Hardtack

From Free net encyclopedia

Hardtack may also refer to the Operation Hardtack series of nuclear tests.

Hardtack (also sea biscuit, sea bread, or ship biscuit) is a simple type of cracker or biscuit, made from flour, water, and salt. Cheap and long-lasting, it was used during long sea voyages and military campaigns as a primary foodstuff usually dunked in water, brine, coffee, or some other liquid or cooked into a skillet meal. This cracker was little more than flour and water which had been baked hard and would keep for months as long as it was kept dry. Also known as a sea biscuit, sea bread, pilot bread or ships biscuits. The name derives from the British seamen's slang for food, "tack", and the fact it is so hard and dry.

Hard tack resembles a large soda cracker in appearance. It is about four inches square and approximately 1/8 inch to 1/4 inch thick with 16 1/8 inch holes in the center. It is made of flour, water and salt thickened to a paste then placed in a press to create its shape and perforate the 16 holes. Once dried, it becomes very hard and could last for years if kept dry.

Hardtack was eaten in various ways. One could have jam, fat, lard or anything spreadable on it and eat it like bread. However, oftentimes, the hardtack was so hard that it was impossible to chew. Hardtack could be crunched up by pounding it with a rifle butt or rock and placed in coffee or mixed in with bacon grease making a soggy goo called Skillygalee or Cush. If sugar or berries were available they could be mixed in as well. Another treat was when the crushed hardtack was mixed in with a can of condensed milk to make what people called Milk Toast.

Soldiers and sailors often complained of the hardtack being moldy or infested with weevils, worms, or maggots. The mold came from either becoming wet after being opened or the baking company not allowing the hardtack to dry thoroughly before packaging. One soldier's complaining about the infestation of his hardtack said, "I threw it away three times but it kept walking back."

Hardtack was also known as "Teeth dullers," "sheet iron," or "molar breakers".

For long voyages, hardtack, or sea-biscuit, was baked four times, rather than the more common two, and prepared six months before embarkment. Template:Ref label

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