How to Bake Without Baking Powder

How to Bake Without Baking Powder:

Modern and Historical Alternatives For Light and Tasty Baked Goods

By Leigh Tate

Baking powder is a staple item in most kitchens, yet it is not as necessary as we sometimes think it is. How To Bake Without Baking Powder discusses other options: from making one's own baking powder to the numerous alternatives to be found at the home baker's fingertips. The recipes and science behind them will be of interest to homesteaders, preppers, do-it-yourselfers, homeschoolers, living historians, and historical re-enactors.

Leigh Tate has always loved living close to the land. From the back-to-the-land movement to the modern homesteading movement, the agrarian lifestyle is the one she says feels like home. She and her husband currently homestead five acres in the foothills of the Southern Appalachians. Their vision is to become as self-sustaining as possible by stewarding their land, animals, and resources. Leigh's homesteading activities include gardening, food preservation, foraging, raising goats, chickens, and guinea fowl, herbs, cheese making, permaculture landscaping, spinning, weaving, knitting, sewing, quilting, natural dying, soapmaking, wood cookstove cookery, and renovating their old 1920s farmhouse.

Download it to your favorite device here

Winemaker's Grape Cake

Winemaker’s Grape Cake — A No Hassle Recipe

Baking Real Sourdough Bread

Baking Real Sourdough Bread

By The Artisan Bakery School

Written by two passionate artisan bakers and teachers, this book dispels the myth that sourdough is difficult and time-consuming to make. It shows how to fit regular baking into even the craziest lifestyle by using an ordinary fridge and the principle of retardation – or ‘slo-mo’ dough.
Packed with clear explanations and helpful photographs the book shows:
* The Seven Steps to creating truly exceptional artisan loaves
* How to create, manage and maintain a wild yeast leaven
* How to choose and use the best flours
* The secrets of long fermentation
* Tips on improving the look, taste and texture of your loaves.
* Insights on managing the three T’s: Timing, Temperature and Technique
* How to bake sourdough that tastes the way you want it to – from milky to truly tart
* Includes original recipes from The Artisan Bakery School.
A handbook for anyone reaching for a real life-skill.

Learn more here 

Einkorn: Recipes For Natures's Original Wheat

Are you a food history buff? Do you have problems with gluten?
There is great information here:
Einkorn: Recipes For Nature's Original Wheat

The History of White Flour

Quite a history for a simple white powder:

The History of White Flour

What's the Difference Between Whole Wheat Bread and Whole Grain Bread?

Don't be fooled by labeling. Learn the facts:

What's the Difference Between Whole Wheat Bread and Whole Grain Bread?

Why Are My Biscuits So Lousy?

by Ken Miller

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.

---