Skillet Cornbread for Camp
One cast iron pan, a premixed bag of dry, and powdered buttermilk. Bakes over coals next to the chili.
- calories
- 300
- weight
- 3.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 86
- protein
- 6 g
- serves
- 8, scales
- prep
- 8 min
- cook
- 25 min
- total time
- 33 min
- water
- 240 ml cold
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Campfire coals
- Dutch oven
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Yellow cornmeal | 1 cup | |
|---|---|---|
| All-purpose flour | 1 cup | |
| White sugar | 1/4 cup | |
| Baking powder | 1 tsp | |
| Baking soda | 1/2 tsp | |
| Salt | 1 tsp | |
| Powdered buttermilk | 1/4 cup | reconstitutes with 1 cup cold water |
| Powdered whole egg | 3 tbsp | equals 2 eggs, plus 6 tbsp water |
| Vegetable oil or ghee | 1/3 cup | replaces the butter, no cooler needed |
| Extra oil for the pan | 1 tbsp |
Method
- Burn a fire down to coals. You want a steady bed, not flames.
- Rub the 9-inch cast iron skillet with oil and set it near the heat to warm.
- Dump the premixed dry bag into the pan lid or a bowl. Add 1 cup plus 6 tbsp cold water and the oil. Stir until it looks like thick pancake batter. Lumps are fine.
- Pour the batter into the hot skillet. It should hiss at the edges.
- Cover with a lid or foil, set the skillet on the coals, and shovel a few coals onto the lid. Aim for a moderate, even heat, not a roar.
- Bake 25 minutes. Check at 20. A stick poked into the middle comes out clean when it is done.
- Pull it off the coals and let it sit ten minutes before cutting. Cutting hot cornbread makes crumbs.
This is home cornbread with the fridge taken out of it. Buttermilk and eggs are the two ingredients that normally chain the recipe to a cooler, so both go powdered — dried buttermilk keeps the acid that reacts with the baking soda, and egg powder binds well enough that the loaf slices instead of crumbling. Oil replaces the melted butter because it pours in cold weather and does not go rancid in a food bag.
The hot pan matters more than the exact temperature. Oiling the skillet and warming it before the batter goes in sets the crust immediately, which is what keeps the bread from welding itself to the iron over an uneven coal bed. Coals on the lid give you heat from above so the top sets instead of staying wet while the bottom scorches.
Packing
Cornmeal, flour, sugar, leavening, salt, powdered buttermilk, and egg powder all go in one bag at home. Oil rides in a leakproof bottle. At camp you are adding water and oil to one bag, nothing else.
Variations
- Skip the sugar if you grew up on the savory version.
- Stir in a handful of shelf-stable bacon bits or dried chives before it goes in the pan.
- No campfire: a covered dutch oven with coals top and bottom does the same job with more control.
https://campfirefoodie.com/southern-skillet-corn-bread-recipe