Ship's Biscuits

[Capt Thighbiter]

We are thinking of making a close approximation of the ships biscuits used aboard vessels, to give to patrons. Anyone have a recipe or a link to a recipe? Thanks in advance!

Now, where can I get fake edible maggots and grubs?

[Matty Bottles]

Here.

[Graydog]

Recipe

To produce a similar plain ships biscuit, a medium coarse stone-ground wholemeal flour should be used.

Add water to 1lb wholemeal flour and 1/4oz salt to make a stiff dough. Leave for 1/2 hour and then roll out very thickly. Separate in to 5 or 7 biscuits. Bake in a hot oven approx. 420 degrees F for 30 minutes. The biscuits should then be left undisturbed in a warm dry atmosphere to harden and dry out.

Biscuits are still purchased for the Ministry of Defence for use in operational ration packs but not for general messing.

Royal Naval Museum

Then again if you just want to buy them- here ya go:

Bent's Cookie Factory

[Blackbead]

Check out http://www.kenanderson.net/hardtack/recipes.html since I'm pretty sure that the recipe for hardtack (Soldier Bread) is not all that different from you're looking for. I even have a metal form for making them that comes with a punch that has nails where the holes should be in the crackers. We had a contest at an event one time and guys were bringing them in with berries in them, cinammon, rice krispies to replace the maggots, all sorts of things. I'll try to find the website where I bought the press but it isn't that hard to do just cutting out the pieces and then sticking them with a toothpick. I do recall that the winner had stored his 'tack in the freezer for while, wrapped in foil in a ziplock bag. The idea is to completely eliminate ALL moisture from the biscuit.

Blackbead

[MadL]

replace the maggots??? Why would they do that, maggots are a great source o' protein ye know! Besides, they kinda tickle when they go down...I dare anyone t' eat a hardtack biscuit without smiling!

[Blackbead]

That's only if they have teeth left.

Of course, the maggots/weevils that I'm talking about were in the meal before they made the hardtack. When they cook the stuff, the little buggers shrivel a bit and get crunchy. That's why the krispies worked as a stand-in.

[casketchris]

ive made hard tack in the past for civil war reenacting i just remember having to bake the like two or three times and then them being hard as a rock

[Mission]

There's a much easier way to make ship's biscuit. Check out this link.

[Capt Thighbiter]

Thanks people! Thats exctly what I am looking for. The 'danes at the Faires and Invasions we perform at are in for a real surprize!

And Mission, I just might slip in a biscuit made from that 'stone ground stone' in there , by way of comparitive taste and consistitency.

[Salty]

hmmmmmmm i had a hardtack recipe somewhere, but here is a 17th century bread for refernce to any who want it, and i will go back a look for the hardtack. Also have seen one for very good irish soda bread that may work as well. will try to find that as well mates.

17th century bread

[Salty]

hardtack

from the gunner doing some searching

[Littleneckhalfshell]

I am giving a shot at making 'ship's biscuit' today.

I have checked a lot of recipe sites and from what I found, (feel free to refute any of it)

Ship's Biscuit, or hard bread, and a host of other names, was different depending on the time period.

It is not supposed to be made with anything but the flour and water, no, not even salt.

It was not called hardtack until after the war of 1812, so that term is not really proper for GAOP

It was not made with 'white' flour until sometime in the 1800's - coarse milled whole wheat flour is what it should be for GAOP

It was usually round in the earlier form, (which I think is what our period is) and later on could be square or hexagonal

It was different sizes in different time periods, bigger earlier and smaller later. Civil war 3.25" and I think in Nelson's time.

but for earlier, it could be 4.5" to 6"

Anyway, after all that, I went for a 4.5" round, roughly half inch thick, dough made of Graham flour, which is a coarse ground whole wheat flour. Not sure how far off that will make it, as Graham flour has the three parts ground separate from one another and then mixed back, the endosperm, starch portion ground fine. Anyway, I am giving it a try.

4 cups of the coarse graham flour,

1.5 cups water

Made the dough in a Kitchen Aid mixer with a dough hook, kneaded for 15 min. after the initial mixing and ten min. rest.

punched holes in both sides with a meat tenderizer that had some 20 nail points on it.

And now baking the heck out of it, I have heard baking instructions all over the chart from high to low heat, so I am going for

three hours at 250 F. and then leaving it in the oven over night. Baking it on a pizza stone, as I figured that a tile would be more like what the oven was like back then, rather than a cookie sheet.

anyone else done this? or can steer me in a better direction for the next batch? The bag of flour ( one pound, eight ounces) made 7 biscuits. I have another bag that can be another batch if this one turns out ok.

[Dutchman]

oh thighbighter you dont want to give them fresh biscuts. i have some left over from last year, might even have some two year olds mixed in as well. now whats the shipping on five pounds of rocks?

[Littleneckhalfshell]

I got mine out of the oven and tried to break one in half just using my hands. I couldn't do it! I had to hit it with the back side of a big meat cleaver to bust it in half and then with further blows into smaller chunks. I was able to 'gnaw' a bit on a small chunk and finally finished it. If I had molded them into star shapes, they might double as lethal weapons. I always thought the stories were a little bit 'over the top' regarding the difficulty of eating ship's biscuit, but now I am a believer.