Because I love cornbread so much (and love a challenge just about as much), I continue to experiment with cornbread. I haven't perfected it yet, but am still working on it. I swear, by the end of winter, I will have the BEST cornbread ever. Thanks to all you who offered tips, and I'll tell you what I've tried.
-new cornmeal (apparently it can get stale)
-cast iron pan (preheated in the oven with butter in it)
-more eggs (made it hold together better, but did make it on the verge of rubbery)
-white cornmeal instead of yellow
-mix with spatula instead of whisk
I think all those tips did help, although I'd still like it a bit moister and fluffier. I have also tried mixing the batter up, and then adding the baking powder last. This helped it rise without beating the baking powder out of the batter. All the recipes say "do not overmix", but I find this hard to do. To get all the lumps out without overmixing seems an impossible task. I undermixed (in the fear of overmixing) and we ended up with flour lumps (small but still present) in the finished product.
Next to try:
-increase oil/melted butter
-try Bob's Red Mill coarse ground cornmeal
-try Alton Brown's recipe with creamed corn in it (forgot to buy creamed corn last grocery trip)
I don't give up easy...
