Making good biscuits isn't that difficult, it just takes a little practice. Here's the basic technique and recipe I originally posted in another thread a few weeks ago:
Biscuits need to cook in a hot (450 degree) oven. If uncertain about your oven, check the temperature with a thermometer. Cook on the center rack (or the the next one above it). If your rack is too high or too low, either the tops or the bottoms are likely to burn before they're done.
I originally posted this recipe several years ago on allrecipes and it has since become one of their top-rated recipes. If interested, the comments and ratings are on allrecipes.com, under the title South Georgia Biscuits. Their editors slightly modified my recipe, without my permission. It annoyed me and I've never submitted to them again. This is the original version I submitted to them. The modified version on allrecipies calls for kneeding the dough, which is an unnecessary step and produces an inferior result.
South Georgia Biscuits
These are traditional hand-formed biscuits as made by my family for generations. Unlike most recipes, they are formed entirely by hand, not rolled and cut. Once you master the technique, you can make them very quickly and will find the texture and appearance to be much better than rolled biscuits.
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup shortning
1 cup whole milk
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a large bowl, stir dry ingredients together. Cut in shortning with a pastry blender or by rubbing between your fingers until the mixture resembles course meal. Pour in the milk all at once and stir with a lagre spoon until the dough is evenly moist. It should be sticky. Let it rest for a couple of minutes. No kneeding or turning the dough is necessary. You do this as part of forming the biscuits.
With well-floured hands, pinch off pieces of dough (about 12), and roll them into balls between the palms of your hands. This is also the kneeding process so you need to work the dough a little, not just spoon it out in lumps. If the dough is too sticky to work, sprinkle a little more flour on it but you want to keep it as sticky as possible to produce a light, moist biscuit. Place the balls a couple of inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet. With floured knuckles, press each ball down to about 1/2 inch thickness.
Bake on the center rack of your oven at 450 degrees for 11 to 12 minutes, until browned. Serve hot with butter.
NOTES: Stale baking powder won't rise. Be sure you use fresh, in-date baking powder. If using self-rising flour, omit the baking powder and salt. To make buttermilk biscuits, add 1/4 tsp baking soda to the other dry ingredients. Buttermilk will make a sticker dough and you may need to sprinkle a little more flour on the dough as you're forming the biscuits. Some people like their biscuits sweet instead of salty. If you're one of them, reduce the salt a little and add some sugar.