Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss Talk cornbread to me

OK, Burgermeister got me goin' when he morph'd to cornbread while we were morph'g to grits on Cat's horse thread. Yeah, figger that one out.
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Man, I love cornbread. Give me your best cornbread recipe.
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Include additive options. You know, like hot peppers...or...toppings like honey or butter or cinnamon....or whatever.

jalepeno cornbread w/ peper jack cheese.

OR for deserts...sweet cornbread with honey butter..


D-licious!

Regular cornbread packets. Morrison's, or Texas style cornbread. With cracklins' added for a change. Must be yellow cornmeal.
Collard greens, field peas, hot vinegar pepper sauce. Cook cornbread in an iron skillet, not muffins. Hush yo' mouth.

Use any self-rising cornmeal.

Fry up 5-6 strips of bacon, a bit crunchy.
Make some cornbread batter, add 3-4tbsp of bacon drippings.
Break up bacon, add it to the batter
Add about 1/4" of bacon drippings to a black iron skillet, and bake cornbread as usual.

Best eaten with red beans or black eyed peas. :P

I like to make yellow cornbread, reduce amount of liquid , then add green chillies, can of cream style corn. When done top with crumbled bacon and sharp cheddar cheese. Yum Yum good with beans, or most anything.

I've found nothing to equal Jiffy cornbread mix. Actually it's named corn muffin mix but the muffin police probably won't come calling if it's baked in a pan or skillet. I like mine overbaked by a few minutes. Some might find it a trifle too sweet but sweet is my favorite flavor.

Dudley, I'm on my way to the store to try that. Mmmmm, Mmmmmmm!

I do believe a pot of beans/peas is on the menu this week-end

Mmmmm... I'm waiting for an invite!

A combination of Bobad and Dudley's ideas. Jiffy Mix in a Cast iron skillet with Bacon grease. If I want more crunch I will use one box of Jiffy Mix and combine it with Martha Whites Cornmeal (and recipe) and again with the cast iron skillet. Sure it usually doubles the amount of cornbread so we have leftovers but I like it reheated with butter and honey for breakfast. Add any of onions, bacon, cheese, sour cream. depending on who else is sharing and what our taste run that day.

I just read this thread and now I'm taking a early lunch. Thanks guys.

I don't have a recipie but you have got to cook it in a greased pre heated Cast Iron Skillet. It gives it a delicious carmelized crust. MMMMMMMMM cornbread.

OK, I have seen enough about this cast iron skillet thing. I ain't gots one.
What, where, and how....and...dontcha gotta season it?

Teflon works just as well, but don't tell anyone I said so.

Brettski, check on Lodge cast iron cooking gear. With your tendency toward addictions, you will be into Dutch oven cooking and watching Lonesome Dove.

BTW, pay attention to the instructions about seasoning before use. Unseasoned cast iron can make you grow a third ear and never have children.

And use this handy mnemonic to remember when to season your pans:

"Sauce pans in Winter,
Crepe pans in Fall;
Come Spring and Summer
There's food for us all!"

Wait a minute... I was born and raised in NJ (no jokes please) and even I know the answer to that....

Use lard, not oil. Heat it up slowly to a fairly high temp., hold for a while, then back off slowly. The lard will infiltrate the pores in the cast iron. View Lonesome Dove during the entire process. Bon appetit'
OR, you can just grease it, and throw it in the fire this winter.

We have my grandmother's old cast iron skillet and it has been cleaned in the fireplace many times over it's lifetime.

My wife uses it regularly and I frequently use to fry fish over butane cooker.
No telliong how old it is.

Or how long it will continue to fry fish for generations of Glazeners to come.

My favorite is Tony Cachere's hushpuppie mix. I add 1/2 a minced onion and a little cayenne pepper. Hard to beat with a pile of fried fillets http://www.cajunspice.com/batters/

Heating properties are completely different for cast vs. teflon. I have a buddy that grinds his own organic corn meal that makes AMAZING cornbread. He grinds it coarse so that the bread has a killer texture, cooks it in cast iron over an open fire and serves it with pork ribs. Pork ribs and cornbread, can't get more Iowa then that.

I guess you haven't seen the big, massive restaurant quality Teflon skillets and pans. Cast iron has no advantages over them, except they last forever.

Even the restaurant quality teflon skilets and pans can't compare to Cast Iron for its heating properties. If you think they are the same try touching a cast iron pan 10 minutes after you just cooked with it (not responsible for any burns suffered during this experement) then try touching a 18-10 grade stainless steel pan 10 minutes after cooking. Better yet just take the temp with a thermometer. 18-10 grad is the steel quality used for most restaurant quality pots pans etc even teflon coated pots and pans.

Cast Iron stays hot for a long time which is good for searing meat, or creating a good crust on cornbread. When you place a cold steak into a pan some of the heat in the pan is lost. The more heat you can keep the better your sear will be. Atleast that's what Alton Brown says and I have found this to be true with my experiences.

Gotta love Cast Iron. Can be a pain to maintain but keeps food hot and cooks evenly. I season mine on the BBQ grill. Just finish cooking, add some more coals and load the grill with as much Cast iron as it will hold. Put the lid on and retrieve them the next day when everything cools off. My wife bought me so much cast iron that I had to beef up the cabinet. They even make Cast Iron Wok's. Its a bear to heat but makes great stir fry and has a large enough surface area to make enough Chicken and Dumplings for 8!

Teflon and other pans can not hold a candle to cast iron. We have started changing out our other pans as teflon and such will peal and can not be cleaned in a satisfactory manner. Cast iron does a much better job.

Jeff,go to your local tractor dealer and tell them you need a disc WITHOUT a hole in it.Weld 2 horseshoes for handles and you have the best wok youll ever use.If its a 24" disc it feeds everybody!

Baking cornbread is the least demanding of all possible uses for a baking pan or skillet. The pan or skillet doesn't really need to retain heat. All it needs is a reasonably good non-stick surface. Cast iron's non-stick properties come from seasoning with grease, which is carbonized by baking. Carbon is indeed a good non-stick surface, but is very delicate. Soap ruins it, acidic foods ruin it, and too much heat ruins it too. The seasoned grease can also turn rancid after a few week's storage, and care must be taken to gently pre-heat the skillet until most of the rancid odor is gone.

Heat retention is the most desirable thing about iron pots and skillets. An aluminum, stainless, or composite skillet of equal mass retains heat just about as well as iron.

Having said that, I usually do use an iron skillet for my cornbread. It's a family tradition, and that's reason enough for me.

Tom G. Great idea! And it would work great on the grill or a campfire!

Just know that the disc that you get from TSC is going to be a high carbon steel; if will be a far cry from cast iron.

Disc wok..
Deer-Camp tradition for fajitas in the evening and egg/bacon/potato burritos for breakfast....
Not top be confused with cast iron skillet....

I am the proud owner of two woks make from disc. One has legs welded on it to use over a wood fire. The other is used on a out door propane burner. I also have a cast iron wok. They all cook great. I also have 8 dutch ovens. If you want to cure your cast iron, wipe it with cooking oil and bake it in the oven for about an hour at 350 degrees. Deep frying fish is another good way.

I used to enjoy being the cook when we hunted the Rocky Mountains. All of my stuff was cast iron from Lodge. OK, the coffee pot was something else. My biggest problem was the altitude and trying to keep an even heat for my Dutch ovens. While others set up tents and worked with the horses, I was burying my ovens and hunting for wood.

No nostalgia intended. The Cook has to get his butt out of bed earlier than anyone else. Dang, it can get cold up on top.

OK, this must be a TX thing because I have never heard of it. But that being said I think I will go to TSC this weekend and price a disc. Sounds like it works great. My wok is Cast Iron but I bought it in Italy while in the military and carted it around with me. The movers weren't to happy as it weighs about 30 lbs. Between that, my cast iron pans, and my Cast iron Muffin pan, my kitchen boxes got pretty heavy LOL