This is my first post on the common ground.  I am not new to re-enacting by any means, I have been re-enacting for 20 years. But today I ran into something that i have never seen and heard before.  I have made Hardtack thousands of times, but today it seems to be cracking and you can hear it crack, its quite loud.  Does anyone know a reason for this? I have never had this happen before and I used the same old recipe i have used for years 6 parts flour to 1 part water.  I have it in my poke sack now and its still cracking I can hear it, I am afraid  that by the time i get it in the field it will all be in little pieces. nay in put?

Tim Fretwell
10th LA Co.C

Quote :

Ground Sleeper wrote : This is my first post on the common ground.  I am not new to re-enacting by any means, I have been re-enacting for 20 years. But today I ran into something that i have never seen and heard before.  I have made Hardtack thousands of times, but today it seems to be cracking and you can hear it crack, its quite loud.  Does anyone know a reason for this? I have never had this happen before and I used the same old recipe i have used for years 6 parts flour to 1 part water.  I have it in my poke sack now and its still cracking I can hear it, I am afraid  that by the time i get it in the field it will all be in little pieces. nay in put? Tim Fretwell 10th LA Co.C

Just a wild guess but perhaps all the moisture was not yet baked out of the hard tack and it is drying out and cracking or it is the mysterious exploding hardtack,

Look on the bright side, you won't have to bust it up to eat it.

Down on this end of the world we make something called "crackling bread," but it is corn bread and not hardtack

Thanks for the input. Its all in peices now...haha

Your right Dave I won't have to break it up to eat it.

Tim Fretwell