Hard Tack Variations?
Posted by ballskindrapes@reddit | preppers | View on Reddit | 11 comments
Just pondering, but has anyone heard of hard tack being made from different grains, or variations of hard tack?
My mind immediately went to defatted soy flour. Relatively cheap, not as much as wheat flour obviously but much "denser" in protein, which is very valuable for long hikes or just time away from food/civilization.
I figure maybe also maybe a protein isolate might be just as good. Combined white flour with a protein isolate, and proceed as normal. Cheap, and effective. I do like that soy has fiber though, would be pretty handy in times of need, as other things like TP could be rarer than preferred.
Anyone, has anyone thought of doing something like this?
Accurate-Dinner2293@reddit
Would it be possible to make long lasting hard tack with honey since honey lasts forever?
Cute-Consequence-184@reddit
Because I know how to make bread.
Actually delicious bread.
TheSensiblePrepper@reddit
I give you the Finnish Rye Bread Cracker. This one is actually manufactured for their MREs.
Basically it eats like a Graham Cracker but tastes like that bread you get from Outback Steakhouse.
Anyone I have ever given one to, has loved them.
UND_mtnman@reddit
Where do you source these?
TheSensiblePrepper@reddit
Varisteleka but you can't get them right now unfortunately.
KnifeNPaper@reddit
Avoid soy based ingredients across the board, it causes excessive estrogen production, and reeks havoc on most systems. Stick to any form of grain flour, while unrefined is best. As far as fiber goes, clean grasses provide all the fiber you could ever need.
Wild_Locksmith_326@reddit
The saving grace and extreme shelf life of hardtack stems from the lack of any moisture or fats and oils in the process. If it contains more ingredients it becomes less shelf stable, and more prone to the oils and fats turning or oxidizing.
Onedtent@reddit
Plus the fact that there is no salt - salt attracts moisture and can reduce the shelf life.
ballskindrapes@reddit (OP)
I thought of defatted soy flour for that reason. It has about .3 to .5 grams more fat than white flour per 100 grams which isnt a lot. I am no food scientist, but it shouldn't have that much less of a shelf life. I'll ask on the food science subreddit too.
CattleDogCurmudgeon@reddit
Somewhere Max Miller is doing a clack clack.
pumpkinbeerman@reddit
This question gets asked a lot, so I did an experiment with adding some powdered milk.
Both these hard tacks are a few months old. The lighter color one is unbleached flour, water, pinch of salt. Tastes like the blandest cracker of your life.
The one with the powdered milk tasted.. wrong straight out the gate. Pretty sure the powdered milk turned to some weird sinful caramel by the time it was as dry as it needed.
I just tasted the powdered milk one after reading your question, and it tastes even worse.
If you're going to make hard tack, it's gotta be just as plain as possible. I worry even with defatted soy flour or cornmeal, it would taste bad or burnt by the time it is dry enough.
Another thing is that it really limits variety. With my hardtack, all I can do with it is put it in some liquid and make it worse to add a bit of calories. For real life long term storage, mylar bags/freeze drying/vacuum seeling/canned food are much tastier and convenient.
It is a super fun experiment though, and eating some hardtack really takes you back. Next time I go camping I am going to try it with some lemon juice to see if I can include the vitamin C and one with cornmeal, but my hopes are about as high as the powdered milk one.
In my opinion, there is a reason old days hard tack just had flour, water, and optional salt. Anything else seems sketchy and can be preserved in a better, more tasty way.