Cornbread

Method

1. bake12 min
   oven and empty skillet at 425°F
   put a 6- to 8-inch cast-iron skillet in the oven as it heats with 1 tbsp of the butter in it — the pan must reach oven temperature before any batter touches it, because the crust is fried by the hot metal, not baked by the air
2. whisk2 min
   dry, room temperature
   cornmeal + flour + sugar + baking powder + baking soda + salt, until the leaveners are evenly dispersed; a pocket of undistributed soda leaves a soapy bitter spot and a crater where the gas escaped all at once
3. whisk1 min
   separate bowl
   buttermilk + beaten egg + remaining 2 tbsp melted butter — the buttermilk's lactic acid is the partner the baking soda needs; with plain milk the soda has nothing to react with and you get lift only from the baking powder plus an alkaline aftertaste
4. fold1 min
   just combined, lumps allowed
   wet into dry, about ten strokes and stop. Cornmeal carries no gluten, so the crumb's tenderness rides entirely on the small amount of wheat flour staying undeveloped — beat it smooth and the bread turns rubbery and tunnels. The batter starts fizzing the moment the acid meets the soda, and that gas has a shelf life of minutes
5. bake22 min
   425°F, uncovered
   pour the batter into the hot skillet all at once — it should hiss and the edges should seize immediately — and bake until the top is set and golden and a skewer comes out with no wet batter. Egg proteins coagulate and cornmeal starch gelatinizes around the CO2 bubbles already in place; the oven's job is to lock the structure before the foam collapses
6. rest8 min
   in the pan
   leave it in the skillet off the heat. Cutting straight away releases steam that the crumb needs to reabsorb, and cornbread cut hot goes crumbly and dry within the hour