How to Cook Old Fashion Cracklin Cornbread

Cornbread is easy to make.

Cracklings, small pieces of crispy rendered pork fat and skin, are a delicious part of Southern cuisine. Like many traditional foods, cracklings are a way to turn scraps after butchering meat into something delicious. Old fashioned, Southern-style cracklin' cornbread is rich and hearty, perfect to fuel a body for a long day's work. If you can't find cracklings in the store for your cornbread, buy pork fat and make your own.

Things You'll Need

• 2 1/2 lb. pork fat and 1/2 cup water (or 1 cup prepared crumbled cracklings)
• 1/4 cup lard, bacon fat or oil
• 1 1/2 cups cornmeal
• 1/2 cup flour
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• Large cast iron pan
• Sieve
• Cheesecloth
• Bowl
• Whisk
• Knife

Instructions

1. Cut the pork fat into 1/2-inch cubes. If you use prepared cracklings, skip to Step 5.

2. Cook the pork fat and water in a cast iron skillet over medium-low heat for 45 to 60 minutes. Stir the mixture occasionally. The cracklings gradually rise to the top.

3. Continue cooking the pork fat until the cracklings sink to the bottom of the pan.

4. Drain the pork fat through a cheesecloth-lined sieve, reserving the liquid fat in bowls or jars. When it cools, the fat solidifies into lard. When the cracklings cool, they become crispy.

5. Heat 1/2 cup bacon grease, lard or oil in a cast iron skillet.

6. Whisk together the cornmeal, flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and 1 cup of completely-cooled pork cracklings in a bowl. Stir in the buttermilk and all but 2 tbsp. of the oil or fat.

7. Pour the cornbread batter into the cast iron skillet. Bake at 425 for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the center is no longer wet.

Tips & Warnings

• Rendering lard to make cracklings can be smoky and smelly, so you might want to do it outside over a portable burner rather than in your kitchen.

• If you don't have buttermilk, substitute 1 tbsp. lemon juice or vinegar with enough milk added to make 1 cup. Let the acid and milk mixture sit for a few minutes to curdle.

References

• Southern Recipes: Cracklin Cornbread Recipe
• Food Network; Cracklin' Cornbread; Vera Willis
• Nourished Kitchen; Making Fat: How to Render Lard; January 2010
• Junior's Juke Joint: Cracklins
• Cook's Thesaurus; Cultured Milk Products; Lori Alden