Convenience

• Biscuits make a much-loved accompaniment to meals, and incorporating your favorite biscuit recipe in the form of a crust is an intelligent shortcut. If you're making your meal ahead of time, it only makes sense to prepare the biscuits ahead of time as well. That way the entire dish can come out of the refrigerator and go into the oven, and you'll keep both your prep time and your cleanup to a minimum.

The Crust

• The biscuit crust does a number of good things for a casserole. To begin with, covering the casserole with a crust limits evaporation and keeps the rest of the meal from drying out. If you carefully press the dough to the edges of the casserole dish, the crust can help prevent the filling from boiling over and soiling your oven. It also adds to the visual and culinary appeal of a dish, providing a golden topping and a variety of contrasting textures to go with the casserole and its sauce.

Choosing Your Dough

• The kind of biscuit dough you are using determines how successful your refrigerated crust will be. Baking soda biscuits, whether homemade or store-bought, are a poor choice because the soda will lose its leavening power overnight. Baking powder biscuits are a better choice, because modern double-acting baking powder doesn't generate its full leavening power until it reaches the heat of the oven. If you're using a dry mix or refrigerated commercial dough, check the label to see if it contains double-acting baking powder. When in doubt, check the manufacturer's website or consumer hotline. For example, Pillsbury's FAQ explains that its biscuit doughs won't rise if opened and refrigerated overnight.

Some Tips

• You can do a few things to get a better and more consistent result. The most important is to cool the remaining ingredients in the casserole thoroughly before you add the crust. If the filling is hot, or even warm, the biscuit crust will be doughy and mushy at bottom by the time it's baked. For the best results, take care to roll or pat the crust into the most even thickness you can manage. It helps to smooth the top of the filling before you add the crust. Cut a few small holes for steam to vent, or make the crust by cutting individual biscuits and arranging them over the casserole with small spaces in between.