So you think you can make a biscuit? I remember years ago going on a vacation to a small cottage in the mountains of Tennessee with a family friend. I remember his mother working on a old wood burning stove making bacon, eggs, oatmeal and these biscuits that you could not just eat one of. In fact you had to nearly fight to get only a second when you wanted to get at least four. To say they were incredible would be an understatement. I was told the secret was good, real butter, buttermilk and bacon grease.
For thirty years I have been trying, and waiting, to find the perfect biscuit. What sparked my quest was going to a camp out in Southern Ohio for a VW Bus camp out with over sixty Vintage VW Buses. All sorts of People from all walks of life go to these frequent camp outs. I happen to be one of the multiple that attend many of these events. There is a large community breakfast for the whole bunch of campers where everyone pitches in and brings their own dish. So there I standing there manning one of the multiple grills with 3 big steaming coffee pots percolating some cowboy style coffee. Looking around just watching all the other master camping chefs do their magic. I happen to have parked my grill of assorted coffee things right next to this very large southern lady in full hippie garb spreading a brand new black plastic bag over the picnic table for a clean working surface. She then grabs self-rising flour from a local mill in Ohio and some fresh butter milk. She then starts mixing her flour, buttermilk, and sugar just until it looks good. Then she tosses the mixture onto the trash bag and finishes the mix by folding it in more flour. Going over to the bacon station where bacon grease (liquid gold) is being collected. She scoops up about a half a cup of the bacon grease and pours some of the grease that was cool enough into the mixture that will soon be biscuits and the rest into a 14” Lodge cast iron skillet that was hot from sitting on a rack over a open fire. She ripped the blob of mix into smaller blobs flattened them quickly by hand setting them in the skillet with the hot bacon grease lightly sizzling as she puts the almost biscuit. When done she puts the cast iron lid on the skillet and sets in on the rack, looks at her Mickey Mouse watch and starts a second batch on her black trash bag. Eight minutes later she pulls the skillet off the fire and sets it aside for the second batch to go on. The first skillet sits covered for a few minutes and I stand there eagerly awaiting what might be inside. The lid was finally removed and I was beside myself. I tried not to push people away to get one. They looked so good! This started my personal quest to build my own “perfect biscuit”.
So, my personal quest began, online recipes all were not very good from the hard tasteless Hockey puck to the doughy blob that burns on the bottom. First I needed the tools so off I went to get the Lodge cast iron skillet. Once I got the tools and made a final trip to the store for the ingredients. I then put it all together and found that it just did not compare. Did the black trash bag on a picnic table make that much of difference. I didn’t quite figure out what I was doing wrong. Finally I was just desperate enough to try good old Bisquick out of the big yellow box. Dropped it into the oven after heating the skillet with a couple scoops of Bacon Grease. The biscuits turned out okay, but not as good as I wanted it to be.
This quest started only a few years ago and I have realised that the easiest and best way to recreate my teenage biscuit… Simple Bisquick out of the yellow box. Follow the Bisquick basic biscuit directions. Use milk or buttermilk, personally I prefer Buttermilk. All the fat nothing reduced. Once you have it all mixed together you can add a little pinch of sugar and it seems to make them rise and taste that extra amount better. Get the skillet hot on the stove top with bacon grease not quite burning. Press the biscuits flat and drop them into the hot bacon grease. The oven was preheated at 450 degrees and the biscuits uncovered are placed on the rack. Eight minutes later and you're in biscuit heaven. Brush with melted butter hot out of the oven and serve with honey or your choice of Herb butters or anything you would want with your biscuit. The Biscuit is not for the health conscious people by any means but if you want a biscuit that you want to dump some Gravy on this is the one you want.
For thirty years I have been trying, and waiting, to find the perfect biscuit. What sparked my quest was going to a camp out in Southern Ohio for a VW Bus camp out with over sixty Vintage VW Buses. All sorts of People from all walks of life go to these frequent camp outs. I happen to be one of the multiple that attend many of these events. There is a large community breakfast for the whole bunch of campers where everyone pitches in and brings their own dish. So there I standing there manning one of the multiple grills with 3 big steaming coffee pots percolating some cowboy style coffee. Looking around just watching all the other master camping chefs do their magic. I happen to have parked my grill of assorted coffee things right next to this very large southern lady in full hippie garb spreading a brand new black plastic bag over the picnic table for a clean working surface. She then grabs self-rising flour from a local mill in Ohio and some fresh butter milk. She then starts mixing her flour, buttermilk, and sugar just until it looks good. Then she tosses the mixture onto the trash bag and finishes the mix by folding it in more flour. Going over to the bacon station where bacon grease (liquid gold) is being collected. She scoops up about a half a cup of the bacon grease and pours some of the grease that was cool enough into the mixture that will soon be biscuits and the rest into a 14” Lodge cast iron skillet that was hot from sitting on a rack over a open fire. She ripped the blob of mix into smaller blobs flattened them quickly by hand setting them in the skillet with the hot bacon grease lightly sizzling as she puts the almost biscuit. When done she puts the cast iron lid on the skillet and sets in on the rack, looks at her Mickey Mouse watch and starts a second batch on her black trash bag. Eight minutes later she pulls the skillet off the fire and sets it aside for the second batch to go on. The first skillet sits covered for a few minutes and I stand there eagerly awaiting what might be inside. The lid was finally removed and I was beside myself. I tried not to push people away to get one. They looked so good! This started my personal quest to build my own “perfect biscuit”.
So, my personal quest began, online recipes all were not very good from the hard tasteless Hockey puck to the doughy blob that burns on the bottom. First I needed the tools so off I went to get the Lodge cast iron skillet. Once I got the tools and made a final trip to the store for the ingredients. I then put it all together and found that it just did not compare. Did the black trash bag on a picnic table make that much of difference. I didn’t quite figure out what I was doing wrong. Finally I was just desperate enough to try good old Bisquick out of the big yellow box. Dropped it into the oven after heating the skillet with a couple scoops of Bacon Grease. The biscuits turned out okay, but not as good as I wanted it to be.
This quest started only a few years ago and I have realised that the easiest and best way to recreate my teenage biscuit… Simple Bisquick out of the yellow box. Follow the Bisquick basic biscuit directions. Use milk or buttermilk, personally I prefer Buttermilk. All the fat nothing reduced. Once you have it all mixed together you can add a little pinch of sugar and it seems to make them rise and taste that extra amount better. Get the skillet hot on the stove top with bacon grease not quite burning. Press the biscuits flat and drop them into the hot bacon grease. The oven was preheated at 450 degrees and the biscuits uncovered are placed on the rack. Eight minutes later and you're in biscuit heaven. Brush with melted butter hot out of the oven and serve with honey or your choice of Herb butters or anything you would want with your biscuit. The Biscuit is not for the health conscious people by any means but if you want a biscuit that you want to dump some Gravy on this is the one you want.