round ones but there was far less 'scrap' dough that needed to be re-rolled. We also basted them with some bacon grease when done, three dozen never lasted long at the cook outs. 😋
@@janinedear-barlow It's an American jam,sauce somewhere between applesauce method and pudding sauce spices and consistency made from apple. It's cooked down sugar,spices, and apples concentrated by continuous heat over a long period of time.
I've been cheating on you guys with Monk's Modern Medieval Cuisine and Tasting History with Max Miller, but at the literal end of the day I just have to come back here and hear Jon and Ryan's dulcet tones. Also you guys are best when you're collaborating.
Different parts of the U.S. grow different varieties of wheat and you can't always find flour from a variety that isn't grown in your region of the country. This can greatly affect how homemade baked goods turn out. We used to have a processing plant for Dixie Lilly where I live, but it shut down about 10 years ago and that brand of flour left our market.
Ryan was a great guest in this episode, John! I really enjoyed how much he engaged you on the little details of both the history of the food and the ingredients that made each biscuit different throughout time. Definitely one of my favorites of late, because even though you have a remarkable ability to bandy the ins and outs of historical cooking with your many co-stars, this one struck home since biscuits (breakfast or dinner) have always been a staple in my 20th and 21st century household! Thank you John and Ryan!
The problem of integrating modern flower products into your historic period cooking made for an excellent episode. I really enjoyed seeing the changing of biscuits through time!
A physical breaking of bread amongst friends and baking partners! Love it. Anyone else amazed and feeling gifted by the fact that the letters people sent to one another contained such detail that we could recreate a dish today from the letter AND the recipient SAVED THE LETTER, and then someone else saved that letter snd someone else took care of THAT letter until finally someone placed it in a museum and then someone found a bunch of these letters and transcribed them and put a collection of them into a book to be made available to us today? And the magic of baking one of these dishes has been brought to us by these 2 awesome men?!
I love the idea of making biscuits for unexpected guests. So hospitable! Great presentation, guys! What a lovely way to show the evolution towards modern baking soda.
The oldest biscuit here looks closest to the British cookie-biscuit. I assume that that is where we adopted the name from, while our American cookies took their name from the Dutch word "koekjes" to differentiate the two food items. It is cool to see somewhat of a connection here, because I always wondered how/why British and American English differed on these words.
The early American biscuits they made are akin to scones here in the U.K., although the modern shop bought one at the end that’s laminated is what I imagine when I think American biscuits. Shamefully I like the look of the modern one, I’m a traitor.
Outstanding film production. It's super nice to see Ryan assisting in the kitchen, we look forward to more episodes featuring Ryan. I've never thought of putting sugar in a biscuit recipe, and know I ask myself what could go wrong with such a simple recipe. As always, excellent video! Thank you folks at Townsend's! ✌️👍
Living very close to the old White Lilly factory in Knoxville (sadly just upscale lofts now lol) this is a cool video to know what was once made down the street from me.
Bannock is a great bread from the 18th and 19th centuries, in North America. It was introduced to the First Nations and Metis people, from Scottish traders and explorers. This is a great video. Cheers!
Great show. The science and history behind food has always been of interest to me. I’m still searching for my grandmother’s farm biscuits. I attempted to get her recipe years and years ago without success!😃 Her biscuits were about an inch or so high, and browned very well after being baked in a cast iron skillet-the flavor, to me, reflected her South Georgia farm wife heritage. The closest I’ve tasted are from Mrs. Wilkes in Savannah but they are sheet biscuits. So, the tasting and search continues. Thank you all for bringing history alive.
I really enjoy when Ryan is in your videos, or when you have any guest. This was a fantastic episode and I enjoy the travel-thru-time videos like this with multiple versions of a classic dish or food item!
Great episode!! I grew up making the modern-cold butter biscuits but not laminating them, just roll out and cut. The cream biscuits I make I do laminate them. I also cut them square. Saves rerolling scraps and over working the dough. Cream biscuits are my favorite, no cutting in cold butter, etc. An aside, White Lily flour is considered, by many, the best for making Navajo fry bread. Good stuff! Keep up the excellent work!!!
My favorite biscuit I make is actually classed as shortbread biscuit. It's got flour, baking powder and baking soda, salt, sour cream and butter. Then freshly shredded cheddar. They are awesome. They do get laminated a little bit too.
I'm so grateful for this channel. It's brings back this awesome blend of nostalgia for those old TV woodworking and cooking shows like This Old House, Yan Can Cook, whatever that Cajun guy's show was, etc... Hits the spot.
Newfoundlander here. The only biscuits I grew up eating is baking powder tea buns. I use my grandmother's recipe, and they are to die for! They're buttery, sweet and have lots of raisins. They're eaten with tea, cut in half and slathered with butter. Nothing like American biscuits, but more like a scone. The only other biscuits is what you'd call a cookie. I only refer to homemade cookies as bickies. Here's the recipe if you're interested... Nan Appleby's Baking Powder Tea Buns In a large bowl rub together: 1 cup cold hard margarine, cut up small 3 cups white flour Pinch salt 1 cup raisins 3/4 cup white sugar 5 teaspoonfuls of Baking Powder In a cup mix together: 2 eggs 1/4 cup evaporated milk 1/4 cup cold water Stir the wet into the dry ingredients, until just mixed. Divide into 12 balls with your hands, and lay side by side in a greased 9" x 13" pan. Bake at 375 F for 25 minutes, or until lightly brown on top. These are the only baked goods where I use margarine. It doesn't work right with real butter. We always used Magic Baking Powder. And the evaporated milk was always Carnation brand. It's a Newfoundland staple. You use both your palms and fingers to quickly rub the butter into the flour mixture. Trying not to make it too warm, to the same consistency as I guess you would with a pastry cutter.
Look for catshead biscuits. That is what I was taught to make by my grandmother who was raised on a farm in Missouri during the depression. What most southern folks call a buttermilk biscuit.
The explanation of the mechanisms of action and other differences between leavening agents is really clear and (as far as I can tell) factual. Thanks for taking the time to research the topic and do it properly; I especially appreciate the care taken to use scientific and descriptive names for the active chemical compounds.
This channel is such a treasure. Its so many different topics in each video, made with such love. Also so, so great to see a sponsor for your channel. Congratulations, thanks for another great upload! :)
Here in Appalachia we take our biscuits rather seriously. See now, my family has always preferred "Drop Biscuits" with our sausage gravy. Whoever I do mix up a more scone-like biscuit batter for topping cobblers and such.
So blissful... Doesn't matter what you are explaining when you are talking about something so genuinely and passionately.. I can listen to this whole day.. Might as well try out the recipes.. So I subscribe..
I wish White Lilly made unbleached all purpose. Depending what's on sale...I'll use WL, Martha White or Sunflower. All southern milled flours. I guess While Lilly is milled in the south. I think Smuckers bought it.
I love the episode with Ryan. I mean I love all your videos but it always has such an enjoyable vibe with you two cooking or baking! Love it! Thanks for the great video.
White Lily is Great flour especially for biscuits. You can't go wrong. Well, you can, but the flour wont be to blame. All-butter biscuits made with this flour are otherworldly.
Please do more videos like this it was really fun getting to watch you guys work together to create some 18th century dishes, it would also be fun to get to meet more of the crew as well.
Such a great channel, it feels like for the duration of the videos you’re transported back in time and it is so informative yet very entertaining and calming at the same time. Great way to wind down at night and kick back and relax well done good sir.
Great video. I am curious if anyone knows what kind of baking tray would have been used instead of the modern tray that was used in this video. Or, would they have been baked on a heated hearth? I would have volunteered to be a taste tester for these biscuits.
I use my cast iron frying pan as a baking sheet; biscuits and cookies included. If the batch is too big, I use 2 or 3 frying pans. More often now days I just make a small batch. My question - how do you regulate the fire to the right temperature?
That isn't a modern tray. That's a baking tray from 1769; more specifically, it's a baking sheet inspired by Thomas Jefferson's own baking Sheet. So, to answer your question, that baking sheet he is holding is the one they would use for this purpose in expensive households. No heated hearth, unless you are using the really loose definition of hearth that includes Mud Oven. Hearths were hardly used for baking beyond a celebratory practice, until dutch ovens came along and made it practicable. Until then, it would've been placed directly on the stone or clay surface of the mud oven.
@@sissybrooks8588 pat out the dough and fold the dough over about 4 to 5 times. Pat out to your desired thickness and cut out. After I cut them out I like to put in freezer for 20 to 30 mins. It helps with making the rise.
Might be worth at some point finding a local mill to make flour for you. I bet modern, enriched and bleached flour, acts a lot different than a less smooth, less "messed with", flour from hundreds of years ago.
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Other channels have paid ads for ear buds, VPNs, and hair loss products. This channel? Flour! 💘
White Lily, what other flour can you use for the history of biscuits!
mmm, flour...
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Funny, the kids at White Lilly's Marketing Department, probably had no idea, that bisquits as we know them in America, didn't become common until the 20th Century, when railroads enabled the efficient distribution, therefore more inexpensive wheat flour. Before then, wheat flour was saved for making bread or cakes for special occasions. Before then, Americans mostly ate cornbread, aka, Indian bread.
And as Townsends pointed out, baking powder wasn't invented until the 19th century. It likely took awhile to come into common use.
Bravo to the Townsend's creative way of accommodating White Lilly, instead of turning down the free flour!
And brand of flour is called *Raid Shadow Legends*
I need more of these food evolution videos.
Agree
I enjoy seeing Ryan on the show. This was a really good episode.
@@ControversialOpinion why?
@@ControversialOpinion What a controversial opinion
Always enjoy seeing Ryan on the show.
It's gotta be the glasses man
@@ControversialOpinion About what? You no like, you no click.
Grats on an incredibly appropriate sponsorship for you guys! (Maybe do a history on the evolution of flour in America, how paper was used as a replacement for fabric during wartime).
So she writes a long letter to a newspaper about the foodTHEN gives them the recipe? My God this is the precursor to the modern day food blogger!
She knew how to just enjoy the little things
Or it was written at a time before industrialized yellow journalism. Newspapers occasionally included good news or DIY tips for their readers at home. Books were costly, and while most people were literate, they didn't have the education industry we have today or the ability to share information on the internet. Sharing tips like this in the newspaper was a great way to communicate knowledge widely and often they might have had columnists who contributed things like this on a variety of topics, depending on the availability of authors.
@@kma3647 You are a thief of joy.
@@kma3647 you are a giver of knowledge
Haha! So true
"Immediately you're like, 'where's the sausage gravy?'" Ryan is a man after my own heart. Good stuff, gents.
Ryan and John have that wired chemistry that makes great videos.
When you are looking at that many biscuits, that's a very good question to be asking.
Yea!!!!!! Biscuits, while the N W O kills everyone off with graphene, 5 G and death shots! Yummy! WAKE TF UP.
@@lockergr sir this is a wendy's
Yeah... where is the sausage gravy? Makes it harder to hit the like button...
The "proto biscuit" looks like it would be smashing as the base for Strawberry shortcake. Just adds a little sweetness th the dish with some sweet or whipped cream.
Agreed!!
Yes. My mom always made strawberry shortcake with the modern baking powder biscuits, but, you're right, that one would probably be wonderful.
makes sense, it’s a cousin of it IIRC
Exactly what I was thinking!
Mom often made strips of pie crust to use for strawberry short cake. Biscuits, however they turn out (except burnt), make the best bread pudding!
Y'know I really should take care of those errand and clean the OH HOW BISCUITS EVOLVED HUH?
Same energy as me stuffing my face with French fries while watching this before this years ‘meet the teacher’ 😂
What a great concept for a video! I love the historical cookery episodes, but I'm intrigued by a series where you explore how techniques evolved over time. So many things you do seem wild and archaic to modern cooks, but only because we've largely lost the steps between them, too.
THANKS FOR A GREAT POST!😀
Well thought out.
I got frustrated when stores during Christmas would advertise at high prices “mince pie” and I find out it has fillers, but really is just an apple pie with raisin. When I ask if they have minceMEAT pie they look at me confused. I go off upset.
So I pulled out great gramma’s recipe and made it last year. I have her late 1800s chopper, which oddly enough google showed me someone was selling just like it for quite a bit. I chopped cooked beef after cooled in a wood bowl with it, until minced. And then sour apples the same. Then added to it the spices, sugar, and raisins, etc. cooked it. And THAT was like home.
Who knows how old it is, or how many times it was altered, since her mom was in the temperance movement as a Saturday Adventist, so there is no alcohol but uses apple cider juice? I know my gramma altered it, removed citron and added currants and yellow raisins too. I know that edit so I can make both kinds. But I found out that meat was removed from mincemeat pies in late 1800s in England. Luckily we left England in early 1800s!
So in a way we have a step that is lost here still preserved.
When I was working day Labor I didn't have much money, so my lunch was a bag of biscuits that I made the night before. They were baking powder biscuits, but I didn't cut them into rounds. Instead I'd just make a ball and kinda flattened them in my hands and lay them on a sheet and cook them. Sometimes, if I had a little bit of money I'd add sugar and dryed currants that came from my bushes and dryed in my dehydrator. Those were my favorite.
Back in the 80-90s there was a Southern cooking show on PBS. The cook was Nathalie Dupree. She made biscuits the way you described. Rolling the dough into balls, like how you would make yeast rolls. Personally, I think that would be the more utilitarian way to do it bc you don't need to use extra flour and equipment (read: things to wash). Just need a mixing bowl and your hands.
My mom made biscuits that way - pinch off a round, roll between your hands, and pat flat. They're called drop biscuits where I'm from, not sure about elsewhere. That way, you use a single bowl to mix and are probably more economical with the flour as well.
This channel never gets old
@Persnikitty that's exactly why
I see what you did there
This channel is old through and through , that’s why it’s so awesome! Welcome to loving history!!
Ba-dum *ching*
😂
Outstanding show. The 1900 biscuit is what I grew up with at grandma's house. Miss that so much. Served with fried pork chop and milk n pork fat gravy. Thanks Jon and Brian!
Congrats John and company for the sponsor! Love your content!
Ryan is hyped for biscuits
Biscuits are the best!
I am hyped for Ryan being hyped for biscuits
I make my grandmother's recipe which was her mother's recipe. My grandmother was born in 1919. It's something in between y'alls recipes. Very simple flour, oil, milk. Put flour in bowl make a hole in center pour oil, lard, or melted butter 1/2 way up the hole pour milk on hoop until it just flows over the flour. Mix with hands turn onto floured board pat until about 1 inch thick. Cut with glass. Place into a greased cash iron skillet allowing edges to touch. Back until golden brown and flip out upside down on a plate. The are dense not flaky, but has this simple wholesome flavor that really stands up at dinner! They will fill a hungry belly hold spoonfuls of gravy, as balance a big meaty sandwich like loin or sausage. Try it sometime! My grandmother name was Mildred and most people called them Mildred's angel biscuits! I won a regional 4-h in 4th grade and my son also won regional 4-h in 4th grade with the same recipe. It's a late 1800s early 1900s recipe that I still make and love in 2021! Nothing better than a plate full of butter & sorgruhhm stopped up with these buiscuts! Enjoy!
My grandmother was also born in 1919 (her name was Geneva)...She had a biscuit recipe similar to this, but, what I always remember is her pie crusts...She would put a pile of flour on the counter, scoop lard (and, later Crisco) with her hand, mix it all up and roll it out right there, no bowls or utensils involved (except a rolling pin)... : )
@@60cmad yep! Mine too! They come out so flakey and delicious! Today they all have sugar in the crust which results in overly too sweet pies. But our grannies knew a sweet pie needed a balanced crust to hold the sweetness and not crumble! My favorite pie recipe was her buttermilk pie! Oh my thinking about it gives me goose bumps on my knee caps ! Yum!!! 😋
That's a real heirloom recipe! Is the flour "self-rising," i.e. does it have baking powder and salt added already? My cookbook tells me "angel" biscuits were typically so-called for being very light -- in many cases, using yeast as well as baking powder.
@@stannieholt8766 nope... No self rising flour needed. If you have it and use it they do rise more but the recipe doesn't call for it. The story behind the angel biscuits (although the recipe came from her mom Harriet Powers) was that my grandfather came home one evening with his boss unannounced. It was the 40s and money was tight. My grandmother freaked cause she didn't have anything sweet to offer him but wanted to make a good impression. She went to the kitchen and whipped this up really fast and served it with butter and sorgruhhm. The boss said " oh James you weren't kidding your wife cooks like its straight from haven. These are true angel biscuits. " after that nana would often send pans of biscuits to work for grandpal to share. He worked in TVA and lots of man traveled away from home for weeks or months so getting "Mildred's angel biscuits" were a treat. I must have heard that story a million times. Always my grandfather told it. He swore those biscuits got him more than one raise. He was so proud of his wife. My nana turned red as a beet and giggles every time it was told but always admitted that's how it went... Lol... My nana has Been gone almost 20 years now but I do my best too keep her story alive!
What's sorgruhhm?
Just found this channel and I cannot stop watching. Everything this guy makes is absolutely fascinating.
I remember when that happened to me. You want to tell your friends and they think you're crazy because all you want to talk about is 1700's cookery lol
I love it too...N i live in the Caribbean...
The 1700’s biscuits remind me a LOT of Welsh Cakes I get at Celtic Faires.
That grin when Ryan puts butter on his biscuit. Ryan makes me smile every time.
I really enjoy all the cooking videos, but this one really hit me differently. At the very beginning while John is describing what the video is all about, Ryan has that grin of a real biscuit lover that can't wait to start. I have that same grin when I think and make biscuits, I know what is coming and it is nothing but goodness.
So fun to see Jon and Ryan in the german kitchen together--in period garb!
I’m so glad y’all a video on biscuits. One of the few things I knew about my great grandma was in the small town she lived in all the guys in the town worked in a mill or factory I can’t remember which but what I remember was she would get up at 4 am every morning and make biscuits and coffee for a the guys that worked at mill or factory and right before the morning shift started guys would come to my great grandma’s house to get a biscuit and a cup of coffee.
That ad for White Lilly felt like it was in its proper place. Nice work on making it feel organic. Cheers.
Given the fact that a biscuit in England is actually more like a cookie, and is served often with tea, then that may be the reason the earlier biscuit in this video is sweet.
we have scones. Same as an American biscuit but normally made adding sugar (sometimes fruit) and with milk instead of cream. Traditionally you'd serve them with clotted cream and jam as part of a "cream tea" but that's optional most people just have butter on them. The tea is mandatory though.
@@mclamby you say that but my mum and sister had theirs with coffee. I only have them with tea though. My sister makes some amazing apple scones.
American biscuits remind me of cobblers as well.
Ahhh Biscuits N Bully Beef
@@mclamby I’m Australian. We do scones almost the same way. We actually can’t buy clotted cream so we use whipped cream. Fun fact, if you go to a place selling cream teas here, you would order a Devonshire tea, not a cream tea 😊
@@moniquem783 not a Cornish tea?
Lol couldn’t resist, I got 12 biscuits in the oven now…..first time trying so fingers crossed 🤞🏻
How did they turn out? 😊
I mixed up the method a little bit and couldn’t have added just a little more sugar but boy they are still good 😊
The girlfriend got up from a nap and was like ‘are you making biscuits!’ They smell sooo good 😌
Sure sign of success. 😊
You can't really screw up a biscuit recipe short of burning them or using too much flour in relation to your liquids and fat. So until you get the "feel" for making them, always err on the side of a too-wet(within reason, obviously) rather than too-dry dough. Because if they're too wet, they're still gonna *taste* fine, the appearance and texture will just be not quite right, while too dry will result in it being floury and just generally unpleasant.
My man Townsends is so classy he can make a sponsor plug appealing.
My grandmother use to make the biscuits that Ryan made. She called them "Cream Biscuits".They were the first bread she taught me. Brought back great memories. Thank You.
Iconic Food Writer, JAMES BEARD, learned to make Cream Biscuits from his Mother's Chinese Cook, Let. We found the recipe in one of his early classics, BEARD ON BREAD. WE alternate between Let's Cream Biscuits and Buttermilk Biscuits. The layered, 'feathery' biscuits go so well with jams and jellies while the 'porous' kind soak of the sausage gravy so well.
The weird thing is, the "modern biscuit" you say is a very standard recipe in 2021 is a look and taste I only associate with cracking open a can of Grands or something. Any time I've ever made biscuits, they're closer to the 1900 ones. Simple, quick, and easy to make, goes well with anything, and isn't overwrought, which I find the "modern biscuit" to be for a lot of stuff. I wouldn't use the 2021 recipe for something like biscuits and gravy, or just eating with a bit of peanut butter and molasses, etc. The least versatile of the three recipes, I'd almost say, but the modern one is really great to eat on its own at least.
There's an evolution of chemistry and technique here. The leavening agent is key. There are single-action agents like the potassium carbonate. You have to work quickly with them because they activate only once and at a certain temperature, so the result is honestly kind of mediocre. There are now double-action agents like John mentioned that activate when first wetted letting the dough rise a bit, but also a second time under heat in the oven, so you get a fluffier biscuit. Then, step three is a technique Ryan called laminating. The cold butter is key here because it's a pastry chef's technique. You mix up the dough with the double-acting leavener, roll it out then fold it over on itself, flatten it, and repeat. You want ~7 folds, and yes, there are reasons for that number that relate to your end result. The time frame is important. The double-acting leavening agents came on the market in the late 1800s, early 1900s, and the addition of the folding came in the 1930s, iirc.
The type of commercial biscuit you'd get is a whole other food chemistry lesson in and of itself. Suffice it to say each component of those biscuits is designed to give you exactly what you want as a customer buying a biscuit, light, fluffy, perfect taste, long shelf life, and at a cost anyone can afford.
@@kma3647 Its just a biscuit, let's not overthink it.🙄
Yeah my go to biscuit is a cream biscuit. Two ingredients just equal parts by weight self rising flour and cream. Super easy and fast way to make biscuits for biscuits and gravy. I've done the grating the butter method and its too involved for me to really want to do on a weekend mourning.
The flaky biscuit is perfect for breakfast sandwiches. Sausage patty, egg, cheese, and strawberry jam in-between the top and bottom halves.
The less worked biscuit is best for gravy though.
@@sheldoniusRex Yet a lot of breakfast sandwich biscuitstoday are closer to the 1900 recipe than to the ultra flaky super soft biscuit. At least, most restaraunts, company kitchens, and fast food places use a little more solid type than fall apart in your mouth.
I do very much like the flaky one for most breakfast sandwiches. Just saying.
White Lily is very difficult to find outside of the Deep South. I think it’s over $20 for a 5# bag on Amazon or was the last time I checked. It is, however, considered by many to be THE key to southern biscuits because it is made of soft winter wheat (instead of hard winter wheat which is good for bread, or soft spring wheat used for cakes and pastries). If you can’t get White Lily self-rising flour for biscuit making, King Arthur also has a self-rising soft winter wheat flour that is easier to find all over the US (and it’s excellent flour). I’d love the chance to use White Lily for biscuits because it is supposed to be the very best-I just can’t get it even on the outer edge of the south.
Growing up in IL I never really gained a love of biscuits, then I joined the army and went to the South. Now I cannot get enough of biscuits!
Southern biscuits will do that to you 🤤😂
Illinois or the ChiTown area?
@@brucewelty7684 REAL Illinois, not the Windy City. 😎
I'm from Illinois and I love biscuits!
Were the masters of the art of biscuits are, there is love. Ever Girl in the south learns this art, As does most men. My Mom would always tell daddy to, leave her biscuit makings alone.
Tip from New England: if you can't get soft winter wheat flour like White Lily and there's only hard wheat flour where you are, or if shipping is an issue, or even if your biscuits still won't fluff up with White Lily, you can use a leavener called Bakewell Cream instead of baking powder to get light fluffy biscuits. It's from Maine but you can find it online.
We've used Bakewell since forever.
Makes a mighty fine, tall biscuit.
Of course, we are from Maine.
One can purchase Bakewell direct from the company in Bangor...
@@davestelling Yup! Anyone whos says Yankees can't make good biscuits hasn't tried one made with Bakewell. Works a treat. My biscuits have been approved by friends from Tennessee, Mississippi, and Idaho, so I must be doing at least okay! :D
As I was watching this video my wife made the statement that "Townsend's is the Bob Ross of the 18th century."
This channel truly is an escape.
Flour is completely on brand for a sponsored product and this channel. I’m not even mad for ads, it’s brilliant. Bravo.
when white lily first came out they had a contest to name it, my great grandma a Cherokee Native won with the name white lily we have always used it here in the south
Grateful for you all over at Townsend’s
Potassium carbonate has a very high thermal decomposition temperature. That is why it is a poor leavening agent. Great walk through on the biscuit history. The older ones reminded me of some of the drop biscuits I have made and that my family makes sometimes. Far faster to make, but less airy and flakey.
I also wonder what the point of it is without acid.
I have always used White Lilly to make biscuits. It is a nice soft wheat flour. Ryan, you are the man for doing laminating biscuits! I just don't have the patience. I do a simple cream biscuit with self-rising flour or a buttermilk biscuit. I only laminate puff pastry! Loved this video.
Good ad Integration, I hope that they can remain topic specific, you have an audience that will support ads ad long as they are relative and not like “George Washington had spies reading his letters, protect your letters with Nord VPN”
Actually an april fools episode would be a good time to use such an ad. Something like an episode that would speculate what if the founding fathers would react to modern america or something...
I made a tinned steel biscuit cutter in a hexagonal shape. The biscuits came out the same as round ones but there was far less 'scrap' dough that needed to be re-rolled. We also basted them with some bacon grease when done, three dozen never lasted long at the cook outs. 😋
Don’t forget the homemade apple butter on a fresh, hot biscuit 😍🤤
Or honey and melted butter 🤤
What Apple butter. We have scones with jam and cream or butter if it's a cheese scone.
@@janinedear-barlow apple butter is very much an American thing. Same as apple jam in Russian rations
Or homemade pear butter. 😋
@@janinedear-barlow It's an American jam,sauce somewhere between applesauce method and pudding sauce spices and consistency made from apple. It's cooked down sugar,spices, and apples concentrated by continuous heat over a long period of time.
I've always enjoyed making Angel Biscuits (made with both baking powder AND yeast) and having them either with a meal or as a main component. 😁
Delightful video as always, I would love to see more of these "recipe timelines", and Ryan is a great co-host.
I've been cheating on you guys with Monk's Modern Medieval Cuisine and Tasting History with Max Miller, but at the literal end of the day I just have to come back here and hear Jon and Ryan's dulcet tones. Also you guys are best when you're collaborating.
Different parts of the U.S. grow different varieties of wheat and you can't always find flour from a variety that isn't grown in your region of the country. This can greatly affect how homemade baked goods turn out. We used to have a processing plant for Dixie Lilly where I live, but it shut down about 10 years ago and that brand of flour left our market.
Ryan was a great guest in this episode, John! I really enjoyed how much he engaged you on the little details of both the history of the food and the ingredients that made each biscuit different throughout time. Definitely one of my favorites of late, because even though you have a remarkable ability to bandy the ins and outs of historical cooking with your many co-stars, this one struck home since biscuits (breakfast or dinner) have always been a staple in my 20th and 21st century household! Thank you John and Ryan!
The problem of integrating modern flower products into your historic period cooking made for an excellent episode. I really enjoyed seeing the changing of biscuits through time!
A physical breaking of bread amongst friends and baking partners! Love it.
Anyone else amazed and feeling gifted by the fact that the letters people sent to one another contained such detail that we could recreate a dish today from the letter AND the recipient SAVED THE LETTER, and then someone else saved that letter snd someone else took care of THAT letter until finally someone placed it in a museum and then someone found a bunch of these letters and transcribed them and put a collection of them into a book to be made available to us today? And the magic of baking one of these dishes has been brought to us by these 2 awesome men?!
biscuits with strawberry jam sound amazing for dinner...or sausage biscuits.
They are amazing for BREAKFAST, with butter, strawberry jam, and a good cup of coffee or tea.
I love the idea of making biscuits for unexpected guests. So hospitable!
Great presentation, guys! What a lovely way to show the evolution towards modern baking soda.
The oldest biscuit here looks closest to the British cookie-biscuit. I assume that that is where we adopted the name from, while our American cookies took their name from the Dutch word "koekjes" to differentiate the two food items. It is cool to see somewhat of a connection here, because I always wondered how/why British and American English differed on these words.
+1 for citing the Dutch koekjes (pronounced: kook-jess, with a softened j). It made me think of my grandmother and that's always a good thing =)
IIRC, British English uses “cookie” specifically for soft cookies
The early American biscuits they made are akin to scones here in the U.K., although the modern shop bought one at the end that’s laminated is what I imagine when I think American biscuits.
Shamefully I like the look of the modern one, I’m a traitor.
@K MA Hi from NL! The soft "j" in koekjes is pronounced like the "y" in yes
Etymologically close to "bisquit" have a dish "beschuit", which is a type of rusk about the size of a tick pancake.
Outstanding film production. It's super nice to see Ryan assisting in the kitchen, we look forward to more episodes featuring Ryan.
I've never thought of putting sugar in a biscuit recipe, and know I ask myself what could go wrong with such a simple recipe.
As always, excellent video! Thank you folks at Townsend's! ✌️👍
We call them Scones in Australia- my Nana was famous for hers!❤
Whenever I miss my brother. I watch Ryan’s videos. This content means so much more than you know to me. Thank you so much both of you
Been watching you guys for years! Love your energy!
Living very close to the old White Lilly factory in Knoxville (sadly just upscale lofts now lol) this is a cool video to know what was once made down the street from me.
Bannock is a great bread from the 18th and 19th centuries, in North America. It was introduced to the First Nations and Metis people, from Scottish traders and explorers. This is a great video. Cheers!
Thanks for the information, Dwayne!
@@jamesellsworth9673 You are very welcome. It would be cool if Jon did an episode on bannock. Cheers!
Great show. The science and history behind food has always been of interest to me. I’m still searching for my grandmother’s farm biscuits. I attempted to get her recipe years and years ago without success!😃 Her biscuits were about an inch or so high, and browned very well after being baked in a cast iron skillet-the flavor, to me, reflected her South Georgia farm wife heritage. The closest I’ve tasted are from Mrs. Wilkes in Savannah but they are sheet biscuits. So, the tasting and search continues. Thank you all for bringing history alive.
I really enjoy when Ryan is in your videos, or when you have any guest. This was a fantastic episode and I enjoy the travel-thru-time videos like this with multiple versions of a classic dish or food item!
Great episode!! I grew up making the modern-cold butter biscuits but not laminating them, just roll out and cut. The cream biscuits I make I do laminate them. I also cut them square. Saves rerolling scraps and over working the dough. Cream biscuits are my favorite, no cutting in cold butter, etc. An aside, White Lily flour is considered, by many, the best for making Navajo fry bread. Good stuff! Keep up the excellent work!!!
My favorite biscuit I make is actually classed as shortbread biscuit. It's got flour, baking powder and baking soda, salt, sour cream and butter. Then freshly shredded cheddar. They are awesome. They do get laminated a little bit too.
I'm so grateful for this channel. It's brings back this awesome blend of nostalgia for those old TV woodworking and cooking shows like This Old House, Yan Can Cook, whatever that Cajun guy's show was, etc... Hits the spot.
Justin Wilson was “that Cajun guy”.😃
Biscuits are always a good thing 🥰❤️☕️
Newfoundlander here. The only biscuits I grew up eating is baking powder tea buns. I use my grandmother's recipe, and they are to die for! They're buttery, sweet and have lots of raisins. They're eaten with tea, cut in half and slathered with butter. Nothing like American biscuits, but more like a scone. The only other biscuits is what you'd call a cookie. I only refer to homemade cookies as bickies.
Here's the recipe if you're interested...
Nan Appleby's Baking Powder Tea Buns
In a large bowl rub together:
1 cup cold hard margarine, cut up small
3 cups white flour
Pinch salt
1 cup raisins
3/4 cup white sugar
5 teaspoonfuls of Baking Powder
In a cup mix together:
2 eggs
1/4 cup evaporated milk
1/4 cup cold water
Stir the wet into the dry ingredients, until just mixed. Divide into 12 balls with your hands, and lay side by side in a greased 9" x 13" pan. Bake at 375 F for 25 minutes, or until lightly brown on top.
These are the only baked goods where I use margarine. It doesn't work right with real butter. We always used Magic Baking Powder. And the evaporated milk was always Carnation brand. It's a Newfoundland staple.
You use both your palms and fingers to quickly rub the butter into the flour mixture. Trying not to make it too warm, to the same consistency as I guess you would with a pastry cutter.
“even better with butter”
“what isn’t?”
lol :) exactly!!
better with butter or butter makes it better.
Thanks for sharing with us Jon and Ryan, gotta love them biscuits, they could keep you going all day. You both did a great job. Fred. 🙏🏻🙏🏻👍👍👏🏻👏🏻👋👋
Ryan has the best reactions, he really makes a good co-host.
Look for catshead biscuits. That is what I was taught to make by my grandmother who was raised on a farm in Missouri during the depression. What most southern folks call a buttermilk biscuit.
Ryan is back! And he brought... biscuits!
[everyone cheers]
👏👏👏
The explanation of the mechanisms of action and other differences between leavening agents is really clear and (as far as I can tell) factual. Thanks for taking the time to research the topic and do it properly; I especially appreciate the care taken to use scientific and descriptive names for the active chemical compounds.
Perfect timing for this video, I'm planning on making biscuits for dinner tonight
Which will you make??
@@HLBear I had a box of cheddar bay biscuits laying around
Watching your videos always make me feel as though I’ve received a warm hug upon a winter’s night… Keep up the wonderful work!
Man i love biscuits! A fluffy, crispy and layered biscuit is a science and man it's hard!
Congrats on such a fitting sponsor!!! And great episode, as always!
Any biscuit is excellent even hard tack with the right amount of ingredients like a heeping helping of sausage gravy.😉
This channel is such a treasure. Its so many different topics in each video, made with such love. Also so, so great to see a sponsor for your channel. Congratulations, thanks for another great upload! :)
Here in Appalachia we take our biscuits rather seriously. See now, my family has always preferred "Drop Biscuits" with our sausage gravy. Whoever I do mix up a more scone-like biscuit batter for topping cobblers and such.
In California we use drop biscuits in chicken 'n dumplings. My other favorite biscuit dish. I'm hungry for a cobbler now!
@@antilogism
Peach, apple, raspberry, or blueberry?
@@camerongunn7906 Yes.
@@Lukos0036
Be advised, all cobblers are made in an cast iron Dutch oven. So there are lots of caramelized chew bits on the bottom and edges.
@@camerongunn7906
This is by far one of the most wholesome and informational channels on TH-cam and even the ads make sense.
in the thumbnail the timeline triggers me because 2021 is the middle evolution step
I felt the same way.
Those biscuits look GORGEOUS when that oven door opens! **salivating**
There is nothing more quintessentially American than breakfast biscuits.
Yup. Coast to coast---every diner.
So blissful... Doesn't matter what you are explaining when you are talking about something so genuinely and passionately.. I can listen to this whole day.. Might as well try out the recipes.. So I subscribe..
"Where's the sausage gravy?"
Welcome to Indiana, friends.
This offense is part of the reason southern states want to secede.
Virginia in the house. ✌️
Sausage gravy and homemade biscuits are one of my favorites.
Any time of the day.
@@GrimmsDeath Oh, man. What a loss that would be.
In the South along with a bowl of Grits, Eggs over eazy and bacon!
@@Delgen1951
Yes. Yum.
Ryan is a very likeable guy for sure. You both seem very honest and humble - great qualities
I wish White Lilly made unbleached all purpose. Depending what's on sale...I'll use WL, Martha White or Sunflower. All southern milled flours. I guess While Lilly is milled in the south. I think Smuckers bought it.
You guys are the most wholesome and interesting channel I've ever found!
When Ryan was asking where the sausage gravy was, I half expected Jon to pull out an 18th Century sauce boat of it for him.
You know up until 15 minutes ago I had no idea this channel existed and now it has one more sub
I love the episode with Ryan.
I mean I love all your videos but it always has such an enjoyable vibe with you two cooking or baking! Love it!
Thanks for the great video.
White Lily is Great flour especially for biscuits. You can't go wrong. Well, you can, but the flour wont be to blame. All-butter biscuits made with this flour are otherworldly.
Absolutely fascinating
Please do more videos like this it was really fun getting to watch you guys work together to create some 18th century dishes, it would also be fun to get to meet more of the crew as well.
Biscuit is famous around the world. Nice sharing of its evolution history.
Such a great channel, it feels like for the duration of the videos you’re transported back in time and it is so informative yet very entertaining and calming at the same time. Great way to wind down at night and kick back and relax well done good sir.
Hey John! You should do a cooking video on the Irish who settled in America! We need love too. 😁
This channel is a bright spot in my day. I wish you would do more on how clay was gathered and processed.
Great video. I am curious if anyone knows what kind of baking tray would have been used instead of the modern tray that was used in this video. Or, would they have been baked on a heated hearth? I would have volunteered to be a taste tester for these biscuits.
I use my cast iron frying pan as a baking sheet; biscuits and cookies included. If the batch is too big, I use 2 or 3 frying pans. More often now days I just make a small batch.
My question - how do you regulate the fire to the right temperature?
That isn't a modern tray. That's a baking tray from 1769; more specifically, it's a baking sheet inspired by Thomas Jefferson's own baking Sheet.
So, to answer your question, that baking sheet he is holding is the one they would use for this purpose in expensive households.
No heated hearth, unless you are using the really loose definition of hearth that includes Mud Oven.
Hearths were hardly used for baking beyond a celebratory practice, until dutch ovens came along and made it practicable.
Until then, it would've been placed directly on the stone or clay surface of the mud oven.
And for the temperature, the oven is not precise. Experience gives you a very good idea what is needed.
Always a treat to see a new a new Townsends video in my notifications.
My biscuits always resemble the 17 99 biscuits.
When I overwork dough so are mine. I realized I had to handle it like a scone. My dad made the world's best biscuits!!
@@lydiadillard4417 I know they're supposed to be layered, but, I don't know how to achieve that effect.
@@sissybrooks8588 pat out the dough and fold the dough over about 4 to 5 times. Pat out to your desired thickness and cut out. After I cut them out I like to put in freezer for 20 to 30 mins. It helps with making the rise.
@@lydiadillard4417 will definitely try that. Thanks.
@@sissybrooks8588 all heavily layered biscuits are overworked. I've never had one that wasn't.
I love it when you two do videos together! It’s fun to watch and get both opinions
Could you please do some quail and bear cooking?
I hope that your request can be granted one day.
There are lots of quail here... ;-)
Might be worth at some point finding a local mill to make flour for you. I bet modern, enriched and bleached flour, acts a lot different than a less smooth, less "messed with", flour from hundreds of years ago.