I cooked Hardtack today: an everlasting food

originally posted by: Skid Mark
I had some from the liquor store but it's not the same as shine.

Good blockade whisky is qualitatively different than what you get from the liquor store in a fruit jar. I'm not sure why they can't make a decent commercial blockade, but so far I haven't found one.

originally posted by: DenyObfuscation
a reply to: Phage
Have you tried dipping it in some grape soul?

Call it a Virginia Slim Jim.

Cognac?
Even if you're just talking brandy, that is a sin!

Alternatively, you could just buy some Pilot Bread...

If I had to describe pilot bread, I’d call it a salt-less saltine, but with a tougher texture. While the bread is hard, it is easily bitten off, and the texture is much softer than the traditional recipe hardtack I make. Pilot bread also has fewer crumbs than a standard saltine. A nice feature is the durability – pilot bread with peanutbutter and/or fruit jam stands up well to travel in a daypack.

Pilot bread is a common storage food item in Hawaii, and Alaska and The Diamond Bakery “Saloon Pilot” cracker is available in many stores. Sailor Boy brand Pilot Bread is well-known in the Northwest United States and Alaska, and I got mine at the local Food 4 Less.

Link

The stuff lasts forever if you keep it dry. I've made little mini pizza's with sauce, cheese, and pepperoni. It's also not to bad with peanut butter and jam...both of which have long shelf lives of their own.

Here, its sold at the grocery store next to all the other crackers. SPAM and Pilot Bread...

a reply to: Ghost147
My makes that every Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter.
We don't call it hardtack, we call them rolls.

Sorry Mom, but it's the truth.

a reply to: MystikMushroom

It's also not to bad with peanut butter and jam.

Indeed!
Also a wonderful seasickness remedy. From experience. Though guava jelly would be preferable to jam of any sort.

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: Ghost147
Jerky is marinated and smoked. I think.

Though I always have had a hard time keeping it lit.

Marinated and dehydrated.

I make homemade beef jerky all the time. Take it with us on campouts with the Boy Scouts. I can't keep enough of it as they descend on it like sharks! Most end up never getting store bought jerky again.

I couldn't tell you how long it lasts, all though the key is to get it as dry as possible and then sealed up.

I've done many variations, but my basic recipe is:

2 pounds of thinly cut beef (your choice of what).
1 cup of soy sauce
1 cup of worcestershire sauce
Teaspoon of liquid smoke (optional).

Soak the meat in it over night, or for at least 9 hours.
Dump the liquid and pat dry the meat. Place on a dehydrator and run it, which can take several hours depending on how dry you want it, with the idea that the drier it is, the longer it will last.

I've done many others with different sauces, but this one here has had just about any that try it, swear off store bought jerky.

originally posted by: Skid Mark
a reply to: forkedtongue
I've had regular shine but haven't been lucky enough to have apple pie yet; not the real stuff anyway. I had some from the liquor store but it's not the same as shine.

It's authentic, but expensive.

Not sure how it's made, but it is good stuff.

Smells great tastes amazing.

Gotta be careful though, it's got a real kick.

originally posted by: Granite
a reply to: Ghost147

Identical thread Hardtack

This thread is more about asking what other types of everlasting foods there are, than presenting the discover/recipe for hardtack

a reply to: eriktheawful

Store bought is...no...just no.

Smoking is, I think, accelerated drying. My dad made smoked venison (and ahi, and ono, and mahimahi). All very fine eating (in addition to being protein and oil). He got the soak pretty much down and experimented with different woods. Some woods were not so good, made your palate itchy.

We also just plain dried fish (brine soaked).

We ate it all before we could find out how long it would actually last but sometimes it had grown a bit of green "fur". That didn't bother us much.

Those 3 basic ingredients - flour, salt and water are also the basic ingredients in playdough. There's a reason Hardtack was also known as tooth dullars and other derogatory dental names. It should always be soaked in something prior to eating or you could damage a tooth or two.

Hardtack is a good thing to make ahead of time and store. It's definitely better to be used as a dunking item in coffee or broths. I imagine you could re-powder it, add some water and oil and make a tortilla if you had a pan and some heat. Just a thought. If people take the time to see what edible plant life in their area was, they could survive for some time on lawn type grasses, dandelion weeds, hardtack and water. Dandelions, clover and many yard weeds contain protein as well as other nutrients.

DP

a reply to: Phage

Yah, see, I have no idea how long it lasts.....because I can't keep people for eating it. If I hide it from everyone.....then I end up eating it!

Some things we're just not meant to know I guess...

a reply to: StoutBroux

yeah, I can see how hardtack could be broken down into a powdered form again, definitely

I tried the hardtack dry, and I can certainly see why dentists would say that. I'd like to experiment with different 'dips' that it could be good for. So far I've heard of Milk, Gravy, Coffee, and broth. I'm not a coffee person, but I'd like to test out all the other options.

Perhaps I'll make some chicken soup today and try it out

originally posted by: visitedbythem
I think wheat grains last a real long time. I have mylar nags full of grain in buckets, and a bosch electric grain mill. Hard tack sounds cool. I also like yeast bread. I droped a chunk of dry ice into my buckets then filled them with rice and beans. Hundreds of pounds. Im sure macaroni products last too. I have buckets od pound bags od spagetti and all types of macaroni. That is some good stuff.

Yes, and cheap.
Kroger routinely has .50 cent a pound cremmette pasta a couple of times a year.

Dollar tree has 2 pound bags of dried pinto beans for $1 (browns brand).

a reply to: Bedlam
I've seen recipes online but they called for using vodka, instead of distilling it like shine. I don't know why they just don't call it vodka lol.

originally posted by: Skid Mark
a reply to: Bedlam
I've seen recipes online but they called for using vodka, instead of distilling it like shine. I don't know why they just don't call it vodka lol.

Weird. Vodka and blockade are totally different in flavor and character.

Well made blockade whisky has a lot less 'alcohol' character than you'd expect. There's also a distinct flavor that I would almost describe as citrusy. Sort of similar to a very light tequila taste. You also generally get the impact a split second after you swallow it rather than in your mouth, you get a sort of nuclear bomb drop effect as it goes down very warm and hits your stomach with a pleasantly warm 'bang'.

It's definitely NOT lab ethanol-ish or anything like everclear. Which is what a lot of commercial shine tastes like to me.

a reply to: Bedlam

There's also a distinct flavor that I would almost describe as citrusy. Sort of similar to a very light tequila taste. You also generally get the impact a split second after you swallow it rather than in your mouth, you get a sort of nuclear bomb drop effect as it goes down very warm and hits your stomach with a pleasantly warm 'bang'.

Dammit.
I thought I was done drinkin for the night. Now you went an got me riled up agin.

a reply to: Ghost147

What other foods and other recipes do you know of that can produce everlasting food, or food that will last for years (without a special technique for storage, such as canning)?

McDonalds french fries! Lasts forever!

Here's something we'd make when backpacking. It's very calorie dense and doesn't require being kept cold. If you were to vacuum seal it, put it in a pressure cooker ... it probably would last for several years. We never had to stretch it more than a few weeks. It *does* tend to "clog" you up though, so drink a lot of water with it.

Trapper’s Oat Bread

Yield: 8 – 5-oz. trail slices
Keeps for 2 weeks in mild weather.

-1 cup Unbleached White Flour
-3-1/2 cups Oatmeal
-1/2 cup Dry Milk Powder
-1/2 cup Honey
-1 cup Butter or Margarine, softened
-1 Egg, slightly beaten
-2/3 cup Raisins
-1/2 cup Chopped Dates
-1/2 cup Sliced Almonds, Pecan Chips, or Chopped Walnuts
-Shortening

Cream together the margarine & honey. Add the slightly beaten egg & blend well.

Mix the flour, oatmeal, & dry milk in a large mixing bowl & sift the mixture with your hands until the ingredients are well combined.

Add the margarine, honey, & egg mixture to the dry ingredients in the large mixing bowl. Mix well, then add the raisins, dates, & nuts. Stir well.

Using a good load of shortening on a paper towel, grease a 9x13x2-inch cake pan. Spread the batter into the pan. Bake at 300-degrees for 45 to 50 minutes. The bread will be a warm bronze color when done.

Cut the bread into 8 slices. Let the slices cool slightly, then remove them from the pan. Allow the bread to dry on a baker’s rack for 15 to 20 minutes before wrapping in plastic or foil.

A slice of this bread spread with honey or peanut butter is a filling lunch on the trail. A half-slice makes a
good dessert after the evening meal.

originally posted by: marg6043
a reply to: Phage

Actually during the depression this type of food became the main course for families that could not afford anything else, my grandfather used to tell stories of how they will eat root vegetables boil in salty water with a dressing base in oil, garlic and peppers, sometimes that was all the food that was there to eat.

Still people survived and fat they were not.

I find it interesting that a meal that is from a tale of hardship is actually (there or thereabouts) a traditional dish in many first world countries. My family actually eat the roasted version of that a lot, not because we are poor, but because it is nice, and healthy to boot!

BBC Good Food