On Wed 14 Jan 2009 10:38:47a, Omelet told us...

> In article >,
> George Shirley > wrote:
>
>> Wayne Boatwright wrote:
>> > On Tue 13 Jan 2009 10:16:20p, MaryL told us...
>> >
>> >> "jmcquown" > wrote in message
>> >> ...
>> >>> "Chemiker" > wrote in message
>> >>> ...
>> >>>> Well, back to the drawing board. Found 2 cast iron
>> >>>> corn bread stick molds in the garage, refugees
>> >>>> from my wife's Daddy's storage shed when he
>> >>>> died some years ago.
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Cleaned them up, and reseasoned. They looked
>> >>>> pretty good, but the proof was in the making of
>> >>>> cornbread.
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Went to local market and bought a couple of packets
>> >>>> of yellow CB mix, and made one with whole milk.
>> >>>>
>> >>> Your problem was buying cornbread "mix".
>> >>>
>> >>> Use butter to grease the molds and then make cornbread from
>> >>> scratch, not a boxed mix.
>> >>>
>> >>> Jill
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >> Yes, what Jill said. My grandmother used the type of molds you
>> >> describe, and she used lots of butter on the pans--and she was
>> >> baking in days before mixes were available, which was probably "a
>> >> good thing" in that case. Hers came out perfectly every time.
>> >>
>> >> MaryL
>> >>
>> >>
>> >
>> > It's also very important to preheat the mold to sizzling hot before
>> > pouring in the batter. Actually, Crisco or bacon fat works better
>> > without burning.
>> >
>> > The temperature should be quite high.
>> >
>> What Wayne said. I always preheat my cast iron in the oven at the
>> temperature the cornbread is going to be cooked at. I put a little
>> canola oil in the bottom of the pan, swirl it around, and then start
>> heating from cold.
>>
>> In the meantime I am mixing my cornbread up and getting it ready. Once
>> the oven dings that is ready I pull the pan out, pour in the cornbread
>> mixture, stick it back in the oven for the time period necessary to
>> cook through, as proven by a toothpick stuck into the highest point on
>> the cornbread. If the toothpick comes out clean you're ready to eat.
>>
>> Learned that from my Mom, who learned to cook in on a wood and/or coal
>> stove and she learned it from her Mom who learned to cook in a
>> fireplace in the backwoods of nineteenth century Arkansas.
>>
>> Using this method has always turned out perfect cornbread for me,
>> moist, done through and through, and with that fine crust on the
>> bottom.
>
> The pre-heating the oil sounds like it'd get a better bottom crust.
> I'll have to keep that in mind next time I make it.

Absolutely! I heat it until it's almost reached its smoking point. The
batter should sizzle when it hits the pan.

--
Wayne Boatwright
(correct the spelling of "geemail" to reply)
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Date: Wednesday, 01(I)/14(XIV)/09(MMIX)
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Countdown till Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
4dys 5hrs 23mins
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How sharper than a hound's tooth it is to have a thankless serpent.
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