unrelated questions-- canning tomatos sauce, and making biscuit dough ahead

[Llyra]

I was actually wondering about both these, today. Figured I'm combine them into one thread...

1. Can I make biscuit dough ahead, and put it in the fridge, and then pull some out each morning to bake? How long do you think it'll keep? Does it have to warm up before I bake? It's just baking soda, buttermilk, whole wheat flour, butter, and salt. We love morning biscuits, but we have an earlier school bus time this year, and I have my doubts about time...

2. If I'm canning diced tomatoes in a water bath canner (which I've done many times before) can I thicken the tomatoes with some commercial tomato paste, before the canning? I usually add lemon juice to the tomatoes, following the recipe in my Blue Book-- will tomato paste affect the recipe? I don't have a pressure canner right now.

[cristeen]

I wouldnt do that w baking soda biscuits. But i have a yeast biscuit recipe that would work with. Cant answer the other question though.

[Llyra]

Originally Posted by cristeen

I wouldnt do that w baking soda biscuits. But i have a yeast biscuit recipe that would work with. Cant answer the other question though.

Would you be willing to share your recipe?

[Arduinna]

What I do with biscuits is cut the lard into the flour and leavening and then put it in the fridge. Just before dinner is ready I add the buttermilk and cut them and bake.

As for the question does it have to be warm before you bake. You want the fat cold while you are cutting it into the flour and as it goes in to bake, that helps make the lightest flakiest biscuits.

[velochic]

For your canning question... no, you can't safely alter a recipe because you can't determine what the pH of the final product would be (and therefore if it would be safe to just water bath can).

[Llyra]

Originally Posted by velochic

For your canning question... no, you can't safely alter a recipe because you can't determine what the pH of the final product would be (and therefore if it would be safe to just water bath can).

Yeah, that's kinda what I figured. Ah, well. I was just trying to save myself a step, later on, but better safe than sorry. Thanks.

[Llyra]

Originally Posted by Arduinna

What I do with biscuits is cut the lard into the flour and leavening and then put it in the fridge. Just before dinner is ready I add the buttermilk and cut them and bake.

As for the question does it have to be warm before you bake. You want the fat cold while you are cutting it into the flour and as it goes in to bake, that helps make the lightest flakiest biscuits.

So what you're saying, basically, is that if I mix the dough-- butter, flour, leavening, and salt-- the night before, then I can just add the buttermilk in the morning? But then I have to knead in the morning, so there's no substantial saving in time.

[cristeen]

I rarely knead BS biscuits. They come out far more tender and are a lot quicker.

As for yeasted biscuits, you can search 'angel biscuits' and shoild be able yo find a recipe. Like w any yeast dough, you can take it all the way to cut and placed on the baking sheet then pop in the fridge. Pull them out of the fridge when you wake up, take your shower while the oven heats up, pop them in the oven while you get dressed and hot biscuits are ready for breakfast.

[serenbat]

did you search for any using the term refrigerator? there are also "refrigerator" types in old cook books -

http://www.texascooking.com/recipes/...r_biscuits.htm

[lilyka]

I think the tomato sauce would be fine. My salsa recipe calls for tomato paste. Canning time for salsa and tomatoes is the same in a water bath canner. I am assuming you are hot packing the tomatoes...it would be hard to get the paste right with cold packing...can you even do cold pack tomatoes in a water bath? I mean really, the recipe does not tell you what type of tomatoes to use and has no idea how much acid is in them (and it varies a lot by type of tomato) I don't think a little can of paste will change much. If it makes you feel better add a little more lemon juice or citric acid. But I am pretty liberal with canning and canning recipes....especially for tomatoes.

[Arduinna]

Originally Posted by Llyra

So what you're saying, basically, is that if I mix the dough-- butter, flour, leavening, and salt-- the night before, then I can just add the buttermilk in the morning? But then I have to knead in the morning, so there's no substantial saving in time.

I don't knead biscuits, you don't want to develop gluten. Anyway, sorry my suggestion isn't helpful to you. I personally put quality above convenience so this works great for me.

[Addie]

My MIL makes angel biscuits, cuts them and freezes them. Then she bakes them straight from the freezer. They're small, maybe 1.5-2 inches in diameter? They don't seem to take too much longer to bake, and they're not bad. Not as good as fresh, IMHO, but not bad.

Honestly, biscuits are so quick to make - they take less time to mix up than it takes the oven to come to temp - that I'd just mix them in the morning. I use a really simple recipe - the "emergency drop" variation in Bittman's How to Cook Everything. It only takes one bowl, and cold (not softened) butter, so you could just mix them up and leave the bowl in the sink for later.