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A pilot biscuit from one of the Titanic’s lifeboats, saved as a souvenir by James and Mabel Fenwick, who were passengers on the RMS Carpathia.
Updated 1/24/23 – Author’s Note
Pilot
Biscuits, Pilot Bread, and Captain’s Biscuits are all the same thing, but they
are not hard tack. Now, I make hardtack, I enjoy hardtack, but pilot
biscuits are not hardtack, because you can bite through them!
Hardtack
according to the Forest & Stream, 1899, “is
harder, and, while less palatable, is more durable”1, than
pilot biscuits.
Now,
the only difference between hardtack and pilot biscuits, besides the fact that
hardtack has been described as “sheet iron”, and will last forever if it is
kept dry, is the addition of a little bit of shortening, like lard! Apparently, a little bit of shortening goes a
long way, because it makes the biscuit flakier and easier to eat, but a biscuit
with shortening in it (or sugar, which is hygroscopic and adsorbs water from
its surroundings) will not last as long as hardtack, as the shortening will eventually
become rancid and inedible.
 |
An excerpt from the Portsmouth Journal of Literature and Politics, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, June 17, 1876, page 2, HERE
John
Pearson, of Newburyport, Massachusetts, is credited with creating pilot biscuits
in 1792. In 1898 Pearson’s bakery, which
was the first commercial bakery in America, was absorbed into the National
Biscuit Company, today known as Nabisco.
Nabisco became a leading producer of pilot biscuits, which it sold under
the Crown Pilot brand throughout New England.
Unfortunately, Nabisco discontinued Crown Pilot biscuits in 2008, and
while other bakeries continue to make pilot biscuits, they have become more difficult
to find.
 |
Future Essentials pilot biscuits, vacuum sealed in a can, HERE.
So,
if you are from Hawaii or Alaska, where pilot biscuits are common snacks2,
or if you are into homesteading, prepping, experimental archeology, or if maybe
you just like the taste of pilot biscuits, you have probably tried to find a
recipe for making this delicious trail food.
I know I have, and if you are like me, you have been frustrated with the
results. Oh sure, there are recipes out
there that content creators say are for making pilot biscuits, but I am pretty
certain they are not the original recipe.
I
was frustrated with the recipes that I found on the internet, they had sugar
and lots of butter and sometimes milk or baking soda, and they all seemed to be
more of a modern guess as to what an original pilot biscuit was. So, I did what I always do, and I did some
research and here is what I found.
The real deal, original recipe...
I found an original recipe for
making pilot biscuits in the “The Art of Making Water
Crackers”, Bakers Review, 1916, but it called for one barrel, or 196
pounds (89 kilograms), of flour, and since this was more flour than I had
laying around, I cut the recipe down to something a bit more manageable, like four
cups.
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Top left #1, cutting the lard into the flour, top right #2 clean and clear dough ready to be turned out onto a floured surface, bottom left # 3 the first roll out of dough, and bottom right # 4 pricking the biscuits with a fork to let the steam out, photographs by the Author.
The nutritional value of pilot biscuits made with this recipe are as
follows:
Nutritional
Value of Pilot Biscuits
Per batch of Per
biscuit
16 biscuits
Calories 2,275 127
Net
Carbs 460 grams 23
grams
Fiber 17
grams 0.85 grams
Total
Carbs 477 grams 23.85
grams
Proteins 64.5
grams 3.20 grams
Fats 6 grams 0.30
grams
I hope you enjoy making and eating your pilot biscuits, Bon Appetit!
Don’t forget to come back next week and read “Winter Survival for
Tommy ©”, where we will talk about tips that might not have been included in the
U. S. Marine Corp Winter Survival training.
I
hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me
on YouTube at BandanaMan Productions for other related videos, HERE. Don’t forget to follow me on both The
Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE,
and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube. If you have questions, as always, feel free
to leave a comment on either site. I
announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at bandanamanaproductions,
and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.
That
is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!
Notes
1
Professor Charles H. Snow, “Equipment of Camps and
Expeditions”, Forest & Stream, August 12, 1899, page 125
2
Pilot biscuits are an Alaskan treat and are considered to be rural, soul food,
and Diamond Bakery’s Saloon pilot crackers have been made in Hawaii for more
than 100 years.
Sources
Berry, Melissa Davenport;
“Nabisco: An American Story”, November 5, 2020, https://blog.genealogybank.com/nabisco-an-american-story.html,
accessed January 4, 2023
Braun, Emil; The Baker’s
Book, [Emil Braun, Bath Beach, New York City, 1901], page 231, https://books.google.com/books?id=AuYpAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA231&dq=pilot+bread&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjn2YymnLP7AhXPpIkEHQhtABA4WhDoAXoECAwQAg#v=onepage&q=pilot%20bread&f=false,
accessed January 4, 2023
Gluto; “The Art of Making Water Crackers”, Bakers Review, Vol.
XXXIII, No. 4, July 1916, [Wm. R. Gregory Co., New York], page 95-96, https://books.google.com/books?id=R6UTAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA3-PA95&dq=pilot+bread&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwia_7GZlrP7AhUOhIkEHYfnAD04FBDoAXoECAkQAg#v=onepage&q=pilot%20bread&f=false,
accessed January 4, 2023
Platt, William; “Biscuit
and Cake Manufacture”, Chemical Age, Vol. 30, No. 4, [New York, New York,
April 1922], https://books.google.com/books?id=qSBDAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA2-PA158&dq=pilot+bread&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwid3P2-m7P7AhX7j4kEHfabCow4UBDoAXoECAYQAg#v=onepage&q=pilot%20bread&f=false,
accessed January 4, 2022
Snow,
Charles H. Professor; “Equipment of Camps and Expeditions”, Forest &
Stream, August 12, 1899, page 125, https://books.google.com/books?id=RtowAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA125&dq=%22is+harder,+and,+while+less+palatable,+is+more+durable%22&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwisuY_3va78AhWBFlkFHW0GAvMQ6AF6BAgHEAI#v=onepage&q=%22is%20harder%2C%20and%2C%20while%20less%20palatable%2C%20is%20more%20durable%22&f=false,
accessed January 4, 2023
W.T.R.; “Dog Biscuit”,
Bakers’ Helper, Vol. XXXVIII, No. 458, September 1, 1922, page 516, https://books.google.com/books?id=x7c2AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA516&dq=%22pilot+bread%22+oven+temperature&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjDrYn05Kz8AhU1FVkFHVxqBBgQ6AF6BAgHEAI#v=onepage&q=%22pilot%20bread%22%20oven%20temperature&f=false,
accessed January 4, 2023
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