Do I grease the baking sheet or not?
No, but you dab both sides of each biscuit in bacon grease before putting it on the pan.
Don’t have bacon grease. I’ll use olive oil. Thanks.
You really don’t need to use anything… hope they turn out well!
I always grease a little (like a quick spritz of oil-in-a-spray-can). I’ve had things like biscuits and croissants stick (and they shouldn’t, with all the fat that’s in 'em). I’ve had things stick in the oven, in a pan, in a teflon pan, on the grill. Hell, I could cook buttered bacon in a teflon pan and it’d stick!
Mmmm… buttered bacon on a stick…
I lightly grease/use non-stick spray when baking biscuits; it was also standard at the restaurants I’ve worked at to spray the biscuit pans. It’s not absolutely necessary, but makes removing them from the sheet easier.
This. As a professional baker, I either place them on paper or very lightly grease. As said, it’s not absolutely necessary, but if you bake a lot on your pans, it makes the even easier to clean.
Worked out okay without greasing the pan. Biscuits browned nicely and didn’t stick but they didn’t rise as much as I expected. Could that be from too much kneading? All the ingredients were fresh.
2 cups flour
1/4 cup Crisco
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup beer (Sam Adams)
It could be. Baking powder biscuits just need a few knead and folds, twenty seconds at most. Unlike with yeast bread, you are not looking to develop the gluten.
Did you let them sit a few minutes on the pan to let them rise?
Something I only learned recently: when you cut out your biscuits just push the cutter straight dow through the dough, that is, do NOT twist your cutter as you’re cutting. Doing that tends to seal the edges closed and that makes it harder for them to rise properly.
Yes, lee, I let them sit for about 20 mins. before placing them in the oven. I think StarvingButStrong hit it though. I used a glass and did the twisting thing. Next time I’ll try it without the twist. And I’ll try to find something sharper than a drinking glass. Maybe a cookie cutter. Thanks all.
I’ve found using a scalloped circle biscuit cutter yields higher rising biscuits than using a glass or even a circle cookie cutter or smooth circle biscuit cutter. It may be partly because the tiny scallops discourage using a twisting motion.
BTW: My husband reports that buttering the pan and flopping the biscuits in grease together fries the bottoms and makes them cook too quickly, so he does one or the other, not both.
I just use parchment paper and no grease. I’ve been using a square biscuit cutter, but I concur with the scalloped theory. Sharp edges are good.
I leave a pizza stone in the oven and bake biscuits on it. Everything cooks up beautifully and nothing sticks.