How to Make Hardtack...

[rittmeister]

The Lee-Enfields were entirely up to spec for the purpose they were ordered. The Garands could not be supplied in sufficient numbers so the default was to readily produce and supply Lee-Enfields and to re-start production of the '03 Springfield (as the 03A3), each barreled to accept the commonly-available ammunition of the Allies. The Lee-Enfield is a fine weapon, the equal of the Mausers 98 typically opposing them.

i said we (by now you should know that i'm german) - they were certainly not to wehrmacht specs, believe me. should i have used generalquartiermeister instead of quartermaster general?

 

[Jim Klag]

i said we (by now you should know that i'm german) - they were certainly not to wehrmacht specs, believe me. should i have used generalquartiermeister instead of quartermaster general?

Jawohl! Feldoffiziere der Kavallerie should always use their mother tongue.

 

[rittmeister]

Jawohl! Feldoffiziere der Kavallerie should always use their mother tongue.

rittmeister sind kompanieoffiziere

 

[Jim Klag]

rittmeister sind kompanieoffiziere View attachment 3485

Beg your pardon. I thought it was a field grade.

 

[rittmeister]

Beg your pardon. I thought it was a field grade.

captain of cavalry or horse artillery

 

[diane]

I thought the cavalry just did a raid and stole somebody else's crackers!

 

[rittmeister]

I thought the cavalry just did a raid and stole somebody else's crackers!

boxes or barrels?

 

[O' Be Joyful]

I thought the cavalry just did a raid and stole somebody else's crackers!

Well played.

 

[diane]

boxes or barrels?

It'd have to be boxes - they'd start races around the barrels...

 

[O' Be Joyful]

they'd start races around the barrels...

Quarter-horses circle barrels and when they smell any hard-tack you cain't reign 'em back in.

 

[jgoodguy]

Just what did steam do to make hardtack. It was not cooking. I'd think it was steam-powered mixers, but goggle refuses to find any.,

 

[byron ed]

Just what did steam do to make hardtack. It was not cooking. I'd think it was steam-powered mixers, but goggle refuses to find any.,

Good question. The 1863 spec states "To make good hard bread, it is essential to employ steam; hand work will not do."

It sure seems that whatever powered the process (water power belt, steam jet or piston, or hand work) wouldn't make a whit of difference as to how good the product was. Yet here it's specifically noted that "hand work will not do" rather than "not preferred"if that's what was meant.

So it's more likely that it's steam-cooking of the dough that's being referred to, in which case few kitchens today retain a stove-top pressure cooker that could reproduce that method, though those were common in the 1950s/60s when some of us grew up.

Here's where we need the input of a professional baker -- everyone engage your social circle and get back to us.

 

[Jim Klag]

Just what did steam do to make hardtack. It was not cooking. I'd think it was steam-powered mixers, but goggle refuses to find any.,

They had to have some power mixers. Made correctly, the dough is too tough for hand mixing since the 1860 recipe calls for the dough to use as little water as possible- I can vouch for that first hand.

 

[rittmeister]

They had to have some power mixers. Made correctly, the dough is too tough for hand mixing since the 1860 recipe calls for the dough to use as little water as possible- I can vouch for that first hand.

ankle broken doing hardtack?

 

[Wehrkraftzersetzer]

boxes or barrels?

anything

 

[diane]

 

[jgoodguy]

Good question. The 1863 spec states "To make good hard bread, it is essential to employ steam; hand work will not do."

No steam cooking unless you are cooking by hand.

 

[jgoodguy]

The Cincinnati Steam Bakery that Supplied Civil War Hard Tack

Charles H Bennett’s Bakery at 89 Court Street in Cincinnati ca. 1880. During the Civil War hard tack, or hard flour crackers, were the most consistent ration for soldiers. Most got 9 or 10 …

dannwoellertthefoodetymologist.wordpress.com

But who made all this hard tack for the many tens of thousands of soldiers who gave their lives to fight for the Union? Well, one major supplier was right here in Cincinnati, the Charles H. Bennett Steam Bakery, which during the Civil War was at 89 Court Street, near Vine Street, facing the old Court Street Market House. They had incorporated in the mid 1840s, and were bought out before the Civil War by a partner, John Littleford, who operated the bakery until his retirement in 1893. He brought in automated machinery to replace the time consuming hand molding of crackers

 

[Jim Klag]

The Cincinnati Steam Bakery that Supplied Civil War Hard Tack

Charles H Bennett’s Bakery at 89 Court Street in Cincinnati ca. 1880. During the Civil War hard tack, or hard flour crackers, were the most consistent ration for soldiers. Most got 9 or 10 …

dannwoellertthefoodetymologist.wordpress.com

But who made all this hard tack for the many tens of thousands of soldiers who gave their lives to fight for the Union? Well, one major supplier was right here in Cincinnati, the Charles H. Bennett Steam Bakery, which during the Civil War was at 89 Court Street, near Vine Street, facing the old Court Street Market House. They had incorporated in the mid 1840s, and were bought out before the Civil War by a partner, John Littleford, who operated the bakery until his retirement in 1893. He brought in automated machinery to replace the time consuming hand molding of crackers

Use of Steam in Bread and Roll Ovens

www.banner-day.com

 

[rittmeister]

Use of Steam in Bread and Roll Ovens

www.banner-day.com

could easily been done to bake hardtack (hard bread) for more than half a million men (1863)




... did the quartermaster general really risk losing the war to keep up his specs?