Sourdough Hardtack? Writing, or rewriting.

Everyone has a favorite or two when it comes to food to take along on a camping trip. On my cross-country trips, I used to like to take crackers I made in advance. Big crackers. A whole coffee can full of them. They kept extremely well, were nourishing, and tasted great. I got the idea for them from a shop I discovered somewhere in Wyoming, I think. The shop sold something it called hardtack, made with several grains, and tasted wonderful. I never quite figured out their recipe, but I certainly enjoyed the version I came up with. I made the dough from flour, salt, water, and a little oil. To shape the crackers, I rolled the dough out and cut the crackers with the coffee can I used to store them. Of course, I docked them with a fork to prevent them from puffing up too much in the middle, and to make it easier to break them along the perforated lines.

It’s been years since I’ve made crackers, but I thought it would be fun to talk about them on my blog. Of course, I think it’s important to give the recipes I use a re-run, so I decided to make a batch. After all, they are good with cheese and other toppings, so they wouldn’t go to waste. Out of curiosity, and because I’ve been having fun with my new computer, I decided to look up hardtack on the internet. I was amazed to find several recipes and a number of very enthusiastic people talking about making hardtack, or ships biscuit, as it is also called. Basically, the recipes called for flour, salt and water. Most did not even use oil. One directed the cook to knead the dough and let it rest for quite a while. Naturally I thought, hey why not try making hardtack with sourdough? I know, hardtack isn’t made with leavening, but the flavor ought to be good. It seemed worth a try.

I had some very stiff sourdough starter on hand, so I took roughly equal parts starter and whole wheat flour, mixed it into a ball and put it on a floured pastry cloth to knead, adding more flour liberally to create a heavy, grainy texture. I divided the dough into biscuit size lumps and rolled out each lump into a round sheet about 3/8 inch thick. I did the usual docking thing with a fork, dusted the bottoms of the dough circles with a little cornmeal and set up to cook them outside on a camping stove. The outside cooking had two purposes. Doing so would keep the house cooler—it’s been a dreadful heat wave. Also, I wanted to use camping gear to make sure the recipe and technique would be good for camping.

So far, so good. I turned the stove on, got out a frying pan with a loose lid, and started cooking the first piece of hardtack. Oh, oh. It burned a bit on the bottom. Oh, well. Who has never had that happen over a campfire? Just take a picture of the tops? No problem, right? Scrape off the burned portion, and eat it anyway? Right. Make a note to cook these critters on a very low heat so they become very well done, but not burned.

Try again. Oh, oh. That one burned too. Not as bad, but suddenly this cooking event was not looking picture ready and blog friendly. Down to the last two I had anticipated making. At least they didn’t burn. Now for the crucial question. How do they taste? Actually, not bad. Definitely something of a mix between cracker and biscuit, and not like the hardtack I bought on that long-ago trip. That hardtack was definitely all cracker. Nevertheless, There’s enough of an intriguing sourdough flavor to keep me working at this until I’m satisfied. After all, any mystery writer knows good writing is rewriting, sometimes lots of it.

Making Beef Jerky

Ingredients for Jerky

When I think about camp cooking, one of my basics is beef jerky. I like to make my own. It's easy, and the results are delicious. I start with a big, lean steak, such as sirloin or top round. Slice the meat into 1/4 inch slices, salt and pepper, and then dry the meat on a rack until it is dark and leathery, about half the bulk you started with. For the drying, I use a food dehydrator I picked up at a yard sale. It has an electric heating element and fan to circulate the hot air over the drying racks. You can get the same results using an oven, set to warm, placing the meat directly on the oven racks. The trouble with this method is that clean-up can be a bigger chore than using the dehydrator racks.

For a great variation, dip the slices of meat into soy sauce first, then salt and pepper them and go through the same drying process. You can also use Teriyaki sauce. The meat can be used in soups or other dishes, or eaten as is, the same as with the basic jerky using salt and pepper alone. I have had problems keeping the flavored forms of jerky from molding, however, so I'd advise taking extra care to be sure the meat is well dried. For on the road cooking, I kind of prefer the basic jerky, and I use the flavored jerky for tasty snacks on a day ride or hike.

One time I was visiting an uncle of mine, and broke out some jerky I had brought along on the bike. He loved it so much, we ate my whole supply.  (Goes great with beer or a glass of whiskey, or black coffee.) He said it reminded him of jerky my father had made when they were both young. I never knew my father made jerky. He never did when I was growing up.

I hope you give this a try, if you don't already make your own jerky. It's one of those things, like using sourdough, that lets you get in touch with basics that have been around about as long as people have been here. Love to have you share your jerky experiences as well. Thanks for visiting, and enjoy.

Finished Jerky Ready tor the Pot