Chuck Wagon Cornbread

Slow-cooked pinto beans and dense cast iron skillet cornbread

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City/Region: United States of America

Time Period: 1896

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The invention of the chuck wagon is credited to Charles Goodnight, who in 1866 had the idea of putting all the cowboys’ food into one wagon and having a cook come along to prepare it for them. The chuck wagon had special storage for cooking utensils and ingredients, mainly preserved meat, flour, coffee, and cornmeal, as well as fold-down cooking surfaces.

The chuck wagon also had some Dutch ovens, which is what cornbread like this was baked in. The absence of leavener makes this cornbread quite dense, but the flavor is really nice. I baked mine in a cast iron skillet, but if you have a Dutch oven, go ahead and give it a go in that.

“CORN BREAD OR HOE CAKE..
1 quart meal.
2 tablespoonfuls melted lard.
2 teaspoonfuls salt.
Sufficient warm water (but not hot enough to scald meal) or warm milk to make a thick batter.”

— Manual for Army Cooks, 1896

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Ingredients:

• 4 cups (580 g) cornmeal
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 3 cups (700 ml) milk or water, more or less as needed, I used milk
• 2 tablespoons lard

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (205°C). Grease a 10” to 12” (25 cm to 30 cm) cast iron skillet well with lard.
2. In a large bowl, mix the cornmeal and salt together.
3. Heat the milk until it’s just warm to the touch and melt the lard.
4. Pour about half of the warm milk into the cornmeal and stir it in. Stir in more milk a little at a time until the batter is a little thicker than pancake batter.
5. Stir in the melted lard.
6. Pour the batter into the greased cast iron skillet and smooth it out.
7. Bake for about 40 minutes or until the edges start to pull away from the pan.
8. Serve them forth with Chuck Wagon Beans.

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