I learned an important lesson today. Small quantities of biscuits, say 12 or less, bake much better in my 10 inch oven than in my 12 inch dutch oven. Not only do they rise higher because they are nestled closely together and touching but it is much easier to raise the internal temperature of a smaller oven more quickly than a larger one. It is important to have that initial blast of high heat to cause the steam in your biscuits to form the flaky layers in the dough. It took a lot longer to bake these biscuits in my larger oven, even though they were very soft and flaky, they didn't rise as high as I hoped they would. Preheating my oven may have made a difference. Also, as a general rule when baking biscuits, if they are placed closer together before baking they will rise higher; farther apart they will tend to spread more. In my 12 inch oven it took almost 25 minutes for them to bake with 12 coals in a ring around the bottom and 22 coals on top. They sure tasted great but I think from here on in, I will stick to my smaller oven unless I am cooking for a large group of hungry campers. The recipe for these buttery, flaky biscuits comes from the Land O'Lakes website.
Perfect Buttermilk Biscuits
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold butter
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon butter, melted
Spray or lightly oil a 10 or 12 inch dutch oven.
Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl; cut in 1/2 cup butter with fork or pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in buttermilk just until moistened.
Turn dough onto lightly floured surface; knead about 10 times or until smooth. Roll out dough to 3/4-inch thickness. Cut with 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter.
Place 1 inch apart in dutch oven. Brush biscuits with melted butter. Bake for 10-14 minutes or until lightly browned. Makes 8 biscuits.
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Brush with melted butter before baking  |
so how many coals did you use top & bottom in the 10" oven.
ReplyDeleteI haven't made these in my 10 inch oven but the original recipe says to bake them at 450 degrees for 25 minutes. I much prefer baking biscuits and scones in my 10 inch oven, I think they rise much higher when they are placed closely together. I usually place 10 coals in a ring around the bottom with about 20-22 coals on the lid, they need the high heat for the steam to form the layers from the cold butter. I would check them after 20 minutes. Hope this helps, Liddy
ReplyDeleteThey turned out perfect!
ReplyDeleteSo glad to hear they turned out so well Outlaw, thank you for the feedback! Liddy
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