Biscuit insights

[GDAWG84]

I have a really good biscuit recipe that was handed down to me from my grandparents. Here’s the problem: whenever I make them, they crumble. Taste and texture are just right but they fall apart whenever you slice one. I do know that Pop’s were smooth across the top like a normal biscuit and mine are more rougher, more like a drop biscuit. Anybody got any insight as to what I’m doing wrong?

 

[northgeorgiasportsman]

Was Pop's dough as thick as yours?

 

[gobbleinwoods]

Are you overworking the dough?

 

[NCHillbilly]

Could be overworking it, or mixing it too stiff. Do you crumble the lard into the flour with your fingers until it's like course sand before adding the buttermilk?

 

[Paymaster]

These folks can help. They know biscuits.

 

[kayaksteve]

I’m no professional but I would think crumbly biscuits could be from being underworked dough. I always heard “don’t over work the dough!” So out of paranoia I think I didn’t work it enough for the longest time. My biscuits were pretty crumbly til I found the right folding technique

 

[GDAWG84]

Was Pop's dough as thick as yours?

I think so? He made them different. He would make a well in the middle of his flour and add his wet ingredients so that he was literally only making one biscuit at a time. I mix it all up together into one dough ball and pinch biscuits off that.

 

[GDAWG84]

Could be overworking it, or mixing it too stiff. Do you crumble the lard into the flour with your fingers until it's like course sand before adding the buttermilk?

I do. I cut it into the four with a pastry cutter or fork. Guess I could be overworking the dough. It’s pretty stiff and dry when I get done with it.

 

[NCHillbilly]

I do. I cut it into the four with a pastry cutter or fork. Guess I could be overworking the dough. It’s pretty stiff and dry when I get done with it.

You want it soft and almost too sticky to handle. And don't knead it hardly any. Just stir it in the bowl with a big spoon when you add the milk, then dump it out and work it no more than is needed to pat it out about 1/2" thick. I bet the stiff, dry dough is your culprit. Add a bit more milk, you should have to flour your hands good to pat it out.

 

[Triple C]

I’m no professional but I would think crumbly biscuits could be from being underworked dough. I always heard “don’t over work the dough!” So out of paranoia I think I didn’t work it enough for the longest time. My biscuits were pretty crumbly til I found the right folding technique

Right here is spot on. Kneading is necessary to bind it all together. You should be able to pull a biscuit apart without it crumbling on you. Next time, knead the dough more than you are doing now and I'll bet you'll get a biscuit you can just about pull apart without it crumbling. For gravy biscuits, I don't mind if they're a bit crumbly. If I'm putting something inside I don't want it crumbling on me. Kneading will solve that problem for you.

Can't claim to be a "biscuit guru" but I can tell you I've been making them since I was a teenager and that was a long, long time ago. Only thing I got out of bachelor cookery in high school class was how to make biscuits. Been doing em ever since.

 

[JustUs4All]

I work mine more than most and my wife accused me of making crackers instead of biscuits but I like um.the more you work then the less crumbly they should be.

 

[Triple C]

While we're on the subject of making biscuits...for those that are just trying to learn how to make em they truly are one of the easiest things to make with just a little practice. It's really hard to mess em up. I'd add this to anyone that thinks their biscuits might be dry or tough - When you're cutting in your fat (lard, crisco, butter, etc.), just when you think you've got enough add just a little more. I prefer lard but my wife like's coconut oil so when I make em at home, coconut oil it is.

And think of course sand bar sand/gravel on a river or stream for the texture you're looking for when cutting in the fat. You want small pebble size pieces so when it melts during the baking process it leaves a nice air pocket behind that was once filled with the fat. That's what makes em fluffy and light.

Carry on and post up those biscuit pics!

 

[Artfuldodger]

Wait, are y'all saying there is such a thing as a non-crumbly biscuit?

 

[NCHillbilly]

Right here is spot on. Kneading is necessary to bind it all together. You should be able to pull a biscuit apart without it crumbling on you. Next time, knead the dough more than you are doing now and I'll bet you'll get a biscuit you can just about pull apart without it crumbling. For gravy biscuits, I don't mind if they're a bit crumbly. If I'm putting something inside I don't want it crumbling on me. Kneading will solve that problem for you.

Can't claim to be a "biscuit guru" but I can tell you I've been making them since I was a teenager and that was a long, long time ago. Only thing I got out of bachelor cookery in high school class was how to make biscuits. Been doing em ever since.

I don't "knead" mine at all, like I would bread dough. I do stir them pretty vigorously with a big spoon before flattening the dough out. And they aren't crumbly in the least. The ones I notice being more crumbly are the last ones you cut that you have to re-work the dough to pat it back out.

 

[kayaksteve]

OP - One thing for sure is - there’s a thousand great ways to make biscuits. I’ve had many that other people have made in ways I think is “not right” and they were delicious but I will never make mine that way! So pick the way you think is “right” and just make them everyday tweaking a little bit every time until you find your perfect method

 

[Triple C]

I don't "knead" mine at all, like I would bread dough. I do stir them pretty vigorously with a big spoon before flattening the dough out. And they aren't crumbly in the least. The ones I notice being more crumbly are the last ones you cut that you have to re-work the dough to pat it back out.

My guess is that we are pretty close on method. I don't roll mine out with a rolling pin. I make a sticky dough and have an additional bowl with dry flour in it. I spoon an egg size of wet dough into the dry dough and knead it in the dry dough until I can roll them in my hand without sticking. My experience is that crumbly biscuits often come from not enough lard/crisco/butter etc., cut into the flour at the beginning. Pure drop biscuits where the wet dough hasn't been worked at all and then just spooned onto a baking pan will be crumbly.