Ship's Bisket - Hard Tack: 18th Century Breads, Part 1.

Bread Part 1 - Ship's Bisket AKA Hardtack - from our 18th century cooking series at Jas. Townsend and son.
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Ship's Bisket - Hard Tack: 18th Century Breads, Part 1. S2E12

[LD-hyps]

“These biscuits were not made to be enjoyed, they were made out of necessity.”

That’s a very polite way of saying they taste terrible.

[greedfox]

in fifth grade I made hard tak as a part of an american history project...
I saw my teacher a decade later and he said he still had my hard tak, and he used it as an example of how it was supposed to be made because so many students had messed up the recipe over the years.
shout out to Mr. steve, art space school - NC, you were the best teacher I ever had.

[beansman]

He kept one knowing he could make content out of it a decade later. I love this guy

[blarfnugle]

"only lasts a year"

Tell this to SteverMRE1989 who just ate a piece of civil war hardtack that was 153 years old.

[RealMisterDoge]

That snap at the end was actually his teeth breaking, not the bisket

[SapShoes]

It's amazing that this content was made in 2012 at this level of quality and I'm just now seeing it. You were WAY ahead of your time, brother.

[AverchenkoMiroslav]

When I was younger I read "The treasure Island" and other similar books in their spanish translation. In them, biskets were referred as "galletas" which can also translate to "cookies", and I pictured them to be of the chocolate chip kind. This video shed some light on why the sailors and pirates got mad when they had "cookies".

[klmccune]

I made some ships biscuits 4 years ago just for fun, one of them has been on the counter since, looks just the same as when it was made.

[nowhereman]

My grandfather (my mother's father) went to sea for the first time at 12 years old in 1900. He traveled from Norway to the orient and nearly every port in between. When at port he would play his concertina for tips.
Fifty years later, after years at sea and after immigrating to the U.S. in the mid teens. He and my grandmother were sitting at the dinner table with my mom and dad. My dad noticed that my grandfather did something curious while he ate. While eating his meal, my grandfather would have his bread in one hand the entire time. Even more curious to my father, he would tap his bread constantly giving it an occasional glance. After dinner my dad couldn't hold back any longer and asked him why he did that with his bread. My grandfather smiled and told my dad that he really didn't realize what he was doing as it had become a habit from his seafaring days. He explained that hardtack was a staple on board ship and that it was always infested with weevils. That weevils are disturbed by the tapping and will exit the hardtack. By watching the bread one could tell when it's safe to take a bite. My grandfather had that habit of tapping his bread when he was not aware of it until the day he died.

[claudemountain]

8:26 That "Mmm!" was the moment he felt one of his teeth snap.

[digitramch]

i just want to see this man live a happy life

[tuppybrill]

Astonishingly, this video is still good after ten years, it hasn't deteriorated at all.

[a]

"sometimes used the ground up hardtack as flour"

Sailors/colonists: I just used bread... to make bread.

[Phoenixesper]

You know whats amazing? Had cooks just added a trace of cinnamon to their hard tack back in the 17th and 18th century, Which was available, It would have been almost impervious to insects, as most insects (Roaches in particular) are repelled by by cinamon and won't eat anything that reeks of it.

[Crimthann]

My son and I just made these about a week ago and dried them out bone dry. His History Teacher wanted them to bring items from the past and he remembered watching the episode with me. Needless to say no one was overly impressed. But, they did enjoy throwing them on the ground and watching them bounce or shatter. They remind me of grape nuts. I plan on sharing them at my next Trail Life camp out. Thank you!

[jlsgarage]

So the objective is to make the food so unappetizing bacteria and bugs wont eat it so you can

[jebediahkerman]

I, for one, am suspicious of food that goes "clank"

[marilenemamaclay]

He looks like a gentler version of Gordon Ramsey

[trolls]

I once heard of a man who ate a piece of hardtack and bit into something soft it turned out to be a tenpenny nail

[jeremiahmiller]

"The dwarf bread was brought out for inspection. But it was miraculous, the dwarf bread. No one ever went hungry when they had some dwarf bread to avoid. You only had to look at it for a moment, and instantly you could think of dozens of things you’d rather eat. Your boots, for example. Mountains. Raw sheep. Your own foot."