BrainStuff Classics: How Do Southern Biscuits Work?

Fluffy biscuits are a cornerstone of Southern cusisine, but they're a relatively recent invention. Learn the history behind this baked good in today's classic episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://recipes.howstuffworks.com/history-light-and-fluffy-biscuits.htm

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio.
Hey brain Stuff. I'm Lauren Bogelbaum, and this this is
a classic episode of the podcast. Today's episode goes into
the historical and technical sides of how Southern style biscuits work.
Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Bogelbaum. Here, when you think of light,

(00:23):
fluffy biscuits, you may think of the other traditional foods
from the American South that they pair so well with
fried chicken, gravy, and homemade jam. But biscuits like the
ones we eat today in the United States are fairly
modern culinary creations. Throughout much of history, biscuits weren't at
the center of dreamy breakfasts or chicken dinners. They were hard, thin, durable, dry,

(00:43):
and meant for survival. The word biscuit comes from the
Latin word panis biscottis, which means twice baked, and so
it's no coincidence that a biscuit was once similar to biscotti,
the Italian cookies that actually are twice baked. Soldiers in
ancient Rome received hard biscuits in their rations. They had
no leavening agent or fat, so they lasted a long time.

(01:04):
Hard biscuits of some type or the m R. E.
S or meals ready to eat of military personnel four
centuries and have been known by the names hard tack,
ship's biscuit, sea biscuit, and pilot bread. Fast forward to
the Antebellum South, biscuits were still tough and flat and
typically were only eaten in wealthy homes. Most people living
in the South at the time ate corn bread instead.

(01:25):
That's because most mills in the South were great at
grinding corn but not at processing wheat, so only the
rich could afford flour, which often had to be shipped
in from northern states. Beaten biscuits, which could be considered
the precursor to the modern Southern biscuit, were only a
little better than hard tack. They included fat like butter
or lard, but still no leavening agent, so beaten biscuits

(01:47):
remained flat and only slightly lighter because the dove required
fifteen minutes of kneading or beating. It wasn't until several
nineteenth century innovations came along that we got what's now
recognized as a Southern biscuit. First, better flour mills, most
of them in the Midwestern United States and increased wheat
production dropped the price of flour enough that less than
wealthy Southerners could also afford to buy flour. And the

(02:11):
development of chemical leavening agents such as potassium carbonate, potassium bicarbonate,
and sodium bicarbonate what we now call baking soda, helped
biscuits reach new heights without yeast or beaten eggs. If
you're going to bake your own fluffy, flaky biscuits at home,
it's not hard, but a few details are important. Keep
your butter cold, don't let it get too soft while

(02:31):
you're working it into the flour. You want the butter
to melt when the biscuits are cooking in the oven,
because melting butter produces steam that will help the biscuits rise. Also,
to make the most of the leavening power of your
baking soda and baking powder, bake the biscuits as soon
as you mix the wet and dry ingredients together. Baking
soda starts to work as soon as it's moist, and

(02:52):
those biscuits will lose some height if you let the
dough sit. Finally, use a biscuit cutter, cookie cutter, or
a sharp knife to cut the biscuit dough, don ease
a glass, and if you do use a cutter, don't
twist it. Nice clean edges help the dough rise. Today's

(03:12):
episode is based on the article The Light and Fluffy
History of Southern Biscuits on how stuff works dot com,
written by Sean Chavis, who accompanied this story with his
own biscuit recipe. So go check that out if you're
looking for one brain stuff. This production of Our Heart
Radio in partnership with how stuff works dot com and
it's produced by Tyler Clang. For more podcasts my Heart Radio,
visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

(03:33):
you listen to your favorite shows