@Vinyl Fluff
Supposedly it was decent enough when it was fresh. It’s just that the people it was made for didn’t get it fresh. Or at least that’s what our US history teacher told us. He was a bit of a civil war buff so I just took his word for it on that one.
Yeah, when it’s fresh it’s not bad. Still extremely hard. I’ve made it, and it’s kind of fun to nibble on a little at a time (which all you can do without soaking it.) Once it sits around for months it becomes even harder and at that point you pretty much have to soak it.
Some of the stock the soldiers received was actually from a previous conflict. And by then they were not only extremely hard but infested badly.
@Vinyl Fluff
Supposedly it was decent enough when it was fresh. It’s just that the people it was made for didn’t get it fresh. Or at least that’s what our US history teacher told us. He was a bit of a civil war buff so I just took his word for it on that one.
Hardtack is baked until almost all of the moisture is removed, thus making it extremely shelf-stable but hard. During the American Civil War both sides used it heavily, but often the stock was already very old and often infested with weevils and other insects.
The soldiers would tap their hardtack on a surface to knock as many bugs out as they could. Hardtack is capable of breaking your teeth, so it was often softened first by soaking it in coffee (and any bugs that floated to the surface skimmed off), or frying it up in lard.
Interestingly enough, the bakery which provided much of the Union army’s needs is still open today and still has their original recipe they used. They’d get occasional requests for batches from Civil War reenactors. Eventually they were getting so many requests they decided to make it year-round.
Oh my god. I never would have noticed that. Nice find!
Hardtack is also good when broken up and put into soup.
Looks like it’s not really good to live at that time.
Edited
Yeah, when it’s fresh it’s not bad. Still extremely hard. I’ve made it, and it’s kind of fun to nibble on a little at a time (which all you can do without soaking it.) Once it sits around for months it becomes even harder and at that point you pretty much have to soak it.
Some of the stock the soldiers received was actually from a previous conflict. And by then they were not only extremely hard but infested badly.
Edited
Supposedly it was decent enough when it was fresh. It’s just that the people it was made for didn’t get it fresh. Or at least that’s what our US history teacher told us. He was a bit of a civil war buff so I just took his word for it on that one.
The soldiers would tap their hardtack on a surface to knock as many bugs out as they could. Hardtack is capable of breaking your teeth, so it was often softened first by soaking it in coffee (and any bugs that floated to the surface skimmed off), or frying it up in lard.
Interestingly enough, the bakery which provided much of the Union army’s needs is still open today and still has their original recipe they used. They’d get occasional requests for batches from Civil War reenactors. Eventually they were getting so many requests they decided to make it year-round.
Yea, hit the I at the same time as the O, was too lazy to post a second comment.
I’m pretty sure it’s the exact opposite of moist
Oh okay.
Hardtack was a common bread made during the american civil war. It was extremely hard, but cheap.
Me neither.
Hardtack is basically a bread rock.
Subsistence food at its moist basic.