Light, fluffy biscuits, hot from the oven, are one of the real joys of life. Although biscuits are more common for breakfast, they are also popular for other meals. For example, the Red Lobster restaurant is famous for it's Cheese Biscuits, which are served with a seafood dinner. Also, Kentucky Fried Chicken serves biscuits with it's chicken dinners. They are very popular and pretty good. But, they are not that easy to make at home, unless you know a few tips.
Do your biscuits come out flat as a board? And heavy as lead? Well, you are probably making a few common mistakes that are simple to correct. You should start with a good recipe. We recommend this biscuit recipe which is suitable for home cooks with little or no experience.
Then you need to follow these few simple tips:
1. Do not overwork the dough. Biscuits do not need to be kneaded. This will make heavy, tough biscuits. After you roll the dough out on your board, simply fold the dough over on itself about three times. Then STOP! Next, gently form a round shape and roll it out to about a 3 inch thickness with your rolling pin.
2. When you cut out the biscuits from the dough, push the biscuit cutter straight down, then straight up. Do not push down and twist. This compacts the edges of the dough and causes uneven cooking and tough biscuits.
3. Always pre-heat your oven completely (generally 400-425 degrees). Different ovens vary in the time required to get up to temperature. I recommend you always allow at least 15 minutes after turning the oven on before putting the biscuits in. A cold (or not fully pre-heated) oven is the leading cause for failure of the dough to rise (flat biscuits).
4. And finally...this should be a no-brainer, but my neighbor was guilty of the following: She said she liked thick biscuits with lots of soft insides, but her biscuits were always thin and flat. So I watched her make a batch of biscuits, expecting to find that she was not pre-heating the oven. However, this was not the problem. She was doing everything right, except one obvious error. When she rolled out the dough, she rolled it about 1/2 inch thick and began cutting out the biscuits. After she cut about half the dough, I suggested she roll the remaining dough to 3 inches thick and cut the last biscuits from that.
After 20 minutes in the oven, she pulled out the biscuits, half flat and the others big and fluffy.
The lesson? If you want bigger biscuits, you have to start with thicker dough. (duh!)
So, the next time you make biscuits, use these tips and stand by for the compliments.
Ken Miller is a freelance writer and webmaster of several websites including olsouthrecipes.com where you will find authentic (free) Southern recipes.
Do your biscuits come out flat as a board? And heavy as lead? Well, you are probably making a few common mistakes that are simple to correct. You should start with a good recipe. We recommend this biscuit recipe which is suitable for home cooks with little or no experience.
Then you need to follow these few simple tips:
1. Do not overwork the dough. Biscuits do not need to be kneaded. This will make heavy, tough biscuits. After you roll the dough out on your board, simply fold the dough over on itself about three times. Then STOP! Next, gently form a round shape and roll it out to about a 3 inch thickness with your rolling pin.
2. When you cut out the biscuits from the dough, push the biscuit cutter straight down, then straight up. Do not push down and twist. This compacts the edges of the dough and causes uneven cooking and tough biscuits.
3. Always pre-heat your oven completely (generally 400-425 degrees). Different ovens vary in the time required to get up to temperature. I recommend you always allow at least 15 minutes after turning the oven on before putting the biscuits in. A cold (or not fully pre-heated) oven is the leading cause for failure of the dough to rise (flat biscuits).
4. And finally...this should be a no-brainer, but my neighbor was guilty of the following: She said she liked thick biscuits with lots of soft insides, but her biscuits were always thin and flat. So I watched her make a batch of biscuits, expecting to find that she was not pre-heating the oven. However, this was not the problem. She was doing everything right, except one obvious error. When she rolled out the dough, she rolled it about 1/2 inch thick and began cutting out the biscuits. After she cut about half the dough, I suggested she roll the remaining dough to 3 inches thick and cut the last biscuits from that.
After 20 minutes in the oven, she pulled out the biscuits, half flat and the others big and fluffy.
The lesson? If you want bigger biscuits, you have to start with thicker dough. (duh!)
So, the next time you make biscuits, use these tips and stand by for the compliments.
Ken Miller is a freelance writer and webmaster of several websites including olsouthrecipes.com where you will find authentic (free) Southern recipes.
