{"id":105689,"date":"2019-07-25T11:05:03","date_gmt":"2019-07-25T16:05:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/?p=105689"},"modified":"2021-06-04T12:48:50","modified_gmt":"2021-06-04T17:48:50","slug":"how-to-make-civil-war-era-hardtack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/leisure\/food-drink\/how-to-make-civil-war-era-hardtack\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Make Civil War Era Hardtack"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"How<\/p>\n

Hardtack. <\/span><\/p>\n

The name sure doesn\u2019t make it seem appetizing, does it? And yet it has left an indelible mark on the edible history of the world, sustaining and fueling explorers and armies for a few hundred years between the 16th and 19th centuries.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Not quite bread, not quite a biscuit, hardtack is a hard (<\/span>very<\/span><\/i> hard; often rock-like, in fact), dry, and unleavened foodstuff that is most comparable to a thick cracker. It\u2019s made with a rolled dough that is best described as parched, and it\u2019s baked for a comparatively long time in order to eek out every last bit of moisture while also hardening the end product. This process is what makes hardtack nearly un-spoilable. There\u2019s just nothing in it to go bad. <\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s inexpensive to make, requiring just flour, water, and salt. It\u2019s lightweight, easily packable, and damn near indestructible, able to withstand severe jostling (like in a ship\u2019s hold or in a soldier\u2019s haversack), as well as intense temperature fluctuations and extremes. Finally, and most importantly, it lasts forever. Specimens from the Civil War can still be found in museums and are theoretically edible (<\/span>you can watch a guy eat one from 1863 here<\/span><\/a>).  <\/span><\/p>\n

All of which makes hardtack the perfect \u2014 albeit not-quite-enjoyable \u2014 survival foodstuff. <\/span><\/p>\n

As such, you\u2019ll find some folks making it even today as an emergency ration to have stored in the home. While modern ingredients and flavorings are often added, those actually decrease its shelf life. It\u2019s not like you\u2019re going for flavor in that scenario anyway, so why bother? Many folks will stick to the original recipe and store hardtack for years and years, and that\u2019s what I\u2019m going to show you how to do. <\/span><\/p>\n

Beyond preparing it as a survival item, it\u2019s fun to do just to get a literal taste of history; you can eat basically the same thing that soldiers and ocean-going explorers ate hundreds of years ago. That\u2019s kinda cool.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Before getting to the recipe though, let\u2019s take a quick look at that history. <\/span><\/p>\n

A Brief History of Hardtack <\/span><\/h3>\n
\"Hardtack<\/a>

A piece of hardtack, alongside a butter knife, fork, and spoon from the Civil War mess kit of a Union soldier.<\/p><\/div>\n

While dry unleavened bread products have been around basically as long as civilization, hardtack as we know it really gained steam with Europeans as they crossed the Atlantic to survey the New World in the 1500s. Back then it was often called cabin bread, sea biscuits, ship biscuits, and more. (Though behind the cook\u2019s back it was often called dog biscuits, molar breakers, sheet iron, and tooth dullers.) Hardtack was a staple of the Royal Navy all the way through the mid-1800s and was often manufactured in bulk many months prior to ingestion. <\/span><\/p>\n

As the exploration and settlement of the American landscape increased, so did the production of hardtack for both sea voyages and long overland trips. It was particularly useful on the epic wagon trains to the West, especially as gold and silver were found in California and then the Rocky Mountain region. Few rations could hold up as well on such lengthy journeys. <\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, most people\u2019s notion of hardtack comes from the Civil War. It fed soldiers in both the blue and gray, sustaining them on long marches and campaigns with biscuits that in some cases had been in storage since the Mexican-American War <\/span>of the mid-1840s<\/span><\/i>. As one soldier ruefully recounted, since fresh foods were obviously hard to come by, hardtack was an ever-present companion in the camps:<\/span><\/p>\n

We are living very high nowadays, have pork, hardtack and coffee for breakfast and of course for dinner coffee, hardtack, and pork for change. Then for supper we have a little coffee, pork, and fried hardtack. <\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Later on in the war, as resources dwindled for both the North and the South, it was common for whole days to pass with men subsisting on just a few 3×3\u201d pieces of hardtack and some coffee \u2014 usually together. Indeed, the biscuits were often so tooth-chippingly hard that they would have to be dipped in some liquid \u2014 water, broth, and especially coffee \u2014 or broken up by a rock or the butt of a gun and cooked in grease to make a kind of mash. <\/span><\/p>\n

After the Civil War, while America was focused on Reconstruction (rather than exploration) and decreasing the size of the army, hardtack didn\u2019t have much use. It was briefly seen again during the Spanish-American War at the end of the 19th century, though Theodore Roosevelt said that the humid, moist Cuban environment often turned the crackers moldy. Hardtack then fell out of use as preservation methods improved and the military focused on providing its servicemen with foods more palatable than what amounted to baked flour. (<\/span>Many WWII soldiers would argue, of course, that Spam wasn\u2019t such a great improvement!<\/span><\/a>) <\/span><\/p>\n

While nearly always alluded to with derision and sarcasm, hardtack literally kept men alive for hundreds of years, through world-crossing ocean voyages, long overland explorations, and military engagements. <\/span><\/p>\n

Now, let\u2019s learn how to make it. Whether preparing as a batch for survival prep, or just for the sake of seeing what it\u2019s like, I guarantee you\u2019ll have some fun. <\/span><\/p>\n

How to Make Civil War Era Hardtack<\/span> <\/h3>\n

There isn\u2019t really an agreed-upon ratio of flour to water (or salt either). This is a \u201crecipe\u201d that, unless made in a factory, is different every time it\u2019s made. Can you imagine pioneers or hardened Civil War soldiers measuring out precise amounts? Of course not. They\u2019d mix some water into a pile of flour until it came together just enough to be baked. <\/span><\/p>\n

That said, below is a starting point to use that should make about 15 crackers. <\/span><\/p>\n

Ingredients<\/h3>\n