Hard Tack

Hard Tack (Traditional)

The Royal Navy (England) were the first to mass Hardtack as early as 1660’s.  The key to an extended shelf life is to get the as dry as possible which sometimes required them to be baked as many as 4 times.  Once “bone dry” with no trace of moisture they would last indefinitely making them a practical food to take on long sea voyages or use as army rations.

Ingredients (Authentic)

  • 2.5 C Flour (not “self-rising”)
  • 2 C Water
  • 3t Salt

Directions

  1. Mix all ingredients together is a large mixing bowl
  2. Kneed this mixture until it makes a non-sticky dough
  3. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured cookie sheet (or line the sheet with parchment paper).  Make it about 1/2″ thick and shape it into a rectangle.
  4. Cut into 3″x 3″ squares preferably with a “Hardtack Cutter” which will put perforating holes in each square which will help to bake it evenly.
  5. Bake in a preheated 350 F oven for 35 minutes.
  6. Remove from oven and place on a drying rack.
  7. Let them air-dry for 3 days.  When they are “as hard as a brick” they are done drying store in a cool DRY place.

To Eat Hardtack…

Soak the Hardtack in either milk, coffee, soup or water for about 15 minutes and either eat them directly or fry them in a buttered skillet.

 

 

To purchase an authentic Civil War era Hardtack Cutter to make your own Hardtack click HERE. 

 

 

“Hard Tack” Trail Bread
Here is the “fancy version” of Hard Tack which use more ingredients which improve the taste a bit.

Hardtack was a staple of cowboys, hikers and backwoodsmen alike, Hard Tack Trail Bread is called hard for a reason! But when you’re on the long trail, out in the back country, or putting back emergency stores, this is exactly the sort of food you’ll want to have on hand.
Made from flour, cornmeal and honey, this quick and easy bread can be made plain or jazzed up. Some recipes substituted white flour with Amaranth flour to increase the nutritional content and add a nice, nutty flavor. (You could also use acorn, millet, cattail, or any number of other “wild” flours to the same effect.) If you want to add some color to your hardtack you can use blue cornmeal.

To prolong the shelf-life of this modified type of hardtack the key here seems to be the honey. The more honey you add the harder the bread will get and, presumably, the longer it will last. It appears to act as a natural preservative and stabilizing agent, the natural antibacterial properties preventing any unwanted “growth” on the bread. When you go to finally eat your Trail Bread, dipping it in a warm liquid like coffee will soften it up and make it chew able once again.

How to make “Hard Tack” Trail Bread

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup white flour
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup cornmeal
  • 2 cups of honey
  • 1 Tablespoon of salt
  1. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees
  2. Grease a muffin ⁄ cupcake tin in preparation for the batter
  3. In a large bowl, thoroughly mix together the white flour, whole wheat flour, and cornmeal
  4. Take the 2 cups of honey and heat them carefully until the honey has become thin and runny. Do not allow it to come to a boil
  5. Pour the honey into the flour mixture and combine until the honey has been completely mixed in with the flour.  If the batter is too thick, add some hot water, a little at a a time, until the batter is of a thin enough consistency to drop off a spoon
  6. Fill each greased cupcake holder about 1⁄2 full with batter. (Makes about 18 cakes.)
    Alternatively you can make the batter a little thicker by adding less honey and roll it out on a greased cookie sheet about 1/4″ thick.  Perforate the dough with a fork to make “break-lines” after it is baked.  This is the more traditional Civil War “Hard Tack” look.
  7. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
  8. Remove from the pan and allow to cool.

This bread requires NO refrigeration and will last almost indefinitely — but once it hardens be sure to soak it in some milk or coffee or some sort of liquid first, or your teeth will regret it!

 

Tips & Tricks for making your Trail Bread:

  1. Work quickly once the honey has been added, and keep some hot water handy.
  2. As the honey cools, it begins to get thicker again, making the batter much more difficult to deal with.
  3. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different flours. Many highly nutritious “alternative” flours, such as Amaranth, Spelt, Garbanzo Bean and Arrowroot are commercially available and in most cases you can easily substitute a 1/4 cup of the white flour without any problem.
  4. If you want to add some protein to the Hard Tack consider adding some powdered peanut butter into the flour mixture.
  5. Trail bread requires no refrigeration and can be kept for a very long time and remain edible. (We know of someone who ate some after 5 years!) Just don’t forget, the mice like it too!
  6. A cotton or burlap sack is a more traditional storage container for your hard tack, but we’ve had one sealed in a Ziploc for months with no ill effect.

Originally written in the March 2009 – Issue 20 Newsletter of Practically Primitive (www.practicallyprimitive.com)