# Hardtack



## ReconCraftTheta

I recently found a recipe online for Civil War Hardtack. I made two squares up, and wrapped them. I suppose they keep for a long time, and are a cheeper substitute to MRE's. The only draw back I can find is the taste, and that they dont keep as long as MRE's.
 There's the link.

[URL]http://www.gone-ta-pott.com/hard_tack_sea_biscuits.html


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## bunkerbob

Great find. Please introduce yourself in the intro section, and WELCOME.


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## Sourdough

:2thumb:.......I'll just stick with the "SAILOR BOY" brand Pilot Bread.........:2thumb:


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## gypsysue

ReconCraftTheta, would they keep longer if you vacuum sealed them? I wonder if the recipe could be tweaked to make them more tasty and not compromise the shelf life?


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## ReconCraftTheta

*Wrapping them*

I geuss if you think about it, they prob would, hehe. Compared to the Pangea Wheat Snack Bread of MRE's, which is still moist, and vacuum tight, this is dry, and if you vacuum pack them, it probobleey would preserve them for an extended period of time


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## Emerald

I wonder if you could add herbs and spices like garlic and onion powder and other nice flavoring to make them more palatable in the long run,, The garlic flavored ones could be ground up and used to thicken any kind of soups and stews or even used in eggs to stretch a few eggs into a meal for more than just a couple of folks.
I bake all of my own breads and even tortillas, pitas and have even made my own croissants!( have to do them only for special occasions, I put on 5lbs in a week) The next thing I plan to conquer is the crackers- why should I spend so much and have to label read to avoid MSG when I probably have all the needed ingredients here at home.
While searching recipes hardtack comes up all the time. and if my flour was in danger of being spoiled some how and had to be used up, I can see hardtack as being a valuable thing to make and use. I did find a MSG free cheese powder that I can eat on popcorn, I wonder if you could add cheese to any of the crackers and still have them be long storing?


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## gypsysue

Recon...you said in the mystery truck thread that you're a teenager. And in this thread you've made hardtack. And you were visiting your Grandma in that other thread.

Makes my heart melt. Wish you were my grandson, too! Great to see young people doing things like that.


And Emerald...what great ideas, to add cheese powder to them (let me know how that works!) and to make homemade crackers. I made crackers once and mine will never take the place of Saltines!


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## Magus

ReconCraftTheta said:


> I recently found a recipe online for Civil War Hardtack. I made two squares up, and wrapped them. I suppose they keep for a long time, and are a cheeper substitute to MRE's. The only draw back I can find is the taste, and that they dont keep as long as MRE's.
> There's the link.
> 
> [URL]http://www.gone-ta-pott.com/hard_tack_sea_biscuits.html


Mix in a bit of dehydrated beef or chicken broth,only drawback is it cuts the storage life to only a few months.


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## catsraven

Yuck Hardtack. In the Civil War they would dip it in bacon grease to soften it, the calories helped too. There not very nutritious ether. But they do keep one with the feeling of being full and are cheap to make. 

A friend of mine said to me when I made them the first time that Hardtack was inedible. Again they can be a life saver if your provisions are low. I myself would eat them only as a life saver.


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## Emerald

OH yum-- Saltines--one of my favorite snacks--saltines with good butter. That is what I want to learn to make is saltines. But if i do figure out how to make a decent cracker I'll let ya all know. lol


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## gypsysue

saltines with good butter...:2thumb: My problem was getting them rolled thin enough. Basically they were like biscuits rolled thin like pie crust, and kind of "heavy" in consistency, not light and crispy like real crackers. And real butter on real crackers....MMMMM!


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## Emerald

gypsysue said:


> saltines with good butter...:2thumb: My problem was getting them rolled thin enough. Basically they were like biscuits rolled thin like pie crust, and kind of "heavy" in consistency, not light and crispy like real crackers. And real butter on real crackers....MMMMM!


I have a tortilla press and was planning on making smaller "clumps" or balls of dough and squishing them with the press. Or borrowing my friends pasta roller like Alton Brown did on Good Eats. He ran it thru the pasta machine till it was thin.
I have a recipe for Lavash that kinda tastes like saltines but I too made them too thick and they burnt a bit before getting cracker like... But I just got the Tortilla press and haven't tried it yet. But I am gonna! If it works I will make sure to put up the recipe and the method.


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## gypsysue

Thanks, Emerald, and good luck with the toritlla press! I eagerly await your results!


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## roaringaslan

*more to hardtack*

isn't hardtack technically any food that stores for a "longtime", suck as...like jerky, or dried cod often used on long overseas voyages by early explorers?


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## catsraven

No, Hardtack is a flour based baked food, if food is what you want to call it lol. Its made with flour, salt, water, baking powder or soda or a mix of the two. Some put sugar in it or other things to make it taste better. Some times its just flour and water.

Jerky is jerky, dried cod is dried cod.


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## Emerald

If figures that now that I want to make something and had a good idea of how to go about it, it is above 90 freaking degrees today! no baking today, but I might make some fresh tortillas on the griddle, that is not too hot I think.
Hardtack has such a long history of being edge of survival food I almost feel sorry for it.(that would probably change if I had to eat it tho)


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## NaeKid

Emerald - at that temperature, I am sure that using a solar-oven might just do the trick for cooking it up without cooking up the inside of your house ...


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## Emerald

NaeKid said:


> Emerald - at that temperature, I am sure that using a solar-oven might just do the trick for cooking it up without cooking up the inside of your house ...


I've thought about making one, also a solar dehydrator based on the Appalachian dehydrator. We have plenty of sun here in MI, unless you want to dry your laundry on the line, hehehe then it rains for several days straight!
Another neat trick I was told about at another forum was to use my crock-pot but plug it in outside on the deck or porch.. You can make quite a few things in the old crock-pot and it really works well outside as long as you don't have problems with neighborhood dogs.


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## gypsysue

Sigh...it's hard to believe it's summer somewhere! In the last 5 nights we had frost 3 nights (had to cover all the sensitive things in the garden), haven't seen the sun, and the highest daytime temp was in the 60's. Supposed to warm up soon and act like summer.

We ordered a solar oven and used it last week for the first time. It worked great. I know, I know, we could have easily made a solar oven! We talked about it for a couple years, then when someone gave us an amazon gift card for Christmas we decided to use it to order one (after we ordered half a dozen books!).

Anyway, we made stew in it, and after sitting in the sun for an hour the water was too hot to put a finger in. Two hours after setting it out the water was rolling in a slow boil. We used raw potatoes, carrots, and onions along with a jar of canned venison chunks. After 5 hours the veggies were soft.

If you're going to use a slow cooker, the best kind would be one of those where you can lift the ceramic crock out of the outside part. Then you could make reflectors with aluminum foil, maybe over cardboard?

Here's a picture of what we have. I guess it would be more properly called a reflector oven than a solar oven, even though it uses the sun (solar) to cook. We still plan to make a "real" solar oven someday.


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## Emerald

That sure looks good! I never buy crock pots unless the crock comes out to clean- I had one that was not like that and it was a PITA to clean!


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## sailaway

ReconCraftTheta said:


> I recently found a recipe online for Civil War Hardtack. I made two squares up, and wrapped them. I suppose they keep for a long time, and are a cheeper substitute to MRE's. The only draw back I can find is the taste, and that they dont keep as long as MRE's.
> There's the link.
> 
> [URL]http://www.gone-ta-pott.com/hard_tack_sea_biscuits.html


I talk to alot of Civil War Reinactors who make hard tack and other foods that the troops ate back then. Some of them are a wealth of knowlege in the old ways.


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## marlas1too

ive made these before -just try adding some garlic powder or onion powder -makes a big difference and i vacuum pack them so they keep longer than mre,s


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## Emerald

I just tried to make some "saltines" boy what a dismal failure! I will try again with a different recipe but man they were awful!GACK! the chickens like them tho! I might just stick to making pita bread and then cutting it up and crisping it in the oven for pita chips.. Much better luck and flavor!


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## gypsysue

I'm glad it wasn't just me on the saltines! Mine came out like pie dough chips!

Besides saving money, one of the reasons I was trying to make my own is that I was disgusted to read the ingredients and see "High Fructose Corn Syrup". In crackers? A salty food? 

Geez! That stuff in in nearly EVERYTHING!


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## ReconCraftTheta

*Hard Tack help...*

In my opinion, as stupid as it sounds, I think maybe eating them with coffee, or maybe even cocoa if that's your fancy helps. The coffee is hot and a liquid, thusly making this 'brick cracker' a bit more pleasent to eat! Just an idea.


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## SurviveNthrive

As someone mentioned, Sailor Boy Pilot Bread is a modern equiv. It stores for years. Even without vacuum sealing, it could last an incredibly long time. Those aboard the Bounty who didn't throw in with the mutineers found themselves stuck with hard tack made decades earlier.

Now the modern canned pilot bread ought to last a long, long, long time.


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## ReconCraftTheta

How much do they run around?


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## NaeKid

ReconCraftTheta said:


> How much does SailorBoy Pilot Bread cost?


Dealer: Span Alaska
Direct link to their orderpage: Span Alaska Order Page
Phone: 1.800.367.9833

Just as an aside, it shows that they have a $100.00 minimum order and that they specialize in shipping to Alaskians from Washington state.


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## ReconCraftTheta

WELL, as about a year later, I got tuned into an updated recipe. Apperently, there's a "Swedish" (as they call it) version to this stuff. Instead of regular flour, replace it with wheat flour. Then add honey to the mixture. I'm sure the entire version (wow! complete with measurements) can be found somewheres on teh googlez.


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## OldCootHillbilly

Here be my recipe, adds a bit a flavour an hardtack should keep many years, specially ifin yall put it in a vac bag. That was there intent, a bread what would travel on ship an store fer a real long time. I use a biscuit cutter ta make mine.

2 Cup flour
1 Cup Water (actually more)
1 tsp salt
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp greek seasonin

Mixed it all tagether until the dough weren't real sticky, rolled out ta 3/8 inch thick an cut em with a biscuit cutter. Then poked holes in em with a fork an baked at 375° fer 30 minutes each side. I then rebaked em at 275° fer 30 minutes each side. Vac bagged an ready ta store. I did eat one an they got real good taste to em.

Here be what mine look like:


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## ReconCraftTheta

OldCootHillbilly said:


> Here be my recipe, adds a bit a flavour an hardtack should keep many years, specially ifin yall put it in a vac bag. That was there intent, a bread what would travel on ship an store fer a real long time. I use a biscuit cutter ta make mine.
> 
> 2 Cup flour
> 1 Cup Water (actually more)
> 1 tsp salt
> 2 tsp garlic powder
> 1 tsp greek seasonin
> 
> Mixed it all tagether until the dough weren't real sticky, rolled out ta 3/8 inch thick an cut em with a biscuit cutter. Then poked holes in em with a fork an baked at 375° fer 30 minutes each side. I then rebaked em at 275° fer 30 minutes each side. Vac bagged an ready ta store. I did eat one an they got real good taste to em.
> 
> QUOTE]
> 
> Looks tasty hillbilly... I might make a half batch of those, and a half batch of the "Swedish stuff".


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