Which Cornmeal Is Best For Cornbread?

High-quality stone-ground cornmeal is all you need for excellent Southern-style unsweetened cornbread. If you can’t get high-quality cornmeal, a small amount of sugar helps to balance the flavor.

What is the best cornmeal for making cornbread?

The Winner: Anson Mills Antebellum Fine Yellow Cornmeal The cornbread made with our favorite cornmeal, Anson Mills Antebellum Fine Yellow Cornmeal was smooth and tender, cake-like in consistency with a buttery, but generally subdued, corn flavor.

Is white or yellow cornmeal better for cornbread?

The Secret’s in the Cornmeal Grocery stores throughout the south have lots of different cornmeal products on the shelves. But the most important for making good cornbread is finely ground, white cornmeal.

Is coarse cornmeal good for cornbread?

Using coarse grind cornmeal will allow for the baked good to have more texture.

Is cornbread mix and cornmeal the same?

There are two ways to make cornbread from scratch: by starting with plain cornmeal or by using self-rising cornmeal mix. The self-rising cornbread mix differs from a complete cornbread mix in that it contains only baking powder and salt and requires the addition of a small amount of flour, a sweetener and liquids.

What’s the difference between Southern cornbread and regular cornbread?

Northern cornbread isn’t very sweet and is made with fewer eggs and yellow cornmeal to achieve a crumbly texture. Southern-style cornbread can be made with white or yellow cornmeal, has a buttery finish and calls for more eggs, which produces a cakelike texture.

What does adding an extra egg to cornbread do?

Eggs! If you’ve never made cornbread with eggs, now’s a fine time to start. It adds great taste and texture and will help your cornbread stay together.

Why is my cornbread so dense?

While traditional Southern recipes tend to go heavy on the cornmeal, it seems that when you’re using too much cornmeal, there isn’t enough gluten to hold the cornbread together. So why go all-in for all cornmeal? Instead, add more flour and less cornmeal, and your cornbread will turn out lighter and less dense.

What grind is best for cornbread?

Cornmeal: You can use any grind of cornmeal (fine, medium, or coarse), but we prefer fine or medium grind. I especially enjoy the flavor of stone-ground cornmeal by Bob’s Red Mill. Note, bags labeled as polenta are likely cornmeal. If you already have polenta at home, you can use it to make cornbread.

Is medium grind cornmeal good for cornbread?

Medium-ground cornmeal: It can be used in pretty much the same places as fine-ground, but the results will be more rustic. It’s the traditional choice for Southern-style cornbread, which tends to be more dense and savory than the sweet, cakelike cornbread you get from a box mix.

Is Quaker yellow cornmeal self rising?

Self-rising yellow corn meal mix by The Quaker Oats Company contains 80 calories per 25 g serving. This serving contains 0 g of fat, 2 g of protein and 19 g of carbohydrate. The latter is 1 g sugar and 1 g of dietary fiber, the rest is complex carbohydrate.

Is there a difference between white and yellow cornmeal?

The only substantial difference between white cornmeal and yellow cornmeal is right there in the names: their colors. The two varieties get their hues from nothing more than the different colors of the kernels of corn from which they are ground.

Do Southerners put sugar in their cornbread?

Cornbread came about as more ingredients were added to the basic corn pone recipe: buttermilk, eggs, and a leavener such as baking soda or baking powder (or both). However, modern cornbread recipes, even in the South, now include wheat flour and sugar.

Why do you add sugar to cornbread?

The change in production made the meal more dry — which maybe made cooks add sugar, according to the article. But now, there are many people offering coarse-ground cornmeal that mimics the traditional meal, there’s really no reason to add the sugar — unless you’re just stubborn.

How do you keep cornbread moist?

Oil or Butter Oil will help make your cornbread moist and stay together, rather than crumbling apart. Just about one tablespoon should do. If you prefer a buttery flavor, use melted butter instead. Another important tip for any cornbread style – always slather it in butter before serving.

Why is my cornbread so dry?

You over mixed the batter. Too much mixing can make it dry. 2. You baked it longer than required and/or your Oven temperature is off.

Can you over mix cornbread?

Why avoid over-mixing? Stirring, or mixing can activate glutens. When you stir too much, this will cause more glutens to be formed which will result in crumbly bread. Also, the more cornmeal you have over flour will result in a drier, more crumbly cornbread.

Is yellow cornmeal good for cornbread?

But let’s stick to the basics for now, and to the key question in the cornbread equation: Should you use white or yellow cornmeal in your cornbread? Martha White says both types are made from dried kernels corn, using white and yellow corn kernels respectively, and can be used interchangeably in cornbread recipes.

How do you make cornbread not crumbly?

More flour makes it less crumbly. If you’re using too a high a proportion of corn meal, the bread doesn’t have enough gluten to hold it together. Try using less corn meal and more flour. Try a different flour.

Do you need baking powder with self-rising cornmeal?

Is it necessary to add flour to self-rising cornmeal? Depending on how old the cornmeal is, you may need to add some new baking powder and salt. Self-rising cornmeal already contains baking powder and salt. You may need to add some new baking powder to the dry ingredients depending on how old the cornmeal is.

What is the difference between pre cooked cornmeal and cornmeal?

While masarepa and cornmeal are made from the same basic stuff, cornmeal is milled raw, while masarepa is fully cooked before it gets milled. The result? Differences in texture once they are introduced to the dough. When cornmeal is mixed with liquid, it does not absorb the liquid, so it just sits there.