Realized I was overmixing my grandma's biscuit dough for 20 years

So I've been making my grandma's buttermilk biscuit recipe since I was a kid, and they always came out kinda tough. Last Thanksgiving my aunt watched me mix it in the stand mixer and she was like 'honey you're killing the gluten.' She showed me to just stir it by hand until it barely comes together, like 8-10 turns max. I tried it that same day and they were flaky for the first time ever. Anyone else have a family recipe where you were doing one step totally backwards?

3 comments

3 Comments

vera5141mo ago

My buddy used a hand mixer on his mom's cornbread for like fifteen years before someone told him it makes it dense.

ellis.susan1mo ago

Funny how we're all out here just copying bad habits from people we love. My mom always overstirs her iced tea until it gets cloudy, won't listen when I tell her it just makes it bitter.

logan_ellis1mo ago

Got a similar shock with my dad's chili recipe. I always dumped the beans in straight from the can, liquid and all, thinking it added flavor. Turns out that's how you get a salty, starchy, murky mess (and kinda ruins the texture). My roommate from Texas caught me doing it one time and literally grabbed the can out of my hand. Now I rinse them first and the whole thing tastes way cleaner, almost like a different dish. Funny how we just copy what we saw without ever questioning it for years, right?