Bitter biscuits

[John Gordon]

The other day I had a hankering for biscuits, so I whipped some up (recipe
is from Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything"):

2 cups flour
1 scant tsp salt
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
5 Tbsp butter
7/8 cup buttermilk or plain yogurt

I didn't have any buttermilk or plain yogurt on hand; the recipe says to
add another tsp of baking powder if you use regular milk, so I did that.

The raw dough tasted fine but the baked biscuits were, frankly, awful,
with a very bitter aftertaste.

I have made this recipe before with good results, so I wondered what had
gone wrong. I checked expiration dates on the ingredients and found that
the baking powder was six months past its date, so I assumed that was the
problem.

Next evening after stopping at the store to buy fresh baking powder
(aluminum-free) and baking soda, I made another batch of biscuits, and
was very surprised when they turned out much the same as the first batch.
The bitter taste was less pronounced, but still very noticeable.

Finally I gave up and tried a different recipe with less baking powder
and soda: (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chef-johns-buttermilk-biscuits/)

2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
7 Tbsp butter
3/4 cup cold buttermilk

These turned out very nicely, to much rejoicing.

But my question is, what went wrong with the first two batches? As I said
I have made that recipe before and the biscuits were just fine, and I
looked online and found many testamonials from others who have also used
it. Does it have too much baking soda? Is 4 tsp a reasonable amount?

Thanks,

--
John Gordon Imagine what it must be like for a real medical doctor to
gor...@panix.com watch 'House', or a real serial killer to watch 'Dexter'.

[ImStillMags]

well the recipe calls for 3 tsp of baking POWDER and 1 tsp soda, so if you were using 4 tsp of SODA, that's the problem right there.

[John Gordon]

In <d067e0ed-1b21-4418...@googlegroups.com> ImStillMags <sitar...@gmail.com> writes:

> > it. Does it have too much baking soda? Is 4 tsp a reasonable amount?

> well the recipe calls for 3 tsp of baking POWDER and 1 tsp soda, so if
> you were using 4 tsp of SODA, that's the problem right there.

Whoops, I mistyped "soda" instead of "powder" there. I used 4 tsp of
powder.

[jmcquown]

On 8/8/2014 12:33 PM, John Gordon wrote:
> In <d067e0ed-1b21-4418...@googlegroups.com> ImStillMags <sitar...@gmail.com> writes:
>
>>> it. Does it have too much baking soda? Is 4 tsp a reasonable amount?
>
>> well the recipe calls for 3 tsp of baking POWDER and 1 tsp soda, so if
>> you were using 4 tsp of SODA, that's the problem right there.
>
> Whoops, I mistyped "soda" instead of "powder" there. I used 4 tsp of
> powder.
>

You can make faux buttermilk by souring regular whole milk by adding
some white vinegar. I'd have gone with that option.

Jill

[John Gordon]

In <c4kdav...@mid.individual.net> jmcquown <j_mc...@comcast.net> writes:

> You can make faux buttermilk by souring regular whole milk by adding
> some white vinegar. I'd have gone with that option.

Could using regular milk instead of buttermilk have caused the bitter
taste? The recipe does call for buttermilk (or yogurt), but I'm 99.9%
sure I've made it substituting plain milk for buttermilk and it was fine.

[Dave Smith]

On 2014-08-08 12:33 PM, John Gordon wrote:
> In <d067e0ed-1b21-4418...@googlegroups.com> ImStillMags <sitar...@gmail.com> writes:
>
>>> it. Does it have too much baking soda? Is 4 tsp a reasonable amount?
>
>> well the recipe calls for 3 tsp of baking POWDER and 1 tsp soda, so if
>> you were using 4 tsp of SODA, that's the problem right there.
>
> Whoops, I mistyped "soda" instead of "powder" there. I used 4 tsp of
> powder.
>

Still.... that's a hell of a lot of baking powder for a recipe with only
two cups of flour. No wonder it tasted bitter.

[Nancy2]

My favorite recipes call only for four tsp. of baking powder and not any soda. Maybe the buttermilk requires soda?
I think the baking soda is making them bitter.

N. JMO.

[Dave Smith]

That's what I usually do. I like to keep some powdered buttermilk on
hand because there are a number of things that I make that call for one
cop, and I don't want to have to buy a whole litre to use only 1/4 of
it. Besides, the stuff I buy seems to be really thick and I always seem
to need to add more liquid. Milk with vinegar gives great results.

[Dave Smith]

On 2014-08-08 12:53 PM, John Gordon wrote:
> In <c4kdav...@mid.individual.net> jmcquown <j_mc...@comcast.net> writes:
>
>> You can make faux buttermilk by souring regular whole milk by adding
>> some white vinegar. I'd have gone with that option.
>
> Could using regular milk instead of buttermilk have caused the bitter
> taste? The recipe does call for buttermilk (or yogurt), but I'm 99.9%
> sure I've made it substituting plain milk for buttermilk and it was fine.

You typically use baking powder when making cookies and other things
that need leavening. If using fruit or buttermilk, which is somewhat
acidic, you use some baking soda as well.

[Whirled Peas]

On 08/08/2014 09:09 AM, John Gordon wrote:

> The raw dough tasted fine but the baked biscuits were, frankly, awful,
> with a very bitter aftertaste.

Maybe, like Betty Bottler, you bought a bit of bitter butter.

:-)

[Doris Night]

It's the butter.

Betty Botter bought some butter;
"But," said she, "this butter's bitter!
If I put it in my batter
It will make my batter bitter.
But a bit of better butter
Will but make my batter better."
Then she bought a bit of butter
Better than the bitter butter,
Made her bitter batter better.
So �twas better Betty Botter
bought a bit of better butter.

Doris

[sf]

On Fri, 8 Aug 2014 16:53:52 +0000 (UTC), John Gordon
<gor...@panix.com> wrote:

> In <c4kdav...@mid.individual.net> jmcquown <j_mc...@comcast.net> writes:
>
> > You can make faux buttermilk by souring regular whole milk by adding
> > some white vinegar. I'd have gone with that option.
>
> Could using regular milk instead of buttermilk have caused the bitter
> taste?

No. Baking soda is what's bitter and cream of tartar in the baking
powder formula is what counteracts the bitterness.

>The recipe does call for buttermilk (or yogurt), but I'm 99.9%
> sure I've made it substituting plain milk for buttermilk and it was fine.

Whenever I use regular milk instead of buttermilk (or yogurt), a
certain zippiness is lost in the process. Next time you make the
recipe, try using both baking powder and baking soda as the recipe
says and get back to us with the result because the first recipe I
looked at called for 2 tsp baking powder per cup of flour. Maybe your
milk or butter was rancid.


--
Avoid cutting yourself when slicing vegetables by getting someone else to hold them.

[pltrgyst]

On 8/8/14, 8:21 PM, Doris Night wrote:
> Betty Botter bought some butter;
> "But," said she, "this butter's bitter!
> If I put it in my batter
> It will make my batter bitter.
> But a bit of better butter
> Will but make my batter better."
> Then she bought a bit of butter
> Better than the bitter butter,
> Made her bitter batter better.
> So �twas better Betty Botter
> bought a bit of better butter.

Sound like the feminine gender's over-engineered response to Peter Piper.

-- Larry

[graham]

The original was: "Batty Betty bought......"
:-)
Graham

[John Gordon]

In <ls7ra8$7hn$2...@dont-email.me> heyjoe <sam...@example.invalid> writes:

> Then I looked at the ingredients in the recipe and what you actually
> used. With sweet milk, which lacks the acid of buttermilk or yogurt,
> you don't need, nor want, baking soda. Leave out the baking soda when
> you use sweet milk.

Good to know!

> One last thought - flour can go rancid, too. How old is your flour?
> How do you store it?

I considered that, but the third batch turned out fine, and that was
made with the same flour. Expiration date is May of next year. I
store it in the pantry, in the original bag with the top folded down.

> When all your ingredients are fresh and you still detect a bitter taste,
> add 1 TBSP of sugar to your dry ingredients.

> Side note - that's more salt than I like in my biscuits, but was not the
> cause of the bitter taste.

I made it once with a full tsp and it was too salty, and since then I
have used about 3/4 tsp.

Thanks again for your help.