Buttermilk biscuits

Read through the recipe, gather the equipment, and use the ingredient lines to measure and prepare everything. In a warm kitchen, chill the bowl and the flour as well. Everything is measured, cold and within reach.

Freeze the butter cubes in a single layer on the plate until they are very firm, about 10 minutes.

Heat the oven to 450°F (230°C) with a rack in the upper-middle position, and line the 18 x 13-inch half-sheet pan with parchment. Bake only after the oven reaches 450°F.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in the large bowl until evenly mixed, with no clumps of soda.

Toss the frozen butter cubes in the flour to coat them. Working fast, press each cube flat between your thumb and fingers, or cut through them with the pastry blender, until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs with plenty of flat butter pieces from pea-size to nickel-size.

Make a hollow in the center and pour in the buttermilk. Stir with the fork just until a rough, lumpy dough forms and most of the flour is damp, stopping while it is still slightly sticky. If dry flour at the bottom will not join in, add extra cold buttermilk to taste, a tablespoon at a time, no more than 2 tbsp for this batch.

Turn the dough out onto the counter dusted with some of the dusting flour and pat it into a rectangle about 3/4 inch thick. Fold it in thirds like a letter, give it a quarter turn and pat it back out to about 3/4 inch thick; repeat until you have folded it three times in all. Finish by patting it about 1 inch thick, when it looks smoother and streaked with butter.

Dip the cutter in the dusting flour, press it straight down through the dough and lift it without twisting. Set the biscuits on the lined pan, touching for tall, soft sides or about 1 inch apart for crisper sides. Press the scraps together without kneading, pat them about 1 inch thick and cut again, until every biscuit has clean, straight sides.

Melt the salted butter in the small saucepan over low heat, then keep it warm off the heat for brushing once it is fully liquid.

Bake on the upper-middle rack at 450°F until the biscuits are tall and deep golden brown on top, with golden bottoms and dry, flaky sides, about 13 to 16 minutes. If the bottoms brown before the tops, slide a second sheet pan underneath.

Brush all the melted butter over the hot tops as soon as the pan comes out of the oven. Split one hot biscuit and taste it. Aim for a buttery, clearly salty, lightly tangy biscuit that pulls apart in layers. If it tastes flat, sprinkle flaky sea salt to taste over the other tops.

Divide the biscuits into 4 servings, about two biscuits each, and serve them while they are hot. To bake later, freeze unbaked cut biscuits on the pan until solid, bag them, and bake them from frozen at 450°F, allowing a few extra minutes.