Well, late this afternoon, after trying to concentrate on reading my US Army Survival Manual I just couldn’t focus. So I decided to try my hand at Hard Tack. For those of you who do not know, Hard Tack is a rock hard bread made of water, flour, and a little salt. After being baked, it is as hard as a brick. It is great for camping and is a good survival food because it stays well, and is easily portable.
Hard Tack was extremely simple to make. I found a couple of recipes below that I thought might be good for those of you that want to give it a try.
Eating Hard Tack, as I found out the hard way is NOT to bite down on it… You can literally chip or break a tooth. It is meant to be ground up and you can reuse it to cook, make pancakes, etc… You can dip/crumble it in soup, tea, or coffee as a hearty snack or meal. Reconstitute it with water to make it pliable for cooking.
Let it air dry for about 24 hours after cooking. Do not store it in a plastic container or plastic bag, however, because any moisture that is still in the bread will mold and ruin your bread. It is best stored in a paper bag or out in the open air so that any additional moisture can evaporate from it. Left in a plastic bag or out in the open, your Hard Tack should last for months.
I found several recipes for Hard Tack that you can try yourself:
Enjoy!
Next Hard Tack attempt… I will try making it next to or over a fire with my mess kit. That should be interesting…