How long do home made biscuits last?

AlisonHarrison

I have a holiday property which I let out. For next season I am making a tray with tea/coffee etc for the guests when they arrive.
Instead of those cheap packets of biscuits you see in hotels, I was thinking about some home made biscuits (giving them a selection)
Now the problem is that the cleaner who lives next to the property does not have much storage room in her freezer, so I am wondering how long home made biscuits last.
I could go up every few weeks but not much longer than that.
I am wondering how long home made biscuits would last without refridgeration/freezing, or looking for ideas for a nice classy looking tray.
Any ideas?

alys_fowler

not very long in my house im afraid, if they are in a sealed container i would say a week ish im not sure really like i said they do not stick around very long in my house after snacks and lunchboxes

Justamum

AlisonHarrison wrote: »

I am wondering how long home made biscuits would last without refridgeration/freezing, or looking for ideas for a nice classy looking tray.
Any ideas?

You could do a trial run at home - just make sure people keep their hands off! Make a batch and store them the way they would be stored at the holiday let and see how long they will keep. In a sealed container they might keep for a few days, but they won't last as long as bought ones because they won't have the preservatives in them.

I think it's a lovely idea though.

Butterfly_Brain

A trick I learned to keep biscuits crisp is to pop a sugar cube in the tin this way they should last up to a week.

goggle

most guests would prob prefer the ones in packets as they know what is in them/they are sealed/hygienic etc
I wouldn't eat homemade biscuits - you don't know whether the person making them has cats that walk across the kitchen surfaces, or what's in them (and when dealing with allergies, esp things like nut allergies, that's essential!)

don't get me wrong, I LOVE homemade biscuits, but I only eat them when I know/trust the source!

[Deleted User]

well I for one would love the idea of a tin of home made bikkies.i know they vanish in my house as I have 7 grandchildren and they seem to sense when I have been cooking and just appear out of the blue.At our holiday house this year we were left a nice HM lemon drizzle cake and a bottle of wine which went down a treat the kids had the cake and the grown ups the wine .even nicer as we had stopped at Ryde before we got to our holiday house to get a big shop of groceries ,so putting them all away became quite a jolly occasion when we got there.I to use the sugar cube idea for biscuits .I also leave an ordinary knife in the cake tin after I have sliced some off as it seems to keep the cake from going stale I don't know why,or an ordinary apple does the same thing.

AlisonHarrison

Thanks for these replies. They are very useful. I think I may do a trial run.
Has anyone any ideas that they may like to see.
I have thought about wine and will be doing that also.

goggle wrote: »

most guests would prob prefer the ones in packets as they know what is in them/they are sealed/hygienic etc

I really never thought about that.
If you wouldn't eat them would you complain to the holiday company about them? Or would you just leave them?
I ask because you would not believe the kind of things guests complain about! The holiday company say that all properties now get complaints about the most amazing things. They tell me lots of people want to just get some money back from their holiday.

What would other people like to see.

I am going to do guest sized toiletries in the bedroom or bathroom for them to use/keep.

Anything else?

babyboysmommy

You would need to be very careful about this. What if someone who was allergic to nuts stayed there? Even if they are not in the biscuits if you have nuts in your home you contaminate them. Also do you have a food hygiene certificate as you would be producing them for your business, would your kitchen pass inspection? You could open yourself up to all kinds of issues that you wouldn't expect as you are not giving them to friends or the local bake sale but using them as part of your business so different rules apply. As you never know who is renting the property I wouldn't take the risk.

SUESMITH_2

personally i love home made things like this when we go away, makes it so much more special than packets. the hygiene thing wouldn't worry me, and i suppose you could list the ingredients and state not nut free

i feel the problem is that they wouldn't keep very long at all - the only way round this would be to make the dough and then slice it off frozen and bake it so they would be fresh, but you say there is v limited freezer space, so this prob wouldn't work for you.

Owain_Moneysaver

If you got a small hand-held bag heat-sealer (QVC usually have one) then you can seal the biscuits in their own airtight bag with a minimum of surrounding air; they should keep several weeks then.

valk_scot

Why not look around for a local supplier of nice biscuits instead, like an independant bakery? They would be made to food hygeine regulations etc and have ingredient lists, also be made to keep for X weeks with a best before date. Still classy and a nice touch but gets round all the potential pitfalls.