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Hardtack - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Some early physicians associated most medical problems with digestion. Hence, for sustenance and health, eating a biscuit daily was considered good for one's health. The bakers of the time made biscuits as hard as possible, as the biscuits would soften and be more palatable with time due to exposure to humidity and other weather elements.[SUP]
[4][/SUP] Because it is so hard and dry, hardtack (when properly stored and transported) will survive rough handling and temperature extremes. The more refined captain's biscuit was made with finer flour.
To soften, it was often dunked in
brine,
coffee, or some other liquid or
cooked into a skillet meal.
Baked hard, it would stay intact for years if it was kept dry. For long voyages, hardtack was baked four times, rather than the more common two, and prepared six months before sailing.[SUP]
[5]
we will need a barrel full of this stuff for the cruise..........shoot, Reborn and Sirk will eat up most of it[/SUP]