Hobnob biscuit

Hobnob biscuits are a traditional British type of oat biscuit.

HobNobs is the brand name of a commercial biscuit inspired by the traditional hobnob biscuit recipe. They are made from rolled oats and jumbo oats, similar to a flapjack/digestive biscuit hybrid. Among the most popular British biscuits, McVitie's launched Hobnobs in 1985 and a milk chocolate variant in 1987.

They are primarily sold in the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man and Ireland but are available in the U.S, New Zealand and several European and Asian countries (e.g. Taiwan and Hong Kong). In Italy they are now marketed as a variety of digestive biscuit, having previously been known as Suncrok. They were also released in Canada in November 2012, made available in Wal-Mart's British modular section in their food aisles. The McVitie's Hobnob is the third most popular biscuit in the UK to "dunk" into tea, with its chocolate variant sixth. In 2014 a UK survey declared the Chocolate Hobnob the nation's favourite biscuit.

Biscuit

Biscuit is a term used for a variety of baked, commonly flour-based food products. The term is applied to two distinct products in North America and the Commonwealth of Nations and Europe. For a list of varieties, see the list of biscuits and cookies.

Variations in meaning

Biscuit (pottery)

Biscuit, refers to pottery that has been fired but not yet glazed. Biscuit is any pottery after the first firing and before any glaze is applied. This can be a final product such as bisque porcelain, or terracotta, or, most commonly, an intermediary stage in a glazed final product.

The porous nature of biscuit earthenware means that it readily absorbs water, while vitreous ware and bone china are almost non-porous even without glazing. The temperature of biscuit firing is usually at least 1000°C, although higher temperatures are common. The firing of the ware that results in the biscuit article causes permanent chemical and physical changes to occur. These result in a much harder and more resilient article which can still be porous, and this can ease the application of glazes.

References

Media related to Biscuit porcelain at Wikimedia Commons

Biscuit joiner

A biscuit joiner (or sometimes plate joiner) is a woodworking tool used to join two pieces of wood together. A biscuit joiner uses a small circular saw blade to cut a crescent-shaped hole (called the mouth) in the opposite edges of two pieces of wood or wood composite panels. An oval-shaped, highly dried and compressed wooden biscuit (beech or particle wood) is covered with glue, or glue is applied in the slot. The biscuit is immediately placed in the slot, and the two boards are clamped together. The wet glue expands the biscuit, further improving the bond.

History

The biscuit joining system was invented in 1956 in Liestal, Switzerland by Hermann Steiner. Steiner opened his carpenter's shop in 1944, and, in the middle of the 1950s, while looking for a simple means of joining the recently introduced chipboard, invented (almost by accident) the now world-famous Lamello joining system. In the succeeding years there followed further developments such as the circular saw and the first stationary biscuit (plate) joining machine in 1956 followed by the first portable biscuit joiner for Lamello grooves in 1968. In 1969 the family operation was incorporated by the name of Lamello AG. Lamello continues to manufacture very high-end biscuit joiners such as the Lamello Top 20.