          The crackers.biz Cracker Wiki

The Cracker Wiki. Every crumb of the story.

How crackers are made, where they came from, which cheese they suit, the makers behind them, crackers from around the world, and straight answers to the questions people really search.

Every entry lists its sources at the bottom.

A quick answer at the top, the whole story underneath.

The crackers we mention are on our shelf, or we say when they are not.

Water biscuits → Oatcakes Crispbreads Cheese crackers Gluten free Cracker selections

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On this page Start hereStart Cracker by cracker How it is made History and origins Makers and mergers Questions people ask Cheese and pairing Diet, allergens and labels Crackers around the world Latest entriesLatest Every entry, A to ZA to Z

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The entries everyone reads first

New to the Cracker Wiki? These are the big ones: every kind of cracker, the best crackers for cheese, oatcakes, crispbread and more.

Shop the crackers

Cracker by crackerCrackers: every kind explained, and what to eat them withEvery kind of cracker explained: water biscuits, cream crackers, oatcakes, crispbread, matzo and snack crackers, and what each is best with.Read the entry → Cheese and pairingBest crackers for cheese: a cracker for every cheese on the boardWhich cracker suits which cheese, from Brie and Cheddar to Stilton and goat's cheese, plus how much cheese to buy and how…Read the entry → Cracker by crackerOatcakes: Scotland's crisp oat cracker, and how to serve itScotland's oat cracker: where oatcakes come from, why some are triangles, rough versus fine, who bakes ours, and what to put on…Read the entry → Cracker by crackerCrispbread: Sweden's rye cracker, and how it reached British tablesCrispbread explained: centuries of Swedish rye baking, loaves hung on poles, Ryvita's Birmingham start, Peter's Yard sourdough and what to eat it…Read the entry → Makers and mergersCarr's of Carlisle: the bakery behind the table water biscuitHow Jonathan Dodgson Carr's Carlisle mill and bakery gave Britain the table water biscuit, won a royal warrant, survived two floods and…Read the entry → Questions people askWhy do biscuits have holes? Docking, from Ritz crackers to BourbonsWhy biscuits and crackers have holes: docking lets steam escape so they bake flat, Ritz's seven holes, Bourbons and Rich Tea, and…Read the entry →

Cracker by cracker

The full story of each cracker, from the water biscuit to the rye crispbread.

Cheese crackers: Cheddars, Mini Cheddars, cheese oatcakes, and how much cheese is really in them Crackers: every kind explained, and what to eat them with Crispbread: Sweden's rye cracker, and how it reached British tables Marmite biscuits: love it or hate it, from Marmite and cheese oatcakes to homemade savoury biscuits Oatcakes: Scotland's crisp oat cracker, and how to serve it Ritz crackers: a bite of the good life since 1934 Saltines: America's soda cracker, and its British cousins Seeded crackers: the seeds in crackers, oatcakes and crispbreads, and what to check on the pack Sesame biscuits and crackers: barazek, benne wafers, ka'ak and sesame crispbreads TUC crackers: the salty Belgian cracker of 1958 Twiglets: the knobbly yeast extract snack invented by accident at Peek Freans

How it is made

From dough to packet: layering, docking, flame baking and the pop of a rice cake.

Ammonium bicarbonate: the raising agent behind Ritz, TUC and Mini Cheddars How are cream crackers made? A slow ferment, thin layers and a fast bake How are rice cakes made? Heat, pressure and a fifth of a second Matzo: how matzo crackers are made, the 18 minute rule, and the history of Passover bread

History and origins

Ship's biscuits, a surgeon's biscuit and the stories behind the names.

Cheese straws: Mrs Beeton's cayenne cheeses and the cocktail party snack of two continents Hardtack: the ship's biscuit that fed navies and armies, and gave us the cracker Melba toast: the crisp toast named after an opera singer The Bath Oliver: a Georgian doctor's cheese biscuit, and how it vanished in 2025

Makers and mergers

The bakeries behind the crackers, from Carlisle to Orkney, and who owns whom.

Carr's of Carlisle: the bakery behind the table water biscuit Jacob's crackers: cream crackers, Cheddars, TUC and the Aintree bakery Peter's Yard: the Swedish style sourdough crispbread, and what makes it different Rakusen's: the Leeds matzo bakery that began in a back room in 1900 Ryvita: the British rye crispbread, from a 1925 import business to Poole Stockan's oatcakes: triangle oatcakes from Stromness in Orkney United Biscuits and pladis: the company behind McVitie's, Jacob's and Carr's, from 1948 to today

Questions people ask

Straight answers to the things people search, from the holes to the fibre.

Rice cakes: puffed rice cakes, Asian rice cakes, and how they compare with oatcakes and Ryvita Why do biscuits have holes? Docking, from Ritz crackers to Bourbons

Cheese and pairing

Which cracker for which cheese, and crackers in soup.

Best crackers for cheese: a cracker for every cheese on the board Crackers in soup: the medieval sop, America's oyster crackers and saltines, and what to crumble into your bowl

Diet, allergens and labels

What the labels mean: gluten free, seeded, high fibre and more.

Gluten free crackers: what the label means, why oats need care, and crackers for a gluten free cheese board Protein biscuits: what high protein means on a label, how protein crackers are made, and how much protein ordinary biscuits have Spelt biscuits: the ancient wheat in crackers and cookies, and why it still contains gluten

Crackers around the world

The crackers of Jamaica, Scandinavia, the Netherlands and beyond.

Breadsticks: the grissini of Turin, from a prince's plain bread to the cheese board Burns Night: oatcakes, Scottish cheese and the last course of a Burns supper Jamaican water crackers and the crackers of the Caribbean: Excelsior, SodaBix and Shirley Rusks: the twice baked bread of the world, from beschuit and zwieback to beskuit

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The latest entries

Makers and mergersUnited Biscuits and pladis: the company behind McVitie's, Jacob's and Carr's, from 1948 to today819 words Diet, allergens and labelsProtein biscuits: what high protein means on a label, how protein crackers are made, and how much protein ordinary biscuits have811 words Cracker by crackerSesame biscuits and crackers: barazek, benne wafers, ka'ak and sesame crispbreads883 words Cracker by crackerMarmite biscuits: love it or hate it, from Marmite and cheese oatcakes to homemade savoury biscuits910 words How it is madeAmmonium bicarbonate: the raising agent behind Ritz, TUC and Mini Cheddars1,058 words Diet, allergens and labelsSpelt biscuits: the ancient wheat in crackers and cookies, and why it still contains gluten947 words

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Every kind of cracker in one place: water biscuits, cream crackers, oatcakes, crispbreads, matzo and more.

Every kind of cracker

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Every entry

All 37 entries, A to Z.

The whole Cracker Wiki in alphabetical order. Filter by title, or jump straight to a letter.

37 entries

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Ammonium bicarbonate: the raising agent behind Ritz, TUC and Mini Cheddars

Best crackers for cheese: a cracker for every cheese on the board Breadsticks: the grissini of Turin, from a prince's plain bread to the cheese board Burns Night: oatcakes, Scottish cheese and the last course of a Burns supper

Carr's of Carlisle: the bakery behind the table water biscuit Cheese crackers: Cheddars, Mini Cheddars, cheese oatcakes, and how much cheese is really in them Cheese straws: Mrs Beeton's cayenne cheeses and the cocktail party snack of two continents Crackers in soup: the medieval sop, America's oyster crackers and saltines, and what to crumble into your bowl Crackers: every kind explained, and what to eat them with Crispbread: Sweden's rye cracker, and how it reached British tables

Gluten free crackers: what the label means, why oats need care, and crackers for a gluten free cheese board

Hardtack: the ship's biscuit that fed navies and armies, and gave us the cracker How are cream crackers made? A slow ferment, thin layers and a fast bake How are rice cakes made? Heat, pressure and a fifth of a second

Jacob's crackers: cream crackers, Cheddars, TUC and the Aintree bakery Jamaican water crackers and the crackers of the Caribbean: Excelsior, SodaBix and Shirley

Marmite biscuits: love it or hate it, from Marmite and cheese oatcakes to homemade savoury biscuits Matzo: how matzo crackers are made, the 18 minute rule, and the history of Passover bread Melba toast: the crisp toast named after an opera singer

Oatcakes: Scotland's crisp oat cracker, and how to serve it

Peter's Yard: the Swedish style sourdough crispbread, and what makes it different Protein biscuits: what high protein means on a label, how protein crackers are made, and how much protein ordinary biscuits have

Rakusen's: the Leeds matzo bakery that began in a back room in 1900 Rice cakes: puffed rice cakes, Asian rice cakes, and how they compare with oatcakes and Ryvita Ritz crackers: a bite of the good life since 1934 Rusks: the twice baked bread of the world, from beschuit and zwieback to beskuit Ryvita: the British rye crispbread, from a 1925 import business to Poole

Saltines: America's soda cracker, and its British cousins Seeded crackers: the seeds in crackers, oatcakes and crispbreads, and what to check on the pack Sesame biscuits and crackers: barazek, benne wafers, ka'ak and sesame crispbreads Spelt biscuits: the ancient wheat in crackers and cookies, and why it still contains gluten Stockan's oatcakes: triangle oatcakes from Stromness in Orkney

The Bath Oliver: a Georgian doctor's cheese biscuit, and how it vanished in 2025 TUC crackers: the salty Belgian cracker of 1958 Twiglets: the knobbly yeast extract snack invented by accident at Peek Freans

United Biscuits and pladis: the company behind McVitie's, Jacob's and Carr's, from 1948 to today

Why do biscuits have holes? Docking, from Ritz crackers to Bourbons