Campfire Cast Iron Cornbread
A crackly-crusted cornbread baked in a hot cast iron Dutch oven over coals: tender inside, golden on top, and the bread I always make for chili.
Equipment
- 1 10-inch cast iron Dutch oven with lid
Ingredients
Dry ingredients
- 3/4 cup whole cornmeal stone-ground
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
Wet ingredients
- 1 egg
- 1 cup buttermilk plus a splash more as needed
- 2 tbsp oil bonus points if you use bacon or duck fat!
Instructions
Make it ahead
- Combine the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt in a small bag or container.
Over the fire
- Set the oven to about 375°F, or light 23 charcoal briquettes and let them ash over for 10 minutes.
- Preheat the Dutch oven for 10 minutes, resting it on 7 briquettes underneath with 16 briquettes on the lid.
- Pour the dry ingredient mix into a bowl.
- Add the egg and enough buttermilk so the batter is a little thinner than pancake batter.
- Very carefully lift the hot Dutch oven off the heat, pour in the oil, and swirl the pan to coat the bottom. Pour that hot oil into the batter and stir it in.
- Give the batter a final stir and pour it into the hot Dutch oven.
- Set the Dutch oven back over the coals (or in the oven) and cook for about 15 to 20 minutes, until the top is golden brown.
Notes
Cornmeal matters. Whole-grain, stone-ground cornmeal gives you real corn flavor and a bit of grit; avoid finely milled "corn flour" here.
Watch the batter thickness. You are aiming for something a little thinner than pancake batter, so add buttermilk a splash at a time until it looks right.
Do not skip tempering the oil. Pouring the hot fat into the batter, instead of just adding cold oil, gives the crust that extra crackle.
Briquette math. Seven on the bottom, sixteen on the lid keeps this close to a 375°F oven; add a couple more on top if your lid is not sealing the heat well.
Storage. Leftovers keep at room temperature, wrapped, for a day; reheat in a dry skillet over low heat the next morning.
See the frequently asked questions
- Making it without a Dutch oven
- Buttermilk substitutes
- Why the cornbread turns out crumbly
- Prepping ingredients at home
- Cornmeal vs. corn flour
- Cooking over an open fire without briquettes
- Keeping the bottom from burning
- What size Dutch oven to use
- Adding cheese or bacon to the batter