Saltine cracker

Saltine cracker
Alternative names Soda cracker
Type Cracker
Place of origin United States
Main ingredients Flour, yeast, and baking soda
Cookbook: Saltine cracker  Media: Saltine cracker

A saltine or soda cracker is a thin, usually square cracker made from white flour, yeast, and baking soda, with most varieties lightly sprinkled with coarse salt. It has perforations over its surface, as well as a distinctively dry and crisp texture.

Some familiar brand names of saltine crackers in North America are Christie's Premium Plus (Canada), Nabisco's Premium (U.S.), Sunshine Biscuits' Krispy (U.S.) and Keebler's Zesta (U.S.) (both owned by Kellogg's). Unsalted tops as well as whole grain saltines can also be found.

Uses

Saltines are commonly eaten as a light snack, often with cheese, butter, or peanut butter. They may also be dipped or crumbled in stews, chilis, soups or crumbled into salads. Typically they are sold in boxes containing two to four stacks of crackers, each wrapped in a sleeve of waxed paper or plastic. In restaurants, they are found in small wrapped packets of two crackers, which generally accompany soup or salad. Cracker meal, a type of coarse to semi-fine flour made of crushed saltine crackers, may be used as toppings for dishes; breading for fried or baked red meats, poultry, fish ; or as a thickener for soups, stews, sauces, and chilis.

As a home remedy, saltines are consumed by many people in order to ease nausea and to settle an upset stomach. Pregnant women are also usually advised to snack on saltines . Saltine crackers have also been included in military field rations (Meal, Ready-to-Eat, or MRE) in the United States. For some children in the eastern United States, Saltines are a traditional Christmas night treat.

History

In 1876, F. L. Sommer & Company of St. Joseph, Missouri started using baking soda to leaven its wafer thin cracker. Initially called the Premium Soda Cracker and later "Saltines" because of the baking salt component, the invention quickly became popular and Sommer's business quadrupled within four years. That company merged with other companies to form American Biscuit Company in 1890 and then after further mergers became part of Nabisco in 1898.[1][2][3]

In the early 20th century, various companies in the United States began selling soda crackers in Puerto Rico and referred to them as "Export Soda". Rovira Biscuit Corp. of Puerto Rico also started selling their soda crackers with the same name. The term "Export Soda" became a generic term in Puerto Rico for these crackers. In 1975 Keebler Co. was refused a trademark for the term because it was "merely descriptive".[4]

In the United States, Nabisco lost trademark protection after the term "saltine" began to be used generically to refer to similar crackers (see generic trademark for how this occurs). The name "saltine" had been placed in the Merriam Webster Dictionary in 1907 with a definition of "a thin crisp cracker usually sprinkled with salt”.[5] In Australia, Arnott's Biscuits Holdings still holds a trademark on the name "Saltine".[6][7]

They were made in the United Kingdom by Huntley and Palmers, and also in Australia and New Zealand under the brand name Arnott's Salada.

Baking process

Saltines have been compared to hardtack, a simple unleavened cracker or biscuit made from flour, water, and sometimes salt. However, unlike hardtack, saltines include yeast as one of their ingredients. Soda crackers are a leavened bread that is allowed to rise for twenty to thirty hours. After the rise, alkaline soda is added to neutralize the excessive acidity produced by the action of the yeast. The dough is allowed to rest for three to four more hours, to relax the gluten, before being rolled in layers and then baked.

Flat saltine crackers have perforations on their surfaces. During baking, the outer layer of dough hardens first, restricting out-gassing of evolved gasses. The perforations connect the top surface to the bottom surface to prevent the cracker from pillowing as a result of these evolved gasses.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Soggy Cracker House Needs Some Help". St. Joseph News-Press. 15 April 2008. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Biographical Sketch of F. L. Sommer, St. Joseph, Buchanan County, MO". USGenWeb Archives. Retrieved 2013-03-27.
  3. ↑ "Michigan State University Libraries - Special Collections - Little Cookbooks: The Alan and Shirley Brocker Sliker Culinary Ephemera Collection". Lib.msu.edu. Retrieved 2012-09-26.
  4. ↑ "KEEBLER CO. v. ROVIRA BISCUIT CORP.".
  5. ↑ "Nabisco Premium Saltines The Snack That Takes You Back" (PDF). SaigeFalyn. Retrieved 2013-03-27.
  6. ↑ "Trade Mark Details - Full - Trade Mark : 214303". ipaustralia.gov.au. Retrieved 2013-10-29.
  7. ↑ "Trade Mark Details - Full - Trade Mark : 98208". ipaustralia.gov.au. Retrieved 2013-10-29.
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