Man eats original hard tack - 153 years old

One man's pleasure is another man's 500 if you're a dentist.

I have suspected for many years that dentists are secretly supporting the sugar industry from behind the scenes. If I was a dentist I would buy a candy store and only stock it with really hardcore sweets that are guaranteed to yank the fillings out of your head and then open the dentist practice next door and "complain" about the candy store. :sneaky:
 
I have always suspected that the crackers that came in C Ration cans were from the same recipe as the hardtack.
I must admit Ive not heard much positive said re: hardtack, but in time of hunger, there was nothing finer. Hardtack was genius. It supplied carbohydrates- pure starch- to the soldier. It didnt readily spoil, so it became umbiquitous on the battlefield. Mixed with grease and any other skillet additives, it was quite palatable, called skillygallee or kush- no, not the head-muddling marijuana!
 
If I remember correctly, only four can openers came with each case of C Rations, making them a desired commodity. The most undesired commodity was the meats(?) that came in the small cans, however , with them you got fruit which was highly desirable. The large entrée cans held beenee weenies, beans with meatballs or spaghetti, but they had pound cake or fruit cake as a dessert.
Not meaning to digress, but the eggs and ham could be sublime, given some good hot sauce. The peanut butter made a great mini-sterno fuel too. Fruit cake? iz THAT what it was? Pound cake was fair but that fruit wasnt worth humpin!
 
Not meaning to digress, but the eggs and ham could be sublime, given some good hot sauce. The peanut butter made a great mini-sterno fuel too. Fruit cake? iz THAT what it was? Pound cake was fair but that fruit wasnt worth humpin!
..and as far as those limited-issue P38s...I still got mine, having used it countless times, lo these 35 years! Always on my dogchain, now on my keyring.IMHO, one of the great inventions of Western Civilization.
 
Weevils.. Ugh.


I must admit Ive not heard much positive said re: hardtack, but in time of hunger, there was nothing finer. Hardtack was genius. It supplied carbohydrates- pure starch- to the soldier. It didnt readily spoil, so it became umbiquitous on the battlefield. Mixed with grease and any other skillet additives, it was quite palatable, called skillygallee or kush- no, not the head-muddling marijuana!
 
Weevils.. Ugh.

The ships biscuit used by the navy in the 1700s, hard tack, it came supplied with weevils.

Ship’s biscuits were baked up to four times, to ensure that any excess moisture was removed, allowing the bread to last indefinitely. crumbled or pounded fine and used as a thickener, it was a key ingredient in New England seafood chowders from the late 1700s onward.

The original ingredients for hard Tack: Mix ingredients and bake.
  1. Place on a baking tray and prick all over to let out any air when cooking
  2. Bake slowly at only a moderate heat (A moderate heat is 350°C, 177°°F, Gas 4 )until golden brown (30-40 minutes

  • 1 lb flour
  • 1/2 pint water
  • 1/2 tablespoon sea salt

A ship’s biscuit—purportedly the oldest in the world—displayed at the maritime museum in Kronborg, Denmark.
 
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I must admit Ive not heard much positive said re: hardtack, but in time of hunger, there was nothing finer. Hardtack was genius. It supplied carbohydrates- pure starch- to the soldier. It didnt readily spoil, so it became umbiquitous on the battlefield. Mixed with grease and any other skillet additives, it was quite palatable, called skillygallee or kush- no, not the head-muddling marijuana!
I think that's what people overlook. Given the conditions, it was better than other alternatives, and bacon or salt pork was the same, offering protein and high calories in a way that combined durability with palatability better than the alternatives.
 
I must admit Ive not heard much positive said re: hardtack, but in time of hunger, there was nothing finer. Hardtack was genius. It supplied carbohydrates- pure starch- to the soldier. It didnt readily spoil, so it became umbiquitous on the battlefield. Mixed with grease and any other skillet additives, it was quite palatable, called skillygallee or kush- no, not the head-muddling marijuana!

A story is told of the 11th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry that illustrates your point about the soldiers' appreciation of hardtack in hard times, Gen Cleburne: When the regiment trained in April 1861 at Camp Wayne in West Chester, Pennsylvania, grateful local residents provided such wonderful foods and delicacies that the soldiers scorned hard tack and mocked it by making a garland of it for the commissary’s horse to wear. But in November 1863 near Mine Run, Virginia, the 11th’s division was separated from its supply wagons across the Rapidan River. On the march, hungry soldiers of the 11th called out offers of $1 for a piece of hardtack, but no one would sell.
 
p-38 PISTOL?
A P-38 is a small can opener that's included in C-rations, however they're rare enough that a trade is needed to get one. Rumor has it you had to puncture a can 38 times to open it. I don't know if that's true or not. I should have explained more thoroughly. Sorry.
 
Not as extreme but in a possibly related matter, the United States Civil Defense organization in the 1950's stored loads of hard tack like provisions in storage vaults under the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City to be used in a national emergency. They were recently discovered (unused of course) in edible condition.
 
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