Survival Hardtack

The outdoors can be as fun as it is unforgiving and if you are not prepared for the worst then it can also be deadly. We have much to learn from the outdoorsman of the past. The survival methods they used were proven and should be used to increase survival even today. Food is important when surviving because it is the only way to replenish energy. You can survive with very little food and I will show you a way to easily carry some with you.

Hardtack is a dense bread that has minimal water and can last months without modern refrigeration. It is true to its name and has a reputation for being hard as brick. Historically, it has helped armies and sailors make long trips by packing wooden casks with this hard bread.

Making it is simple and it requires only whole wheat flour, salt and water.

Step 1

First, measure 4 cups of flour. 4 cups of flour weighs 480 grams.
Next, measure 2 cups of water and dissolve 4 teaspoons of salt into it.

Comments

[Hellspore]

Hardtack broken into chunks and soaked in water makes for a very sturdy biscuit that you can fry with butter or bacon and the texture is that of a steak, that has to be cut with a knife. I have fixed this for students in elementary school Civil War talks and its always a big hit.

[thegreat58]

I keep a glass jar of these in my office, but also take it on hikes and campouts, the only thing I do different is add a teaspoon of garlic powder, keeps the bugs out, of the hard tack as well as you.

[johnnypanic13]

I'm going to make some this weekend and put it in with our winter "auto emergency kit" along with some homemade beef jerky and dried fruit.

Before I give it a shot, does anyone know if you can put a little spice in it without shortening the shelf life? Like garlic salts, or even something crazier?

[chris73044]

check this instructable out.... not mine... you are packing for winter in your area i will do this for tornado season here... http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-MREsa-tutorial/step2/Menu-Preparation/

[tjesse]

I don't pretend to know the science, but I don't use this as a tasty treat. I ate two of them, one warm from the oven and one after it cooled. They taste bland but not bad.

[johnnypanic13]

I tried a few different spices, mostly out of curiosity. I'm going to leave them setting out and see if they go bad any quicker.

I agree that they aren't bad even without anything extra. I'm I'm packing them away in a "winter emergency kit" so taste isn't really the important part anyway.

I also tried making them a little thicker, about 3/4 inch, and cooking longer. I was thinking if they dried out more, they'd last longer. But I wouldn't advise that, I tried to eat one of that batch and I think you'd starve before you could even gnaw off a chunk.

[rfreyhol]

Reminds me of the crackers out of the MRE's! I imagine if you individually vacuum seal these they would last forever... Great instructable!!

[GailC]

Great instructable. I imagine if, when you're eating it, dunking it in water or whatever you are drinking at the time would make them softer and easier to eat.

[aweaver4]

All-purpose, or self-rising flour?

[tjesse]

Whole wheat is what I used.

[Hoopajoo]

All purpose is what I use. You don't want this to rise or have any fermentation.

[Hoopajoo]

There are stories of hardtack from the Civil War (1861-1865) being used for both the Spanish-American (1898) war and WW1 (1914-1918) and being perfectly fine. From my reading on it, it appears that the secret to it having a near indifinate shelf life is to:
a) Use no oils when making
b) Use no dairy (milk, butter,...) when making
c) KEEP DRY
d) Store in a light proof container (seems to improve taste as well).

[lemonie]

A nice compliment might be Kendall Mint-Cake (it's something like 99% sugar)

L