OBJECTIVE

Students will be able to make and taste hardtack

Students will understand that hardtack was an important food on a whaling ship

Students will be able to compare between fresh bread and hardtack

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

Where does food come from?

What foods do people eat?

Why do people preserve food?

MATERIALS NEEDED

• Hardtack ingredients: flour, water salt
• Mixing bowl
• Rolling pin
• Cutting board
• Fork
• Access to oven, toaster oven or air fryer
• Paper towels
• Hot cups
• Electric tea kettle
• Chamomile tea
• Fresh bread
• Hardtack Recipe
• Minnesota Historical Society Hardtack Video
• Hardtack Worksheet

PROCEDURE

Introduction:

Tell students that today they are going to be making hardtack. Ask students for guesses about what it is based off of the name. Show the students the video from the Minnesota Historical Society of the 150 year old piece of hardtack. This piece of hardtack was from the Civil War but hardtack was also a very common food on a whaling ship. Ask students why they think hardtack was important for whalers and why they think it could last so long.
Share some other names for hardtack: dog biscuits, tooth dullers, sheet iron, worm castles. Ask students what do these names tell us about hardtack and how people felt about it?

Activity:

Write the recipe for hardtack on the board and have students make and roll out the dough. Cut it into squares and bake it while students complete the Hardtack Worksheet.

When it is done cooking or next class, pass out the hardtack and have students finish the section about hardtack. You could offer tea to students as well to soften the hardtack. After students complete this, pass out the fresh bread and have them finish the next page about fresh bread.

Have students complete the Venn diagram to compare them or do this together as a whole class.

Wrap up:
How long do you think the fresh bread will last before going bad?

We know how to make hardtack. How do you make fresh bread? What are the ingredients?

How is the goal a cook has for fresh bread different than the goal a cook has for hardtack?

FOLLOW UP & EXTENSIONS

Whaling and Tropical Ports

Radish Pickling

Plan a Whaler’s Menu