question on cast iron pan

[miniwoodworker]

Don't worry if your cornbread sticks the first couple of times you use your pan. As the seasoning builds up through use, the more stick free it'll become.

When you bake the bread, watch the browning at the edges where it touches the sides. Once you see that browning beginning, you'll also see the cornbread start to separate from the from the sides. That's the ideal time to remove it. I use a dinner fork to break free any stubborn pieces. Helps flip them out, too. That CI takes a long time to cool down, so using a fork, eased under the sides (not piercing the bread) gets the pieces to where you can pick them up with tongs.

I love cornbread done in a wedge or corn sticks pan. Lots more crusty edges to munch on.  :)


Click on the image to see a larger view.

Lee

[moosejaw]

Marsha,

To keep stuff from sticking, I heat the pan in the oven a bit, then with a pastry brush, I coat it with crisco or a substitute.  Then I put the batter in and return it to the oven for baking.  I have little trouble with baked goods sticking.

[C. B. Williams]

Heat the pan with a dab of bacon drippings in each section, pour the hot drippings into the batter (leaving a bit in the pan which coats the cast iron) re-stir the batter then fill the sections. See my cornbread recipe in the WAGS cookbook. Never add batter to a cool pan. I like the top  of my cornbread browner than the picture, so I finish it under broil, to get the top brown, also a convection oven will do this without the broiler being used. To take up cornbread, I just turn the pan upside down onto a wire rack to let the cornbread cool without getting condensation on the bottom.

[miniwoodworker]

CB, forgot to mention that the cornbread in that pix was done in a gas grill. Mine is usually more brown on top than that, when I do it in the oven.  ;)

I like the idea of turning upside down on a rack. Usually around here though, it doesn't stay around long enough to cool in the pan. Most of the time it's straight from the oven to the table to feed the milling masses.  :)

Plus, I like to split them open and add butter while they're HOT.

Lee