- Let my throat closing up on me,
that's how dry it is, oh Lord help me.
(upbeat music begins)
- Hi guys, my name is Danielle Carrington,
I am from Durham, North Carolina.
- My name is Eileen,
and I am from Southern California.
- Hi, my name is Makeba,
and I am from Southern New York.
- Ooh, what makes a great biscuit?
For me, I think butter.
- I feel like a good, home-cooked biscuit has those flakes,
like as close as you can get to like,
you know the Pillsbury can,
like with the flakes and everything, like--
- The key to a great biscuit for me is,
lots and lots of moisture.
There's nothing worse than a dry biscuit.
I physically can't eat a dry biscuit,
the ones that just make your throat feel
like they're closing up.
(upbeat music continues)
(transition swooshes)
- The person that taught me how to make biscuits was,
God rest her soul, was my late grandmother.
She used to make this thing called Homemade Bread,
and we used to eat it with molasses,
and apple butter, and preserves.
So, what I did is over the years,
I tweaked the recipe to figure out,
how can I make a butter milk biscuit,
and I think I came up with a good solution.
(upbeat music continues)
- This is a pretty (beep) biscuit.
- Stayed in the oven a little bit long.
- It's got that literal, goldenness
that I really like when it comes to biscuit.
- Little bit of oil in there, ooh, lots of milk.
- It's very doughy.
It's not undercooked,
but, I feel like if it was in there
for like any less time than it was,
it would've definitely been undercooked.
- Smells like maybe buttermilk?
Very fluffy.
- That's kind of nice, actually,
it's a little. (disc stops)
- Oh, oh no.
- It's very baking soda heavy.
It doesn't ruin the biscuit,
but I do just taste like,
honestly, straight baking soda.
- Initial taste was like, very fluffy and tasty,
and then it just tastes like baking powder?
- It's not dry,
which is like the main thing,
this is not a dry biscuit.
- I don't like that one.
- In terms of smell, on a scale of one to 10,
like, a five.
It is lacking that buttery scent
that I really look forward to,
when I'm trying a biscuit.
- I'm gonna go with, a four.
- But like the texture is slamming.
- It's a little bit doughy on the inside,
I'm gonna say not my favorite biscuit to have that way.
- I'll give the texture, a nine.
- I'm gonna go, five.
- And in terms of taste, it's such a shame,
cause' that initial taste is pretty glorious,
but, the baking soda comes in fast.
- I don't know, I'm gonna go like, three.
- I'd give it, a six, man.
(bell dings)
- I was looking for a great biscuit recipe,
and I found one, and I kept making like different changes,
making it to my own,
and I found one that I really loved,
and yeah, now that's the one that I make,
and my friends love it,
and I make it for them when they come over for brunch,
it's now my go-to biscuit recipe.
(upbeat music continues)
- He's so little.
- And I'm a grown woman,
why would y'all put baby food in front of me?
This is a baby, this is a baby biscuit.
- It looks good, like I can see the layers in it,
which is very big,
like that's a big deal to me.
- You gotta be able to sap up your food,
like say, if you're doing gravy,
or you're doing some grits or something,
you wanna be able to sap that food up,
and this way, this is baby food.
That thing dry, (hand claps)
oh Jesus, that thing dry.
- This biscuit is pretty fire, I'm not gonna lie.
- Let my throat closing up on me,
that's how dry it is, oh Lord help me.
- The butteriness that I crave--
(bell dings)
- I don't smell no butter, or nothing.
- In terms of smell, I would rate this, an eight.
- I wanna give it, a six,
cause' I can't really smell that in the flour.
- The texture might be, a 10, for me.
This is a really soft,
pillowy, chewy biscuit.
- Watch this,
(biscuit knocking)
you can hear that, right?
It's like me knocking on wood that's not good,
biscuits don't pose a sound like that.
- It's really, really lovely, like it's got that nice,
like sponginess to it,
like when I press down on it,
it doesn't stay flattened, like it expands again.
- So no, I'm giving this, a four, for look, hard.
- I'm gonna give it, a nine, in terms of taste.
The only thing that it's missing,
a little bit of extra layer of like saltiness
in terms of flavor.
- If I can give a negative grade, I would,
but I ain't gonna do that to that person,
I ain't gonna disrespect that person.
Still, I'm gonna give it, a four.
(upbeat music continues)
(bell dings)
- I am very much still in the learning phases of biscuits.
However, within the last year,
I've definitely gotten significantly better,
like my biscuits are now edible,
in a way that they were not a year ago.
So, it took a year for me to make edible biscuits.
(upbeat music continues)
- I think somebody trying to scam me,
cause' the thing looked major bootleg,
like somebody went and store-bought this biscuit.
- It like reminds me of the KFC biscuit,
or like Popeye's biscuit.
- Whoever came today, they didn't feel
like cooking last night, so they ain't no true Southerner.
A true Southern don't make them biscuits from scratch.
So, somebody's a liar, liar.
- I mean I love a Popeye's biscuit.
I love home-cooked food, (disc stops)
oh, this is, oh, this is pretty hard.
- This is like bake Gucci,
you ain't playing me like that today.
- It's crazy how these biscuits are very different
in density.
I don't hate that taste,
it really does, like, take me back to childhood.
- My throat just closed up on me on that one.
Do I have a EpiPen or anything,
from that throat closing up?
That thing is dry.
- So I'm also gonna try the top.
Oh, yep,
more salty.
Like maybe they brushed it
with a little bit of like salted butter.
- See the thing is, the smell is not that bad.
The smell is not bad,
it smells like a biscuit.
So I give it, a eight.
- I mean, I smell this,
and I think to myself, yummy biscuit.
I'm gonna get that, a nine and a half, on smell.
The texture is a little dry.
- In the middle, it's pillowy, it's not bad,
you know, it gotta be that pillow-middle,
and the top has a nice crust to it,
as well as on the bottom, it's a little moist.
- I feel like a little more moisture would've been nice,
it's a little too dense.
So for texture, I think I'm gonna rate it like, seven.
- I'm gonna say, a six.
- Okay, so the top is more salty than the bottom,
and every time I'm surprised, I'm like,
"Ooh that tasted good."
And then I take a bite, and I'm like
"Mm, it's a little too salty."
And that's where I feel like maple syrup on this,
would taste so good at the top,
or some strawberry jam.
I would say for taste, I would rate this, an eight,
I kinda like the taste.
- It's dry, that's what it tastes like.
It tastes like a desert.
(bell dings)
(drumroll)
(people cheering) (people clapping)
- Well, I can't say that I'm surprised,
like come on.
This biscuit took a lot of work and love,
and I'm pretty proud.
Thanks y'all.
(upbeat music continues)