How to Make Hardtack
Learn how to make hardtack and dine like the frontiersmen.
Life on the American frontier had its sunny side. Primary sources often talk about the freedom people felt, the beauty of the land, and the wild adventures a person could experience. It was a place where dreams were realized, opportunities found, and roots were established. It was a land where people could succeed or fail based on the sweat of their brow or the sharpness of their mind. Natural resources abounded. At times it seemed like a land of plenty to those who lived there. Freedom, beauty, and adventure were only half the story though.
As much freedom as the American frontier offered, it also came with the heavy price tag of responsibility. If things went south, there was no safety net to catch you, no “go fund me” when times got hard, and no supermarket to run to if your garden got hailed out. Survival was often a nearly full-time job, and people were expected to stand on their own two feet. It was a world of rawhide beds, dirt homes, and thin blankets. For all of its romance, it took a person with wide shoulders to make it on the frontier. Everyone had to go without luxuries, and that was especially true in their diet.
Bacon, beans, and coffee were staples of most frontier diets. Fresh meat often depended on how the hunting went. What they didn’t grow or hunt had to be purchased. People bought food that fit two essential qualities. One, food needed to be stored easily, and two, it needed to keep you alive. That was about it. Flour was another common staple due to its capacity toward both requirements. Flour was of course commonly used in bread, but it was also used to make hardtack.
Hardtack was a frontier staple food that kept many frontiersmen going when they would have otherwise starved to death. It is very simple to make, stores very well, and can get you by in a pinch. On the downside, hardtack lacks flavor and isn’t the most palpable item on the menu.
If you are reading History of the West with Sam Payne: And the Wagons Rolled, you might know that freighters often ate hardtack when the weather got too bad to cook. These hard biscuits were also used by the US army, Oregon Trail pioneers, Texas Rangers, and about anybody else who was on the move and wanted some insurance against starvation. Today it can still serve the purpose did in the past. Hardtack can still be taken on camping, hiking, or hunting trips for a trusted snack. Although there are tastier options out there, taking some on the trail can help you better understand what it would have been like to have lived on the frontier. If you are into living history or are just looking for an affordable hiking snack, here is a recipe showing how to make hardtack in a traditional way.
How to Make Hard Tack
This hardtack recipe comes from Ellsworth Jaeger’s book Wildwood Wisdom originally published in 1945. It is very basic and doesn’t require much skill or knowledge. Here is the recipe in its entirety.
“The hard bread has been the outdoorsman’s bread for a long, long time. It is made of flour, salt, sugar, and water. Use 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon sugar to about 5 cups of flour. Mix the dry ingredients, and then add just enough water to make a stiff dough. Roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thickness and cut it into sections. Bake them in a greased pan until the hardtack is bone-dry.”
There you have it. It’s that easy.
The Jaeger recipe does call for sugar. You can omit it if you would like, as it is not a necessary ingredient. You probably noticed Jaeger said hardtack has been the outdoorsman’s bread for a long, long time. There is evidence to suggest that it was actually used by the Roman army several thousand years ago. You shouldn’t be surprised to learn that Civil War soldiers often survived on this bread. However, you might be surprised to learn that a Civil War museum there is still hardtack on display that was made during the Civil War.
In And the Wagons Rolled, Sam and his companions enjoy their hardtack with a little molasses. If you take the time to make and eat your own hardtack, you should be better able to understand the story and history. By eating the same bread as the frontiersmen, you can better appreciate some of their hardships. And the next time you enjoy a beautiful sunset and feel that rising sense of freedom, you can crunch down on your own hardtack and realize that freedom of the frontier also had a price tag.
