This article follows the Sweet Buttermilk Cornbread recipe on weber.com. Weber says the hot skillet gives golden, crisp edges and a subtle smokiness from the grill, and that it bakes in 30 minutes without heating the kitchen. All quantities and times below come from that page; two other published approaches are compared afterward.
Ingredients (serves 8)
- 1 cup self-rising flour
- 1 cup yellow cornmeal
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- Vegetable oil or bacon fat for greasing the skillet
- Butter for serving
Weber lists a 10-inch cast-iron skillet as the special equipment.
Method
- Set the grill up for indirect medium heat, 375-425°F (about 190-218°C, our conversion). Weber’s page also says to set it to 400°F (about 204°C). Preheat for 15 minutes and brush the grates clean.
- Whisk the flour, cornmeal, salt and pepper together in a medium bowl. In a second bowl, whisk the buttermilk, eggs and sour cream.
- Grease the bottom and sides of the skillet generously with vegetable oil or bacon fat.
- When you are ready to bake, and not before, add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk just until combined.
- Pour the batter into the skillet and put it on the grill.
- Cook with the lid closed until the top is golden brown and a toothpick in the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.
Weber’s steps do not mention preheating the skillet; the other two versions below both do.
Two Other Published Approaches
America’s Test Kitchen: grilled Southern-style
The test kitchen’s Grilled Southern-Style Cornbread is a longer method with a 10-inch cast-iron skillet on a two-zone fire. Part of the cornmeal is cooked with buttermilk on the hot side until it thickens to a batter-like consistency, which the test kitchen says hydrates the starches and keeps the bread moist. Lard is used both to grease the skillet and, melted, in the batter; the recipe says bacon fat or butter can substitute. The batter is poured into the greased skillet on the cooler side and cooked, covered, for 15 to 20 minutes, turning the skillet halfway through. On a gas grill it maintains 400 to 450°F (about 204-232°C, our conversion) on the primary burner. It uses buttermilk and sugar but no sour cream.
Meathead’s skillet cornbread
AmazingRibs’ Fluffy Old Fashioned Skillet Cornbread says to preheat the oven or grill to 400°F (204°C) with the skillet already on the rack. It uses 1 cup each of yellow cornmeal and all-purpose flour, plus baking powder, baking soda, 3 eggs, 3 tablespoons honey, 3/4 cup sour cream and 4 tablespoons melted butter. A tablespoon of butter goes into the hot pan before the batter, and it cooks about 20 minutes until a toothpick comes out dry. Meathead says the recipe was formulated for sour cream rather than buttermilk and warns against substituting. He also says the batter should stay lumpy and not be overmixed.
The oven-or-grill wording means that recipe is not written specifically for the grill, but its 400°F setting matches the Weber temperature above.
Handling the Leftovers
This bread is made with eggs and dairy. The FDA’s outdoor guidance says to refrigerate meat, poultry, eggs, seafood and other perishables within 2 hours of cooking, or within 1 hour if it is above 90°F (about 32°C) outside. The FDA does not mention cornbread, so treating it as one of those perishables is our own cautious reading.
Diet Note
Weber’s version is not vegan, because it contains eggs, buttermilk and sour cream. It does allow bacon fat for greasing, which would make it non-vegetarian; using vegetable oil avoids that, but the recipe does not address whether the dairy products on your label are suitable for vegetarians, so no vegetarian label is claimed here. Check the labels if that matters to your guests.
Keep reading
- Weber’s Grill-Cooked BBQ Baked Beans, Step by Step
- Grilled Pineapple Upside-Down Cake: Weber’s Recipe
- Smoked Mac and Cheese: AmazingRibs Method vs Weber
- Grilled Flatbread on Gas or Charcoal: King Arthur Recipe