02/05/2022

The Easiest Cornbread in the Camp Oven

Bush Cooking Bush Cooking, Camp Chef, Camp Oven, Camping, Recipes, Stories by Peter, Tips 0

Freshly cooked cornbread in the camp oven while camping is mouth-watering and ridiculously easy. Cornbread is the perfect side to anything slow cooked, especially pulled pork in the camp oven. Only requiring a few ingredients and a super quick cook time, you really need to try this cornbread in the camp oven recipe, you will not regret it!

If you want to see how to cook pulled pork in the camp oven, then read our recipe here.

The Gear We Use for Cornbread in the Camp Oven

You can cook cornbread in a few different things, but our recommendation for the best cornbread is to use something that is cast iron. We have cooked cornbread in a normal frying pan, but best results will be in either a cast iron skillet or cast iron camp oven. The reason cast iron works best is that you can get the cast iron extremely hot for the perfect base. Cast iron also retains its heat well, so it helps to cook the cornbread quickly. We prefer to use our Camp Chef 10-inch cast iron camp oven as it has a lid. When cooking the cornbread, you need to cover it to steam and seal the top. Having a lid on your camp oven or skillet makes this easier. However, if you do not have a lid for whatever you are using to cook the cornbread, aluminium foil works well enough.

Camp Chef 10-inch cast iron camp oven, or Camp Chef 10-inch cast iron skillet.
Camp Chef Explore 14 gas cooker.
Two mixing bowls.
Measuring cup and teaspoon.
Spoon for mixing.
Aluminium foil if you do not have a lid for the skillet or frying pan you are using.

Cornbread Ingredients

The below ingredients are what you need to cook cornbread in the camp oven.

1 x cup of polenta.
1 x cup of flour.
3 x teaspoons baking powder.
3 x tablespoons sugar.
1 x egg.
1/4 x cup of olive oil or melted butter.
1 x cup of milk.

We use olive oil instead of melted butter as we find this is far easier when camping. Butter will make a tastier cornbread, but melting butter while camping requires a few more steps, so we stick with the simpler option of using olive oil.

How to Cook Cornbread

Cook time of 10 minutes.

Cooking cornbread in the camp oven is straightforward. Mix the dry ingredients, polenta, flour, baking powder, and sugar in one bowl. Then mix the wet ingredients, egg, olive oil, and milk, in another bowl.

Now that the dry and wet ingredients have been mixed well. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, then pour in the mixed wet ingredients. Now using a spoon, mix the wet and dry ingredients thoroughly. Continue to mix until you have a nice consistent batter. If mixing well before cooking, you might need to add a little more milk and mix again as it will thicken up if resting for a period of time.

Pre heat your skillet or camp oven on the gas cooker on high. Once the skillet or camp oven has got extremely hot, add some olive oil, and heat up. Swirl the oil around so that the whole base and the sides are oiled. Once the oil is hot, pour in the cornbread batter. It should sizzle when you add the cornbread batter to the camp oven. Now turn the heat down to the lowest setting possible and cover. If you do not have a lid for your skillet or frying pan, then using heat resistant gloves, cover with aluminium foil. The cornbread needs to be covered to trap the steam, which seals the top of the cornbread.

Cook the cornbread covered on low heat for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, check the cornbread. It should be sealed on top. If not fully sealed, cook covered for another 3-5 minutes. Once cooked, you will easily be able to remove the cornbread with a turner or spatula. Place the cornbread on a plate, cut with a knife, and serve hot. The base of the cornbread will be dark brown and crispy. The top of the cornbread will be soft and yellow. The cornbread should have just the right amount of sweetness, be nice and fluffy, and taste fantastic. If it is too sweet or not sweet enough, adjust the amount of sugar used next time.