Buttermilk biscuits

[Thanks to Cactus Gal, we have a new buttermilk biscuit recipe.]

Buttermilk Biscuits

5 cups sifted unbleached all-purpose flour (measured after sifting)
1 1/2 Tb. baking powder
1 Tb. kosher flake salt (or 2 1/2 tsp. table salt)
½ cup plus 2 Tb. packed shortening or butter, chilled
2 cups chilled buttermilk
3 Tb. unsalted butter, melted (optional)

Heat oven to 500 F. Sift flour and measure out 5 cups of sifted flour. In large bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Add shortening or butter, coating in flour. Cut the butter or shortening into the flour until about half is coarsely blended and half remains in large pieces, about ¾ inch. Make a well in center of flour mixture. Add buttermilk all at once. With a large spoon or fork, stir mixture quickly, just until it is blended and begins to form a sticky dough. If dough appears dry, add up to 1/4 cup more buttermilk.

Turn dough onto generously floured surface. Using floured hands, knead briskly 8 to 10 times just until a cohesive ball of dough forms. Don't handle the dough too much. Gently flatten dough with hands to even thickness. Using floured rolling pin, lightly roll dough to one inch thickness. Using a fork dipped in flour, pierce dough completely through at ½-inch intervals, like you would with a pie crust. Flour a 2 ½- or 3-inch biscuit cutter. Cut biscuits without twisting the cutter, and arrange biscuits just barely touching each other on a baking sheet. You can gather the scraps and roll them out again, but the second batch of cutouts will be slightly tougher.

Place baking sheet on rack in upper third of oven. Bake at 500 F for 8 to 12 minutes until crusty and golden brown. Remove. Brush with melted butter (optional). Serve hot.

Notes:
There are several things to keep in mind to get perfect biscuits.

• You have to sift the flour before measuring. I have a regular sifter, and my hand gets too tired to do five cups of flour, so I use a strainer to sift the flour. It's much faster and works just as well. (See picture)
• You have to incorporate the baking powder and salt into the flour very well, which is why I suggest a whisk to mix them up.
• The reason you need more kosher salt is that the flaked salt has more space between the crystals, so there is less salt per tablespoon, compared to regular salt. I usually use regular salt, but if you use a Tb. of regular salt, it'll be too salty.
• Another trick is to keep large pieces of shortening or butter in the mixture, and not cut the pieces in too finely. I usually use half a cup of shortening and 2 Tb. of butter so I don't have to measure out 2 Tb. of shortening. I have made these with all butter, and they're really good. I'm sure lard would make even better biscuits, but I'm not about to start using lard to cook.
• The butter you brush on the tops after baking softens the top and makes them really yummy, but I usually skip this part just to cut down on the fat.
• This recipe makes enough biscuits for our family if I gather together the scraps and make all the dough into biscuits, although I can tell the difference between the re-rolled biscuits: they're a bit tougher, but still great. A half batch makes about 8 biscuits.