Any biscuit snobs here?

What is your secret to light and fluffy buttermilk biscuits?

I've made biscuits for years and my version is very adequate, at best. Nothing less and nothing more and certainly nothing to brag on.. I've been reading a bit about Southern biscuits and the consensus seems to be White Lily self rising flour is the secret ingredient. Not to get all sciency on you, but apparently the soft winter wheat in this flour is lower protein and this helps get a rise and fluff in your buns. We'll see about that and I'll report on the results afterward. Is it true or marketing schtick by White Lilly??

Forget the self rising flour; the trick is sourdough:

SOURDOUGH BISCUITS:

2 C Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
1/4 C (4 tbl) Lard
1 C Buttermilk

Sift dry ingredients together. Cut in lard with pastry cutter. Add buttermilk and mix till liquid is absorbed. Turn onto flour board and knead lightly. Pat out till about 3/4” to 1” thick. Cut into desired size (8 large for breakfast or 15 small for dinner). Place in greased baking dish, and bake in 425 degree oven for 20 minutes. Put remaining dough on board into a sealable crock, add a fresh cup of buttermilk to crock, and store in refrigerator. Use contents of crock instead of buttermilk next time, and repeat this procedure.

Your biscuits are similar to my scones, and yes, you want a low protein flour for light and fluffy.

I don't know about where you are, but here we have flour label led as 'bread' flour which has high protein/gluten and the rest is soft 'cake' flour, choice of plain or self-raising. I use the latter.

[Jenise]

Well, there's flakey biscuits with lots of layers and then there's drop biscuits. Which do you like best? Sign me up for flakey. Best recipe ever right here, and note the discussion on Korean flour:

http://www.wineloverspage.com/forum/village/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=43788&p=357979&hilit=Korean#p357979

Well, there's flakey biscuits with lots of layers and then there's drop biscuits. Which do you like best? Sign me up for flakey. Best recipe ever right here, and note the discussion on Korean flour:

http://www.wineloverspage.com/forum/village/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=43788&p=357979&hilit=Korean#p357979

I'm a flakey guy. That Korean flour sounds very similar to White Lily, at least in terms of protein/gluten. Around these parts, I'm 'specting that Korean flour would be a very difficult find.

[Robin Garr]

My mom used to make something called angel biscuits that were basically biscuits with some yeast added to the leavening. We loved them. As far as I know, she would just use standard brands of all-purpose flour, though. I don't think we were quite far south enough (or at least wouldn't admit that we were ) to use White Lily.

Anyway, if angel biscuits intrigue you, I'll check with Mary. I'm pretty sure she has my mom's recipe.

[Jenise]

Winger, the Korean flour is a refinement but hardly necessary. This recipe made these biscuits with just AP flour (I don't even own cake flour):

IMG_1895.JPG

OK. So I decided to make my first batch of White Lily Buttermilk Biscuits right from the basic recipe on the bag of flour.

Ingredients

nonstick cooking spray
2 cups White Lily self-rising flour
¼ cup Crisco vegetable shortening, chilled
⅔-¾ cup buttermilk or milk
Instructions


Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Coat baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.

Measure flour into large bowl. Cut in shortening with pastry blender or 2 knives until crumbs are the size of peas. Blend in just enough milk with fork until dough leaves sides of bowl.

Turn biscuit dough onto lightly floured surface. Knead gently 2-3 times. Roll dough to ½-inch thickness. Cut using floured 2-inch biscuit cutter. Place on prepared baking sheet 1 inch apart for crisp sides or almost touching for soft sides.

Bake 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.

Pretty much a failure. Not light. Not flaky. Just dense and crumbly. Next?

I rub in the fat with fingerp tips, lifting and letting fall to incorporate air.

I use milk and find most succesfull ones are when I have a little too much liquid and I use more flour too take up excess.

Can't be precise with liquid amount, some flour needs more than others.

Don't flatten with roller, be light handed here and suggest 3/4 inch will give better results.

From your description sounds like too high ratio of fat. I don't use butter milk but that has more fat than milk so maybe rub in fat to better distribute it, but use less as buttermilk will add fat.

I rub in the fat with fingerp tips, lifting and letting fall to incorporate air.

I use milk and find most succesfull ones are when I have a little too much liquid and I use more flour too take up excess.

Can't be precise with liquid amount, some flour needs more than others.

Don't flatten with roller, be light handed here and suggest 3/4 inch will give better results.

From your description sounds like too high ratio of fat. I don't use butter milk but that has more fat than milk so maybe rub in fat to better distribute it, but use less as buttermilk will add fat.

Thanks for the tips. I think 3/4" may be a better way to go. I think the batter may have been a bit too dry although it did seem to have the same consistency that I use with my "old" AP flour recipe. Also, the 500 oven seems awful high so I may dial it back a bit and extend the time.

I'm on a mission!!

I don't use butter milk but that has more fat than milk .

I don't think so.

My understanding is that buttermilk is the liquid left over after you churn the milk to make butter. In that case it has much less fat than whole milk--butter is the fat part of milk.

-Paul W.

I speak from ignorance as I have no experience of buttermilk -
Linking butter to milk made me assume it was buttery milk.

I don't use full fat milk, rather its skimed.

Red winger

I've just converted 500F to celcius and it seems way too high. I think it needs some time in the oven for the dough to rise, as (unlike bread) we're not letting it rise before it goes into oven. Suggest around 200C - 395F and 20 mins in oven

[Jenise]

Pretty much a failure. Not light. Not flaky. Just dense and crumbly. Next?

Flakey comes from folding and layering. Simple kneading won't get you there.

[Jenise]

My understanding is that buttermilk is the liquid left over after you churn the milk to make butter. In that case it has much less fat than whole milk--butter is the fat part of milk.

-Paul W.

But most commercially made buttermilk isn't real buttermilk, it's milk to which a souring agent has been added.

When I make biscuits, I sour 2% with vinegar for the buttermilk item. All the butter is going to provide the fat needed.

When I make biscuits, I sour 2% with vinegar for the buttermilk item. All the butter is going to provide the fat needed.

Me too - also with pancakes. Sometimes I use lemon juice instead of the vinegar. Also, I don't use baking powder. I stir baking soda into melted butter, then mix that onto the dry ingredients before adding the soured milk. With the baking soda dissolved in the butter and surrounded by some flour, the soured milk won't react with the soda until the butter melts during cooking. At least that's my theory and it works. For some reason, I'm suspect of all those chemicals in baking powder.