Found it! Mom's corn bread pan.

[roylt]

As some of you know my brother passed away so I've been looking around his home for items I may want or be able to sell to help pay for the funeral / headstone.

I have basically given up on his place with open liens etc piling up for more than his house is worth but was moving some items and under a towel in a spare room was mom's corn bread pan!

My brother "helped" clean out mom and dad's place years back and I guess come to find out he has a room literally full of items from their house. I thought we sold off all that stuff but oh well. Happy coincidence.

Making chili and corn bread tonight for supper!! Never used this pan before but remember mom doing it for sure. Thinking maybe warm and coat it with a little butter then add batter.

Hope everyone is doing well. Take care,

 

[nekvermont]

Nice. Yes, put it in the oven while preheating and brush melted butter in it before adding batter. Enjoy.

 

[DGW1949]

That's a corn-stick pan, not a cornbread pan. A real cornbread pan is actually nothing more than an 8" iron skillet....At any rate, butter begins burning at too low of a temperature for coating an iron cooking utensil.....Use a very thin layer of genuine Sno-Cap lard instead and you'll get a much more harmonious outcome. Then once they're done, use the (real) butter to rub on the tops before you dump them out of the pan....And yeah, I be lovin' me some corn-sticks, especially when made with white corn meal. My Moma made those a lot when I was a kid....Come to think of it, every moma that I knew did.

DGW

 

[RoninPA]

^^^^^^ This is correct, however, I have used (in a pinch) a spray on baking oil (PAM or equivalent) when I didn't have any good lard on hand. Yes, use the butter on top of them when they come out of the oven, not before. That butter melts in and makes the corn sticks finger licking good (to use a phrase I've heard somewhere before )

 

[nekvermont]

I use butter in my cast iron pans all the time and have never had any problems.

 

[Kevin]

Cool pan! Glad you found it.

I’ve seen these pans around from time to time. Not very often anymore though.

Always wondered how good the cornbread turns out. If it sticks or not.

 

[RoninPA]

Kevin,
If done corretly the "corn sticks" are fantastic and just fall out of the pan when you turn the pan upside down. We like "standard" loaf cornbread for certain things and the corn sticks with chili, soup and things like that.

 

[Timbo23]

Corn stick pans are still in production by Lodge Manufacturing in South Pittsburg, Tennessee. They are not scarce or rare and are readily found in antique and flea markets at reasonable prices. That said, they are still valuable as family heirlooms and practical pieces of kitchen ware.
I have my grandmothers cornbread pan, a skillet she used just for cornbread. The cooking surface has many shallow knife marks where she cut the cornbread into pieces for serving. Its value as a antique with all the scratches, not much. Its value to me as a connection to my grandmother, it's not for sale.

Note on making cornbread: preheat your pan in the oven with Crisco, lard or other other high temp oil in the cavity. My grandmother made it from scratch but I don't have the recipe so I use a box mix. Mix the cornbread according to the box instructions. Set the oven to the recommended temp. Once the pan is heated pour any excess grease into the mix, stir and then immediately pour that back into the pan and cook until golden brown.

 

[blume357]

"Mom's recipe" is really the secret and from experience you will never be able to duplicate it.
Every once and a while my wife and I will be at some restaurant that has lemon pie on the menu for dessert and I will order a slice just to remind me that there is no way to make what my Grandmother used to make... My aunt actually claimed to have found the recipe a few years back and gave me the hand written paper she found in my Grandmother's stuff... I duplicated it to the letter and did not even come close to what she made, at least as how I remember it....

 

[roylt]

Came out pretty good. The google told us to cook for 8 to 20 minutes..... So we started at 8 and checked and then more and more and I think ended at around 18.
The ears came out pretty good and the pan looked a bit under cooked but actually was crispy on the bottom. My girl likes crisp so it was all good.

 

[eveled]

Always wondered how good the cornbread turns out. If it sticks or not.

The sticks are dryer than if you cooked it in a pan. 2 different experiences from the same mix.

To prevent sticking.

Pre heat the pans. Use high heat oil.

Drop a small drop of batter into the pan, if it doesn’t sizzle right away the pan isn’t hot enough yet.

@roylt I’m glad you found that pan. It will last your family generations.

My Dad liked the sticks, so I make them out of nostalgia. I find the little 4” pans make great muffin tops and are far more versatile than the stick pan.

I use channel lock pliers like blacksmith’s tongs to move and flip them

 

[contender]

Around here,, just about everybody who's native here from an old-timey family has a corn stick pan or 3.
Penny & I were in a shop the other day looking for a specific type of amber Vision Ware,, and this place had over a dozen of the corn stick pans.
I have a few,, including an aluminum one.

They are numerous enough that I've known several bullet casters who have one for making lead ingots.

There are also similar pans,, where the slots are just plain rectangular shaped, with a slight taper. usually about 10 slots,, all about 7"-8" long. Those are also a bit common. I saw one of those in that shop that was rusty, no name on it or any markings, etc. It was over priced at $25.

 

[DGW1949]

If your cornbread is coming out too dry, you either ain't using enough buttermilk, or you're cooking it too long....Sometimes it's better to use more temp and less cooking time. I find that 450 degrees is about right, depending on the oven.
Other stuff:
*I don't use those pre-packaged "cornbread "mixes" . They're OK but every one I've tried had way too much flour added to suit me. And I never use more than 1 medium egg neither...After all, we ain't baking a cake here so multiple eggs and excessive flour ain't needed.
*Low fat buttermilk ain't buttermilk. Neither is that so-called "Bavarian" buttermilk. In fact that stuff contains yogurt and will absolutely ruin what would have been a fine pan of cornbread.
*There is such a thing as "self rising" white cornmeal. "Martha White" makes it. It's sometimes hard to find but it's out there....That's what I start with.
*Crisco, margarine, and/or bottled oils is made from plants. Lard and butter comes from animals.....There's a difference, just sayin'.
*I prefer sitting the skillet on a stove eye to pre-heat the bottom. If you try that, add the lard and let it heat until a drop of batter sizzles immediately. *Some of the best cornbread I've ever eat wasn't baked, it was fried....but that's a whole 'nuther conversation.

DGW

 

[DGW1949]

Corn stick pans are still in production by Lodge Manufacturing in South Pittsburg, Tennessee. They are not scarce or rare and are readily found in antique and flea markets at reasonable prices. That said, they are still valuable as family heirlooms and practical pieces of kitchen ware.
I have my grandmothers cornbread pan, a skillet she used just for cornbread. The cooking surface has many shallow knife marks where she cut the cornbread into pieces for serving. Its value as a antique with all the scratches, not much. Its value to me as a connection to my grandmother, it's not for sale.

Note on making cornbread: preheat your pan in the oven with Crisco, lard or other other high temp oil in the cavity. My grandmother made it from scratch but I don't have the recipe so I use a box mix. Mix the cornbread according to the box instructions. Set the oven to the recommended temp. Once the pan is heated pour any excess grease into the mix, stir and then immediately pour that back into the pan and cook until golden brown.

The Piggly-Wiggley store here in Iuka, Mississippi sells that USA-made "Lodge" iron cook ware. They have a display rack that it hangs on just before you start down the jelly isle...Sorta makes sense being's how we are only about 15-20 minutes from the Tennessee state line. Cheaper there than buying used at what passes for a flea market these days.

DGW

 

[RoninPA]

Every time we head down that way for something like the ROCS gun show in Huntsville (now soon to be in the Birmingham area), or where ever, we always stop at the Lodge Cast Iron store in South Pittsburgh (it's right beside the factory) and see if there is something we "need". Funny, we always seem to find something One time I asked if they had factory tours. The lady there said they did in the past but then the lawyers got involved. They do open the factory (but it's during a non working period) in April during a festival in that area. Heck, I want to see them making the molds, melting and pouring, the whole shebang. I learned how to make the sand molds, melt aluminum and pour the molten metal, unmold the castings, etc. to make various items in metal shop class in the 8th grade (1967).

 

[nekvermont]

Walmart sells lodge cast-iron.

 

[ole442]

Yeah, my Dad liked cornbread made in the corn stick pan because they were real crispy. I like my Hillbilly Buttermilk Cornbread made in a round cast iron skillet preheated in an oven with bacon grease in it. Pull it out and pour the cornbread batter in it and the batter sizzled when it hits the skillet. The confederate soldiers used the whole cornbread in a pouch hung over their shoulder as rations forthe days fighting in the Civil War.

 

[eveled]

This stuff is worth looking for.

 

[6GUNSONLY]

This is my cornbread pan, inherited from my paternal grandmother. As you can see, it's a shallow pan, but just the right size for a half-batch of cornbread for my wife and myself. And due to the shallow sides, it gives a good, crusty finish to the cornbread.
As you can also see, it was made right here in my hometown at the old Martin Stove Works. They made cast iron pans and implements of all kinds, as well as wood and coal-burning stoves and heaters. My grandmother's father was a foreman there, and I imagine my grandmother got this as a wedding present. I treasure it.

I recently sold this fireplace box to a local collector. She determined that it was also from the Martin Stove and Range Company by early Martin catalog pictures. The only marking we could find on it was "1951" cast into it. It was cast in multiple pieces, then assembled. The bottom of it is a swinging, cleverly weighted ash dump door.

 

[roylt]

This is my cornbread pan, inherited from my paternal grandmother. As you can see, it's a shallow pan, but just the right size for a half-batch of cornbread for my wife and myself. And due to the shallow sides, it gives a good, crusty finish to the cornbread.
As you can also see, it was made right here in my hometown at the old Martin Stove Works. They made cast iron pans and implements of all kinds, as well as wood and coal-burning stoves and heaters. My grandmother's father was a foreman there, and I imagine my grandmother got this as a wedding present. I treasure it.

I recently sold this fireplace box to a local collector. She determined that it was also from the Martin Stove and Range Company by early Martin catalog pictures. The only marking we could find on it was "1951" cast into it. It was cast in multiple pieces, then assembled. The bottom of it is a swinging, cleverly weighted ash dump door.

Nice!
Never seen a shollow pan before but I just recently started using cast.
That fireplace box is great! I have one sort of like it. The bottom of mine gave out in time but I was lucky enough to have a sheet of steel cut and slotted at my old work. The cast basket heats up and I feel helps radiate the warmth out of the fireplace.

 

[Hankus]

I still have mom’s old corn stick pan. My wife keeps it on display over the stove. Dad wouldn’t eat cornbread any other way. The rest of us ate the cornbread mom made in a cast iron skillet.

 

[nekvermont]

Sunday morning is when we make cornbread. Today's cornbread made in my grandmothers Gem pan.

 

[Bud0505]

I preheat my cornbread pan with bacon grease.

 

[jimbo1096]

Me too

 

[blume357]

Those 'fireplace boxes'. were for burning coal in.... I have one or two out in my fort.
The 'ash door' as you called it was to get the 'clinkers' to drop out...

 

[Roger That]

Thats very good, never left the tradition die.

 

[WendyZXZ]

Bacon grease is or at least should be its own food group, we store it up and use it often with so many things!