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The attached takes another look at the process of making edible hard tack from the work of C. L. Kilburn and E. D. Knight's "Mechanical Dictionary." Just some thoughts before you try this at home... ;)
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Michael A. Schaffner -
Re: Mechanical Bakeries and Hardtack
Very interesting. I have been considering making some hardtack, my girlfriend has a heavy duty kitchenaid mixer and a pasta roller......
While reading the history of the 35th Massachusetts it mentions that when they transferred to the west as part of the 9th Corps they started getting issued hardtack made in Cincinnati and they considered it much better than any hardtack they had been issued out east, it being a bigger cracker and better flavor to it. Wonder what they did different?
William MacDonald -
Re: Mechanical Bakeries and Hardtack
That would be interesting to find out. My first reaction was, German bakers? :) But, if we go by Kilburn other possibilities include better wheat or a more scrupulous contractor. The midwest was a big exporter of wheat (Britain got some 40% of their wheat imports from there, which might have been a factor in the balance against the loss of southern cotton), and I know at least one coffee contractor in Baltimore got a five year prison sentence for adulterating a batch he sold to the army.Originally posted by Mississippian View Post
Good luck with your batch and please let us know how it turns out. I haven't tried to make hardtack in several years, but Bent's has been out of the business for some time, which is one reason I decided to take a closer look at the process as it was back then.Michael A. SchaffnerComment
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