Anyone have homemade biscuits tips?

Question

I live in Kansas at about 2000 feet elevation. (I don't know if that matters but I've tried so much, I'm starting to wonder what affects baking at what doesn't.). I am STRUGGLING with homeade biscuits. I have made biscuits 10-12 times, each time modifying something I did before, with little luck. I've tried:

Better Homes and Gardens recipes - milk and buttermilk
self-rising flour
all purpose flour
real butter
margarine
real butter/crisco combo
just crisco
Firm kneeding (10-12 strokes)
Medium kneeding (3-5 strokes)
Almost no kneeding (dump, flatten dough, cut)
Greased pan
Non-greased pan
Baking inch-apart on cookie sheet
Baking butted up to each other in cake pan

Any advice, let me know. Any awesome recipes, let me know. I just want golden brown, flaky homeade biscuits that rise, that's all. I am tired of flat or hard, seriously crumbly, seriously runny, etc.

Any thoughts, let me know!

Answer 1

Any biscuit recipe will do, but I like the one from the Fanny Farmer cookbook.

If you don't use lard (which is pork fat and not good for you) you must approximate the texture of lard, because lard is firm at room temperature and makes extremely flaky, light and tender biscuits.

To get this texture without using lard, you must refrigerate your fat and cut it into small pea-sized pieces with the flour/salt/baking powder mixture and use ice water to avoid melting the fat when you mix up your biscuits.

Then, when you roll them out, use a light touch and only roll them enough to get them flat enough to cut; don't abuse them and raise the gluten in the flour, melt the fat, and turn them into the texture of hard rocks.

After that, when you cut them into biscuit shapes, use a cold glass or metal cutter, and continue the 'light touch' requirement.

Don't manhandle the biscuits. Handle them as little as possible; pick them up gently and place them in their final baking spot the FIRST time.

Put them in a HOT oven, well preheated, don't overbake and then enjoy your biscuits!

Answer 2

Start off by measuring your ingredients exactly. Then one of the "secrets" is to make sure your butter/fat is super cold. Even throw it in the freezer before hand cause if it gets too warm, it'll start to melt and therefore won't do it's job. Having the chunks of butter left intact helps to create the flakiness. The best way to start off the dough is to pulse the flour and fat together in a food processor (pea size crumbs). It's quick and easy. Whatever liquid may be added to the batter, make sure it is super cold as well. Be very careful not to add too much liquid! Mix the dough til it JUST STARTS to come together. Only kneed it a couple times. Handling the dough too much will cause the biscuits to come out too hard. Be very gentle with it! And last but not least, when you are cutting your biscuits, dip the cutter in flour and push straight down. Never twist the cutter because doing so will prevent the biscuits from rising.

As for recipes or ingredients... I always use real butter, never margarine or crisco!!!!!!! Try a recipe for cream biscuits, they are really easy.

Hope these tips can help you and good luck!

Answer 3

I don't have a recipe other than the one on Bisquick, which are pretty crumbly and salty. So I will watch this question for a good recipe. But, I have heard on the cooking shows that when you cut the dough with a glass or a biscuit cutter, don't turn the cutter, just press down for the cut. I'm not sure why, but they all say this.

Answer 4

My Mom made the best biscuits from scratch. She started with a big mound about four cups of self rising flour and put her fist in the top of it making a depression large enough to put buttermilk and cooking oil into. She mixed this up by hand and kneaded it very lightly. She said that was the key to light biscuits. Don't knead over two or three times ending up with a soft dough about a half inch thick and cut out rounds with a floured juice glass. She poured about a half cup of vegetable oil in a cookie sheet with sides and coated both sides of the biscuits with the oil and baked them in a hot oven. This made a nice brown crust on both sides.

Answer 5

I always use the recipe on the back of the bisquit box and it comes out alright by just following the instructions. I also when I dont care about the added calories will dip the biscuits into melted butter with garlic powder before baking them. It adds great flavor.

Answer 6

Try this recipe, it worked for me when I lived in KC, MO.

Better Buttermilk Biscuits Recipe courtesy Tyler Florence
Show: Food 911
Episode: Better Biscuits-Sarasota FL/Lady Marmalade-Cathedr

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_11786,00.html?rsrc=search

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup vegetable shortening, chilled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3/4 cup buttermilk

In a mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients together with a fork. Cut in the shortening using a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center and add buttermilk. Quickly fold dry ingredients into buttermilk with your hands until a sticky dough forms.
Turn dough out onto floured surface. Gently fold the dough over itself 3 or 4 times to create layers. Roll dough out to 3/4-inch thick. Cut with a 3-inch biscuit cutter. Transfer dough rounds to a sheet pan. Gather scraps and repeat. Make a dimple in the center to help the top rise evenly. Brush with butter. Bake for 15 minutes in a preheated 400 degree oven until golden brown.

Answer 7

Excellent recipe from Charles, and it is true, the less you handle the dough, the better it is.

Answer 8

Who?

Answer 9

Try bisquick, (then hide the box)