Rise

 My great grandmother's buttermilk biscuit recipe is one of my husband's favorite acquisitions from marrying me.  He loves them, whether for biscuits and gravy, or with butter and jam/honey.  Hot from the oven, two days old.....he basically eats them until they're inedible.  But two changes I made recently have yielded the best biscuits I have ever tasted, ones that were light and melted in your mouth.

Recently I wanted to try baking powder that was aluminum free.  Of course you might realize by now I have to actually research everything.  So after spying Rumford baking powder at Trader Joes I went home to check out reviews.  They seemed positive, with "food tastes better" being the biggest praise.  Next time I was into the store, into the cart it went.  Reading David Lebovitz's article on Why You Should Use Aluminum Free Baking Powder  I noticed that Rumford is made by Clabber Girl (my previous brand of choice).  And honestly, the packaging swayed me, because I have a thing for silhouettes. 

Since reading Real Food: What To Eat And Why, I've been trying to figure out ways to get away from hydrogenated vegetable oil products (such as crisco) completely.  The only thing I ever used crisco in was my great-grandmother's buttermilk biscuits, because it's what was called for.  But Wednesday night I decided to try something different and use softened butter.  I used a fork to mix it well until it all was crumb like.  

The first thing I noticed was that the dough tasted better overall.  But then into the oven they went and we watched, fascinated.  My previous attempts at using butter when we were first married didn't work out so well.  I guess I didn't get the butter mixed as well (I was using the rubbing method with my fingers), because they just seemed to not rise very well.  This time the biscuits rose and rose.  They got larger than they ever had before, and when taken out of the oven and cut into they were light, fluffy, and melted as you ate them.  The taste was outstanding, and we both heartily agreed they were by far the best biscuits we had ever eaten in our whole entire lives.  

I'm a Rumford convert.  These biscuits rose beautifully (and so have other things we've baked with this brand, much more so than usual) and tasted delicious, not just because of the butter but because there was absolutely no metallic taste whatsoever.  If you're looking to switch, it's very close to the same cost as Clabber Girl, but with far superior results.