Cornbread, Still, Yet, And Again

[BethM55]

Yesterday, I made a basic cornbread: 2 cups fine cornmeal, 2 eggs, 2 cups buttermilk, baking soda, salt, sugar, butter for the baking pan. I didn't have buttermilk, so I added 2% milk to 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar, to make two cups, as needed for the recipe.

It was a very thin batter, but I poured it into the hot buttered 8" square baking dish, and crossed my fingers.

350 degrees, 45 minutes later, it was still liquid-y in the middle. An extra 20 minutes of cooking, it was getting crispy around the edges, but the middle was still wet. I took it out of the oven, let it rest and cool.

It's not bad, sort of like corn bread with a layer of corn pudding just under the top crust. Edible, but not cornbread, not really.

So. What did I do wrong, and how do I fix this? I have 2 oven thermometers in the oven, because I don't trust the digital display. They both read 350. Maybe it requires real buttermilk?

Thank you all for your expertise!

[freeatlast]

Yesterday, I made a basic cornbread: 2 cups fine cornmeal, 2 eggs, 2 cups buttermilk, baking soda, salt, sugar, butter for the baking pan. I didn't have buttermilk, so I added 2% milk to 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar, to make two cups, as needed for the recipe.

It was a very thin batter, but I poured it into the hot buttered 8" square baking dish, and crossed my fingers.

350 degrees, 45 minutes later, it was still liquid-y in the middle. An extra 20 minutes of cooking, it was getting crispy around the edges, but the middle was still wet. I took it out of the oven, let it rest and cool.

It's not bad, sort of like corn bread with a layer of corn pudding just under the top crust. Edible, but not cornbread, not really.

So. What did I do wrong, and how do I fix this? I have 2 oven thermometers in the oven, because I don't trust the digital display. They both read 350. Maybe it requires real buttermilk?

Thank you all for your expertise!

Two cups of buttermilk sounds like a lot. Just saying...I'm certainly no expert.

[Skylark]

I use that recipe all the time. It should bake at 450, not 350. It's better with fresh buttermilk but your substitution works in a pinch. The batter will be pretty thin - definitely a batter and not a dough.

[mbrookes]

Try this. I'm a deep South cook and I make cornbread all the time.

1 cup plain white cornmeal

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk

Beat it all up by hand. Pour into a preheated 7 inch iron skilet and bake at 425 for about 20-25 minutes.

Some people add a litle sugar, but that's more Yankee than Southern. Preheating the skillet while the oven warms up will give you a good bottom crust. The batter should sizzle when you pour it in.

If keeping buttermilk is too much trouble, get powdered buttermilk and add water, as the package directs you. Not quite as good as fresh buttermilk, but better that sweet milk (that's Southern for regular milk)with vinegar.

Let me know how that works for you.

[BethM55]

Thank you both. The recipe was in the current issue of Mother Earth News. I wonder if the 350 temp was a typo. I may email them and ask. I'll try this recipe again at 450, and mbrookes recipe too.

mbrookes, will fine yellow cornmeal work for your recipe as well as white cornmeal does?

[ElseB]

Try replacing one cup of the cornmeal with a cup of any kind of gluten-free flour (I like to use corn flour to keep the corn taste). So, one cup cornmeal, and cup flour.

[mbrookes]

BethM55, I see no reason why yellow cornmeal wouldn't work. I use the white mainly because I grew up with it.

HelpMe, using the cornflower will give a more "cakey" texture, which again is more Yankee. I do use cornflower and yellow meal when frying catfish.

[Keela]

I use self rising cornmeal. And I think the temp. Must be a typo I've never heard of cooking cornbread that low. I use 2 c. Self rising cornbread, 2 large size eggs, a heaping tablespoon of mayo, and enough milk to make the batter loose enough to pour. Bake at 455 for 25 mins. It always turns out perfect.

[luvs2eat]

I've been making cornbread... w/ my friend's old Southern granny's recipe... forever. The small cast iron skillet is a MUST, I think. In fact, when all my kids left home... they left w/ their own small cast iron skillet.

My ingredients are about the same:

1 cup cornmeal

1 egg

1 cup milk or buttermilk

1/4 cup sugar (I like it a little sweet)

1 Tbsp. baking powder

I put the skillet w/ a little oil in the oven to heat up to 400

[BethM55]

I've been making cornbread... w/ my friend's old Southern granny's recipe... forever. The small cast iron skillet is a MUST, I think. In fact, when all my kids left home... they left w/ their own small cast iron skillet.

My ingredients are about the same:

1 cup cornmeal

1 egg

1 cup milk or buttermilk

1/4 cup sugar (I like it a little sweet)

1 Tbsp. baking powder

I put the skillet w/ a little oil in the oven to heat up to 400

[BethM55]

Try this. I'm a deep South cook and I make cornbread all the time.

1 cup plain white cornmeal

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk

Beat it all up by hand. Pour into a preheated 7 inch iron skilet and bake at 425 for about 20-25 minutes.

Some people add a litle sugar, but that's more Yankee than Southern. Preheating the skillet while the oven warms up will give you a good bottom crust. The batter should sizzle when you pour it in.

If keeping buttermilk is too much trouble, get powdered buttermilk and add water, as the package directs you. Not quite as good as fresh buttermilk, but better that sweet milk (that's Southern for regular milk)with vinegar.

Let me know how that works for you.

mbrookes, I baked cornbread using your recipe yesterday, and it is lovely. Thank you! A couple of changes, though, in that I did add 2 tablespoons of sugar, and put a tablespoon of unsalted butter in the skillet before I preheated it. Also, I made finely ground cornmeal by grinding the cornmeal (Bob's Red Mill medium ground) in my VitaMix. This is a recipe I'll use frequently, I'm sure.

Peace, Beth.