ramrod bread?

[major bill]

The trivia question for my CWRT this month was what is ramrod bread? Some answers I thought of:

1. Bread made from grounded up ramrods.
2. Corn bread baked on a ramrod over on open fire.
3. Bread eaten by 2nd Lieutenants (nicknamed ramrods).

 

[mofederal]

I think I have more respect for my ramrod. I also know this was a form of cooking popular among soldiers. I do not know how popular, but I have read of it. Of course it was no. 2. Using cornbread to make a simple bread. Myself, I would not do it with the ramrod I had on my Model 1861.

 

[ikesdad]

Ramrods were quite common then, not as today.

 

[major bill]

Ramrods were quite common then, not as today.

Heavens! How do modern solders bake their corn bread?

 

[ikesdad]

In their Ronco cornbread baker. In addition, it slices and it dices.

 

[major bill]

Modern soldiers probably do not use cooking fires. Cooking fires are not environmentally friendly and modern soldiers are very "green".

 

[ikesdad]

MRE heat packets instead.

 

[AUG]

A couple of Hood's Texans mentioned cooking their rations by ramrod on that infamous morning of Sept. 17, 1862 just before heading into battle.

"The next morning a small amount of bacon and flour was issued; I was trying to cook some bread; I took the ramrod out of my gun, wet up the flour without grease or salt, wrapped it around the ramrod, and was holding it over the fire when a shell from one of the Federal batteries fell, bursting near me and breaking a man's leg."
- James M. Polk, Co. I, 4th Texas.

"About 1 o'clock on the morning of the 17th, rations, consisting of beef and flour, were issued to us, near the Dunkard church, with no cooking utensils. We made our flour up on our rubber blankets and cooked it on our ramrods, and broiled our meat on the coals."
- Lt. William E. Barry, Co. G, 4th Texas.

 

[Albert Sailhorst]

I challenge anyone to make a bread "dough" and cook it with a ramrod over an open fire.....Can't be done and still be called "bread".....Science and gravity would not allow it to happen......Most of it would either fall off into the fire or burn up. Besides, bread is baked.....

 

[mofederal]

I used to see people ret to make this a lot. The fire is where most of them went. I think most people made them too thick. What was a good thickness to use.

 

[ikesdad]

I challenge anyone to make a bread "dough" and cook it with a ramrod over an open fire.....Can't be done and still be called "bread".....Science and gravity would not allow it to happen......Most of it would either fall off into the fire or burn up. Besides, bread is baked.....

Not so when 2 ramrods and a heavy enough dough are used.

 

[major bill]

Is corn meal usually able to be made into heavy dough. I have little knowledge of cornbread and never ate any until I was in basic training and ate little of it there. I do not believe my mother or wife has ever made cornbread.

 

[ikesdad]

Everytime I make cornbread, it is poured into the pan. Those guys were possibly using tin cups for the pan. Flour is a different thing however and can be made thick enough to wrap around a couple of ramrods.

 

[AUG]

In Memoirs of a Confederate Scout and Sharpshooter, p. 13, Berry Benson says the fallowing:

"Having pursued the enemy as far as we could, we camped and rations were issued, meat and flour. If I remember rightly, these were the first rations issued to us since the march began. We had been living on the spoils from the enemy. But now not a cooking utensil of any kind could be had.... Some heated stones, some baked in the ashes. I cast about and found an old broken plough-share in a field on which we baked. But the neatest device of all was the making of the dough into a long rope, which was then wrapped spirally around a ramrod, the ramrod then being laid horizontally before the fire on two small wooden forks set in the ground. By turning the ramrod, all parts of the dough were by turns exposed to the fire and so baked, being broken off in pieces when done."

 

[nitrofd]

T

In Memoirs of a Confederate Scout and Sharpshooter, p. 13, Berry Benson says the fallowing:

"Having pursued the enemy as far as we could, we camped and rations were issued, meat and flour. If I remember rightly, these were the first rations issued to us since the march began. We had been living on the spoils from the enemy. But now not a cooking utensil of any kind could be had.... Some heated stones, some baked in the ashes. I cast about and found an old broken plough-share in a field on which we baked. But the neatest device of all was the making of the dough into a long rope, which was then wrapped spirally around a ramrod, the ramrod then being laid horizontally before the fire on two small wooden forks set in the ground. By turning the ramrod, all parts of the dough were by turns exposed to the fire and so baked, being broken off in pieces when done."

This is the way I have seen a couple of reenactment photos showing how to cook a dough,cook not baked.

 

[nitrofd]

T

This is the way I have seen a couple of reenactment photos showing how to cook a dough,cook not baked.

In the photos it looked more like a pretzel then bread.

 

[mofederal]

I have seen that video, and the finished product did not look that good. Actually a better word for it was not worth all of the trouble. If you are hungry, I suppose anyway you could get it cooked would work.

 

[donna]

Ramrods were used often for baking bread. In 'Wandering to Glory: Confederate Veterans Remember Evans' Brigade", there is description of using ramrods for making bread. The person describes pulling the dough on the ramrod and winding it around like a vine winds around. The ramrod is placed in ground by the fire in reclining position. It is turned so bread bakes on both sides.

Sounds like unique way to bake bread. Soldiers seemed to enjoy cooking this way and having fresh bread.

 

[JohnW.]

I thought someone started a thread about this very thing in October....and sure enough I was correct...here tis the link to the thread.

https://civilwartalk.com/threads/foods-of-war-sloosh.139637/#post-1675355

 

[donna]

JohnW good find. There been many discussions on foods soldiers prepared. I posted on the thread that was named "foods of war Sloosh "and thus brought back up.