Searching for some fun and interesting facts about Bisquick? You’ve reached the right place. Bisquick has become a beloved brand in the majority of households in the US. Over the years, this premixed baking mixture has been helping home cooks whip up delicious goodies within a short time. This revolutionary concoction of baking dry ingredients has become the key to making delicious dishes like pancakes, waffles, biscuits, churros, shortbread, and even fried chicken!
This mixture comes in the iconic yellow and blue box. It is manufactured by General Mills and marketed under the famous brand name, Betty Crocker. This article will discuss some very interesting facts about the household’s favorite Bisquick that you didn’t know before.
7 Interesting Facts About Bisquick You Should know:
1. A Train Ride to San Francisco Inspired Bisquick’s Creation
Carl Smith was a sales executive at General Mills. In 1930, he was on a train ride to San Francisco where he came across some delicious biscuits. He was immensely impressed by the baked goods, especially how the chef was able to make fresh biscuits in such a short time on demand.
The chef revealed to Smith his secret of whipping up fresh biscuits in such a short period. He kept a pre-mixed mixture of flour, lard, salt, and baking powder. This revelation led Smith to pitch the idea of a ready-to-go biscuit mix to the other executives of General Mills.
The company authorities did not waste any time and set forth to make the concoction of ingredients that could sit on the shelf without the need for refrigeration. The company’s head chemist, Charlie Kress made the efforts of making this blend and finally succeeded!
The blend was named Bisquick and its production went on sale in 1931, making it available to the general public. It was an instant hit and became vastly popular. The competitor brands started to sell Bisquick knock-offs later. Despite the rip-offs, Bisquick was still at the top of the game and it was the top seller.
If you do not have this iconic dry blend at home and can’t step out to the store, you can learn how to make homemade Bisquick, using ingredients that are already available at your pantry.
2. Bisquick Hired Shirley Temple to Boost Their Sales
Everyone knows America’s sweetheart in the 1930s, Shirley Temple. Bisquick partnered up with this child megastar to boost its sales by encouraging children to drink milk. With each box of Bisquick, a kid’s mug with Temple’s photo was free. This led to a surge in sales.
It made sense as the blend needed milk or water to make the batter. Parents used milk in Bisquick mix to make breakfast pancakes, while their kids drank milk from their Shirley Temple cups.
3. The Invention of “A WORLD OF BAKING IN A BOX”
Bisquick was an affordable versatile food and always has been widely available. During the 1940s, it became a staple brand in every household due to its convenience and ease of use. Bisquick started the slogan “a world of baking in a box” and advertised how it can be used to make other baked goodies besides biscuits.
They started to print various recipes of muffins, coffee cake, dumplings, and fruit shortcakes on the back of the boxes. This encouraged parents, couples, singles to use Bisquick in making various items like cobblers, pancakes, and meat pies.
4. Betty Crocker’s Bisquick Cookbook
Bisquick started to focus more on recipes in the 1970s and 1980s. Over 200 recipes using Bisquick were introduced in Betty Crocker’s Bisquick Cookbook in 1971. In 1980, the Bisquick Recipe Club was an early form of social networking amongst Bisquick fans.
The club published Bisquick tips, ideas, and recipes shared by the fans in the newsletter, The Bisquick Banner. They also sent cookbooks along with the newsletter to their fans who subscribed to them. They were sent all over the country. Bisquick was winning more hearts than any other ready-to-go food.
5. BISQUICK SHAKE N’ POUR
Bisquick was already a time-saving food that was super affordable and convenient. To expand their business and sales, General Mills discovered a way to make Bisquick more appealing to the lazy chefs by making it even easier.
They introduced Bisquick Shake ‘n Pour. With this new product, the consumer only had to add water into the container, shake it, and pour the entire mixture over the hot pan. This made making pancakes in a short time super easy and convenient.
This new product includes defatted soy flour, dried egg whites, and buttermilk. They already have the components of a pancake or waffle. This removes the need to add an egg and milk to make the batter.
6. Bisquick Contains Trans Fats
Regular Bisquick contains trans fats that are incredibly harmful to anyone’s health. Health-conscious consumers raised this issue and objected to this unhealthy profile of the quick mix. The trans fats come from the partially hydrogenated oil in the blend.
These hydrogenated oils give rise to bad cholesterol (LDL) and reduce your good cholesterol (HDL), increasing the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. Hence, this should be consumed in moderate amounts or you can opt for healthier alternatives.
7. Healthier Bisquick Options
As health concerns were raised and complaints were filed by consumers, General Mills introduced Bisquick Heart Smart Pancake and Baking Mix. This is a healthier version of Bisquick for people who want to avoid eating trans fat.
This alternative does not contain any partially hydrogenated oils and consequently has no trans fat. Bisquick also has a gluten-free version of pancake and baking mix. Instead of regular flour, it contains modified potato starch and rice flour.
The Bottom Line
Bisquick has made it quite easy to whip up delicious breakfast goodies. Over time, people found innovative ways to use this ready-made mix for making amazing creations. Such creative creations can be simple like a brownie in a mug or it can be something quite different like sausage rolls.
All in all, Bisquick has won everyone’s hearts and made everyone’s lives easier.
