Cast Iron Corn Bread

Hi all, I've just taken delivery of a new Lodge cast iron pan and so far, so good.

I keep reading that cast iron makes fantastic cornbread, but I have 2 issues.

1. Living in Australia, I'm not even sure what cornbread is. The way everyone describes it does make it sound pretty awesome though.

2. Whenever I think of cornbread I always flash back to Aliens and Ripley's anti cornbread scene.

I'm reaching out for help here. Is it worth attempting to make and does anyone have any good recipes?

My recipe:

Ingredients:
1½ cup of Cornmeal
1 cup of flour
½ cup of Sugar
2 tsp of Baking Powder
½ tsp of Baking Soda
½ tsp of Salt
1½ cup of Milk (or Buttermilk if you have any)
¼ cup of Unsalted Butter, melted (I use whatever I find around: oil, margarine, lard)
2 Eggs
¼ cup of Shortening

Lots of room for variations. One can experiment with extras added to the batter.
I bake mine for a good 40min.

Enjoy.

Recipes are all over the place and as previously stated lots of wiggle room. I like mine crumbly and sweet.

Something I do when I make cornbread is to puysome oil to the skillet. Get the skillet really hot so when the batter is added it sizzles then place in oven.

Well it looks like I definitely need to try it. I like that you can vary it so much. Sounds pretty versatile.

I bought my first cast iron pan expressly for the purpose of making corn bread. It's a spicy version that is always well received by guests and goes especially well with chilli. The recipe is linked below.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/irish-spicy-cornbread/detail.aspx

Throw in a can of cream style corn and use lard instead of oil if your diet permits it.

I cheat!
On the way to the ranch there's a place on the side of the road where I buy it. They make it with fresh corn that they cut right off the cob.
$5 for 2 entire cornbread pies cooked in a cast iron skillet.
I cannot make it for that price.

Cornbread is wonderful. My favorite kind is OPs. (other people's)

Here in the USA, cornbread is much more prevalent in the southern states then up north. I love it.

Follow those recipes and you'll have some good eating.

If you can, make a Southern meal with fried chicken, or a pork chop, some black-eyed peas, mashed potatoes, fried okra, fresh sliced tomatoes, cornbread, and some iced tea.

Makes me hungry just typing it!

hersh77 said:

View attachment 476664

Click to expand...

you can't has my cornbread, if you try and take it part 2 of my murderous rampage may start right up in here on yo$!?

Love that movie!

Pour pinto beans or black eyed peas over a chunk of cornbread! It is heavenly.

Crumble a huge chunk of cornbread in a large cup or glass and then fill with buttermilk. Now it don't get no better than that.

my wife is making tortillas,refried beans, fried eggs, and heating/cooking salsa she just made. Gonna have a feast.

OP,
I notice you say you've just taken delivery of you skillet. Cornbread is one of those things that does have a potential to stick if the skillet isn't well seasoned. If you haven't already done so, Lodge has some good tips on how to do it.

http://www.lodgemfg.com/FAQRetrieve.aspx?ID=14531&Q=

I usually do this process 4 or 5 times with a new skillet.

the cornbread is great in the skillet. I like to add cheddar cheese and chopped fresh dill to the batter.

There are hundreds if recipes for cornbread on the internet I'm sure. My usual recipe is very similar to the original posters.

The beauty of a cast iron pan is it's thermal mass. Once heated up it holds heat incredibly well. Plus it has the benefit of not flaking off chips of some synthetic material into your food. V

BSA is correct in that today correct in the fact that cornbread is primarily a southern tradition, however it dates back to US colonial times across all the colonies as an easy replacement for English rye breads, with corn being much more common in North America.

The cornmeal used for cornbread is different than the sweet corn that we eat.

Two things that will help in any cornbread recipe:

Preheat the cast iron pan in the oven with the oil, lard, bacon fat.

If you can find it, look for freshly ground cornmeal, it will improve the flavor immensely.

Cast Iron pans are incredibly versatile. Congratulations on making the move to CI.

Eat it with butter and honey. The old schooler would tear it apart and mix it in a glass of buttermilk.

DoctorShavegood said:

Eat it with butter and honey. The old schooler would tear it apart and mix it in a glass of buttermilk.

Click to expand...

You and I are old school.

I posted above: pour pintos or black eyed peas over cornbread.
But buttermilk. At mom and dad's a week or 2 ago and dad and I had pintos with ham hocks over cornbread and then while everyone ate moms carrot cake dad and I had cornbread and buttermilk.

Cornbread should be its own food group!!!!

I went by my (87 & 85 year old) parents house a few days and they had just peas & cornbread for lunch ... of course, with sweet tea!

(Before someone -read yankee- gets the wrong idea ... yeah, they have more food than that; in fact, they have 3 freezers of food!)

I have a very old cast iron pan that I got from my Oma when I moved out of my parents house a long time ago. All I use it for now is cornbread. I make my Mom's recipe, from a box, but it's wonderful!

Take 1 box of Jiffy Corn Muffin mix and 1 box of Jiffy Yellow Cake mix.
Combine them, and add all the ingredients from both boxes. Each calls for an egg, and one water, the other milk.
Mix that all up and pour into a well oiled cast iron pan and bake. I split the difference between them temps on the boxes along with the baking times.

This makes a very sweet, yummy cornbread. My kids eat it up and it's wonderful by its self, with chili or ham and beans.

The Jiffy Corn Muffin mix is easy to find. Around here, the Jiffy Yellow Cake mix is tough. When I do find it, I buy a case of it. That's how much we love this stuff!

BubblesTGB said:

OP,
I notice you say you've just taken delivery of you skillet. Cornbread is one of those things that does have a potential to stick if the skillet isn't well seasoned. If you haven't already done so, Lodge has some good tips on how to do it.

Click to expand...

Do check the Lodge tips.

If you can fry some bacon, and then make a couple of fried eggs without them sticking to the pan you're in good shape. I just bought a brand new skillet to use in an apartment at a job I was doing, and after a couple of packs of bacon and a couple of dozen eggs it's as ready for anything as the ones my mother used for 50 years.

echotron said:

(Before someone -read yankee-

Click to expand...

Of course I assume you mean a member of that pin-striped baseball organization from New York.

Having been born and raised and still having residence in New England, I know you can't possible mean this Red Sox fan. Not for one second did I think your parents lacked food. I ate peanut butter on saltines for lunch today because I wanted to. But peas and cornbread would have been wicked bettah. I wish I had some cornbread handy.

martym said:

Pour pinto beans or black eyed peas over a chunk of cornbread! It is heavenly.

Crumble a huge chunk of cornbread in a large cup or glass and then fill with buttermilk. Now it don't get no better than that.

my wife is making tortillas,refried beans, fried eggs, and heating/cooking salsa she just made. Gonna have a feast.

Click to expand...

Actually like to crumble it up into a bowl of Pinto beans and mix it all up. Usually put a spoon of sweet relish in as well. Good stick to your ribs food.