Food - Drink
How To Prevent Cornbread From Sticking To A Cast
Iron Skillet
By AUTUMN SWIERS
Aside from oven baking, another method of cooking cornbread turns out to be in an iron skillet. It may be tricky to do so without cornbread sticking to the bottom of the skillet, but there is one tried and tested way of doing this.
The best way to prevent cornbread from sticking is to preheat the iron skillet in an oven or a stovetop before baking. The surface of cast iron expands as it gets hotter, which opens up minor abrasions in the pan, and when it cools, the small rifts swell shut and physically trap particles of the cornbread in the pan itself.
Preheating also adds a firm, crispy outside to the bread, diversifying the texture and keeping soft cornbread from falling apart. When the raw batter touches the already-hot pan, it begins cooking quickly, improving the soft bread's structural integrity.
Simply pop the skillet in the oven while it gets hot, or for stovetop, heat the iron skillet using a burner setting higher than medium. Add a little butter or oil to the bottom of the pan before pouring in your batter, and for extra non-stick ease, world-renowned chef Alex Gaurnaschelli suggests coating the bottom and sides of the skillet with butter.