biscuit dough

Does anybody have any ideas about making this stuff in the field?

Back in high school one summer, I went through a brief period of making biscuits before a campfire on an aluminum pie plate using bisquick and water. I don't remember how they tasted..

I've made a few in the oven recently, and they're not very good.

Don't want to bring milk, etc.. Does powdered milk work?

I like to make bicuits from scratch. I have made scones since I was a kid, and use them for making Strawberry Short Cake, or just dipping in jam or mollasses. They would work on the trail I think. Simple recipe. I've varied it a bit but its basically tea biscuits.

Flour
Skim Milk Powder
Vegetable Oil
pinch of salt
baking powder
water
sugar or honey, or currants, not totally neccessary

In winter you could substitute butter or bacon fat for oil. You could in theory make your own baking powder from wood ash. The only thing totally neccessary to bring is the flour, milk, and oil, and I am not totally sure about the milk. The hard part is not the recipe but the baking method. A hot flat rock might work.

making bannock on you tube...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9nfJoJaM0k

Better one...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxA73im44-s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8sI0wVFHCw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jMvhU1_dQk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_XsC3rosZY


This looks great...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pd29nZ_Anbc

Many ways to skin a cat.


That last one gets me to thinking...
You could make real donuts, and reuse the oil later.
I used to make donuts with my Mum also. but haven't in years.
Really good.

Definitely the way to go, for sure...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbs64GvGgPU

Find a recipe for buttermilk biscuits.

Find a container of powdered buttermilk.

At home, make the recipe through the step of cutting in the shortening. When you're mixing the dry ingredients together, add the amount of powdered buttermilk equivalent to the amount of buttermilk the recipe calls for.

On the trail, add water and, if you have it, a tsp. of vinegar (will help them be a little more fluffy, but an optional ingredient).

Voilà, buttermilk biscuits that taste a whole heck of alot better than Bisquick. You can actually use this technique to create pretty much any recipe you'd use bisquick in.

Now, if you can turn this thread into a controversy, I will bow to your ability to turn anything you want on its head. LOL <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

MNS

Thanks for the vids...

The vinegar touch sounds very interesting, though probably not super simple for on the trail. And where do you find powdered buttermilk?

I haven't been to the supermarket lately. Which is why my experiments continue in making Bisquick biscuits without milk. (Am even developing slight taste for them.)

What does Bisquick use as shortening or in lieu of shortening?

The vids on bannock in a pan aren't exactly what I have in mind but will now consider this also. Initially am interested in biscuits, a la my high school days, and also ash cake.

Not sure how to make this a controversy.....I'll try....How about: People from Alaska, or hell, people in the west, don't really know from campfire baking, because they poison themselves with the lousy, stinking fire wood they've got?

It seems a little off topic. Will it do? I guess hell's a bad word.

Powdered buttermilk is found in my area in the baking aisle. It is often found near the regular powdered milk too.

Bisquick does use shortening, in fact when it was invented it replaced the traditional biscuit fat, lard, with shortening to make it not need refrigeration. Remember shortening is just a solid form of vegetable oil; it has been hydrogenated thus the comment that comes next...

Here is one way to make it controversial, shortening (and thus bisquik) are trans fats. http://www.webmd.com/content/article/72/81813.htm

Sarbar does a really simple thing with bisquik and your pot, some water, and either a silicon baking cup or a homemade baker that fits in your pot. I've done both. Any biscuit mix that you can add water and cook would work, prolly. Go to http://www.freezerbagcooking.com/thefauxbaker.htm to check it out.

dtape.... yikes!! I better back off with the Bisquick....Not saying that I mind a little heart attack food now and then, but I've been eating it for several days now...in the kitchen.....

I hear that Ramen Noodles also have that stuff in it..... which doesn't stop me from eating it ... but not every day...Come to think of it, am hungry, having just spent much of the night chasing my girlfriend's two escaped dogs around the town & country....(with success at 7:30 a.m., after only six hours' effort). What's to eat? This is the wrong forum for me right now.....No eggs, no nothin....Bisquick?

Lori: Interesting stuff about bake packer and whatnot, and again I'd be happy to consume a LIeeTLE Bisquick here and there.... in whatever form...

But my former experience, soon to be revived.... involved Campfire Baking of biscuits.....with equipment limited to a disposable aluminum pie plate... yeah I know...waste of electricity to make aluminum...Why I wanna try ashcakes....God I stink like a dog that's been in a swamp all night.

You can always substitute Palm Oil for Crisco, though it is certainly more expensive and harder to find (it is a Health Food Store item). It has no trans fats, and as solid fats go, is much healthier than those made solid artificially. Coconut oil is also a healthier, albeit expensive, alternative for at least part of the oil.

MNS

P.S. You're gonna have to try harder on making this controversial, like calling us weenies for being concerned about the health effects of trans fats. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Bisquick makes another version of that product called Heart Smart. Doesn't have all the transfat and heart-stopping ingredients. I never have used it, so I'm not sure how tasty it is. But on the trail, some things like that taste down right delicious!

I'm not so absolutely sure they DO taste all that delicious.

For whatever reason I don't specifically remember, I gave them up after several experiments many years ago.

Partly I'm sure because making a campfire has always been the exception rather than the rule. Maybe omitting milk killed it. I just don't remember but want to try it again. I can tell you that my kitchen oven experiments with only water won't win any cook-off awards.

Palm oil.... hmmmm... now THERE is a controversy.... albeit one that doesn't interest me much.....Saturated fat...vs trans fat.... Take your pick....

Guys-

You know what? It is starting to look to me as if we have archived here nearly topic we could wish to discuss.

We kicked around steam baked foods several times over the years. Here is one post I made in 2004. [ #51393 - 07/15/04 07:16 PM ]

There have to be older threads on the same subject. Of course, this was before silicone bakeware and do-it-yourself videos were available. The ideas aren't new: The gear is updated. On the short-term the foil bake cups are lighter. Over a longer haul, I don't know where the balance point would be between the weights. I would like to see if the eggs and flour productgs popped out of the bakeware cleanly. The silicone bake cups I've used in my microwave have been a pain to clean at home. I would not like to try to clean them in the field.

Cool video, for sure!

CamperMom

If you can find this book:
Recipes for a Small Planet

it has some good ideas for baking and cooking in the woods.

http://www.bettycrocker.com/products/

I don't see it - is that a different manufacture?

I have been ordering from Adventure Foods

Go to their "Bulk Foods" section where they have nearly everything including powdered vinegar.

I just checked the site and it looks like they're going thru some reorganization, but it's a great company with great products.

I make pan bread on almost all of my trips. You can add just about anything to your bread (or bisquit) mix. Sometimes I add powdered cheese, sometimes brown sugar and cinamin, makes great pizza crust also...

rionada

Have they reopened for business? I thought they stopped shipping?

I didn't see an answer, so I looked this up for you.

Heart Smart is a variation of the original Bisquick. Click on the Bisquick icon, then look for the Heart Smart variety.

Regards,

CamperMom

Sorry...I've been caring for an ailing father. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

The Heart Smart version has no trans fat, and no cholesterol.

I hope your father is doing better. I have been caring for my mother, so I know what it is like.

I tried to look up nutritional info on the Heart Smart. None to be found on the Betty Crocker website. But I found it on 3rd party sites. I could not find the type of oil used and one odd thing... 2.5g total fat, 0g Saturated fat, 0.5g polyunsaturated fat, 1.5g monounsaturated fat, 0mg cholesterol. Now when I add 0.5g + 1.5g, I get 2g of total fat. So where'd the other 0.5g come from?

I sent off an inquiry to adventure foods - I'll let you know if I get a response.

rionada

thanks...dad defied death and is doing very well now.

I need to go to the grocery store and will check out the product. Maybe that 0.5 is unspecified? Either way, it can't taste very good. I would rather make a mix up at home and experiment first. Doesn't Jiffy Mix have something?

OK...Mary Jane foods makes something that might be what you are looking for. Some of her foods are pretty good.

http://products.maryjanesfarm.org/pfoshop/product.asp?dept_id=43&ProductID=420091

Here is what Adventure Foods sent regarding their business:

"Thank you for your continued interest in our foods. After 24 years, we have closed for re-organization and retirement.

We posted the note on our home page so that folks would know we are not taking any orders. We have kept the web site while we look for someone to take over the business, but it won't be this season. We do have some folks interested and we will post any changes to our web site.

You might try http://www.ldpcampingfoods.com They may have some of our foods left and they carry a variety of other companies foods as well. We apologize for the inconvenience. Have a great summer.

Jean"

Yet another kit for baking. Looks neat!

http://packitgourmet.com/Baking-Set-p203.html

Also looks like a pretty neat supplier of backpacking provisions - just ran across the link on another forum.