stovetop cornbread

My mother always made her cornbread on a stovetop burner. No one else has been able to do it, not even her sister. She is gone now, so I can't ask her how she did it. I do know this: she used a cast iron skillet, cooked covered on a very low flame, she turned it by sliding it out onto her open palm and flipped it over back into the skillet. I always make a big mess. Does anyone know about this technique? Should the batter be wetter or dryer?

Cama:
This intrigued me so I went out on the internet and came up with this site about stovetop cornbread.

May this will help you make this cornbread. I think I will give it a try.

http://www.deltablues.net/cbread.html

Thanks, GGMa!!
I will try the recipe. However, I note that she is still baking it in the oven after she pours the batter into the hot oil. I'm gonna keep trying to cook on top until I get it. Two ye

Yeah, I know but I bet you can figure it out. Have baked biscuits on open fire in 2 metal pie pans fastened together with wooden snap clothespins.

This made me remember growing up with a wonderful scottish neighbor who cooked 'scons' (not 'scones') on a griddle. THey were so good. To me they appeared to be a very soft biscuit dough patted into about a 6-7" circle and cut in wedges. Cooked on a griddle I think she turned them once. Served them hot with butter and very american maple syrup. I used to have arguments with friends who said they are called 'scones'. But I found out later that Highlanders do call them scons. THey were not like the dry crumbly super sweet stuff available in stores but moist inside, dark golden brown on the top and bottom.

Don't you have a lid that fits the skillet?????
Just hang onto the lid (with an oven mitt) and turn the whole thing over and presto, your bread is on the lid and your skillet is empty. Put skillet back on burner, add a bit of grease and slide the bread off the lid back into the skillet to bake/cook the underside. Simple as turning on a light switch, right?
Grelo

Thanks for the great tips. By combining them, I was finally successful. Although I don't think my mother used cornmeal mix, I thought that might be my best bet, but I substituted buttermilk for the regular milk in the recipe on the bag. I believe the main problem in the past was not having the oil hot enough so the bottom and sides did not get crunchy enough before I turned the heat down to "bake". This turned out great and brings back some wonderful memories. A friend also thought the resulting cornbread was really good. Here it is:

Skillet Cornbread

2 cups cornmeal mix (Martha White)
1 egg, beaten
1 1/3 C buttermilk
4 TBS oil (2 for batter and 2 for skillet)


Beat egg, stir in buttermilk and cornmeal mix.

Put oil in cast iron skillet and heat on medium until oil is very hot (smoking).
Pour about half the hot oil into the batter and stir. Pour batter into skillet. Cover and turn flame down as low as it will go. Cook for about 20 minutes. Then turn to cook other side.

To turn:
Jiggle skillet to loosen bread-may have to run a knife around edge and/or gently lift with a metal spatula.
Pick up skillet with left hand and tilt right side down to let the bread slip up the edge of skillet (might have to jiggle or even use spatula to get it started).
Let the cooked bottom side slide onto your open right hand and quickly flip upside down back into skillet. (it is not too hot to handle for a few seconds-just don't touch the skillet)
If you have to use the spatula to lift up or turn, make sure it is well under the bread or it will break.
Cook covered for an additional 10-15 minutes. Can lift gently with spatula to peek underneath to be sure it is brown on the bottom.
Turn out on plate with a butter knife under it to keep from sweating. I didn’t want to use a cooling rack because I wanted it to stay hot and besides, that would spoil the image.