Cornbread with Bacon Grease on the Grill

Up today is our cornbread with bacon grease recipe made outside on the grill.

Making cornbread on the grill is really easy to do. But you don’t need to make this outside on the grill. You could also easily make this using your oven.

Optionally, a bit of wood smoke would take this way over the top.

So if you have never tried cornbread made with bacon fat then you’re definitely missing out.

So let’s quit messing around and get started.

Grilled Cornbread with Bacon Grease Recipe

Like chili, cornbread recipes have decided divisions and followings. However, our preference is a no flour and no sugar cornbread recipe. In other words, this is more of a southern style cornbread recipe.

A great way to think about bacon grease is a butter substitute because it solidifies when refrigerated. It is also loaded with smoky flavor.

A lot of folks call it liquid gold and we couldn’t agree more. A lot of folks call it liquid gold and we couldn’t agree more. So today, we’re replacing the butter with bacon grease in this cornbread recipe for a great rich flavor.

Supplies for making grilled cornbread

You don’t need much in the way of supplies for making this recipe. So you probably have about everything you may need. These are the supplies we’re using today, including a few optionals.

10 inch cast iron skillet
Barbecue towels
Heat resistant gloves
Optional: smoking wood
Optional: infrared thermometer

You’ll need a pair of heat resistant gloves to handle the hot cast iron skillet.

We use these NoCry gloves to handle hot items on and off the grill. As we write this, these NoCry heat resistant gloves have almost 1000 reviews of mostly 4- and 5-stars Amazon customer review ratings. Folks just like them and we think they are the best heat resistant gloves for grilling we have found.

Check it out here.

Barbecue towels keep you from messing up the good household stuff. Read about why you need them in our earlier post here.

We’re using our Lodge 10 inch cast iron skillet in this recipe. It’s a real do everything workhorse.

Grilled Cornbread with Bacon Grease Ingredients

When you cook bacon, the rendered fat left behind in the pan is loaded with flavor so don’t throw it out. To save that bacon fat, let it cool slightly, then strain out any solid bits through a paper towel into a glass or ceramic container and then refrigerate.

We are using some of our saved bacon fat here to add a depth of flavor to dishes like this cornbread recipe. Some folks call this liquid gold and a container of bacon grease is a secret cooking weapon.

2 cups stone ground corn meal
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup bacon grease

Our Method

Heat up and stabilize your grill at 375 °F / 190 °C. We are cooking indirect today, away from the hot coals so the cornbread won’t burn.

Set your cast iron skillet on the grill grate so it also warms up to the same 375 °F / 190 °C temperature.

In a bowl, mix all of your dry ingredients, the cornmeal, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.

In another container, stir and mix together the wet ingredients, the buttermilk and 2 eggs.

Then pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix it all together.

Carefully remove the hot skillet from the grill grate using your heat resistant gloves. Melt the 1/4 cup of bacon grease in the hot skillet. Stirring the melting fat around the skillet to coat the sides of your cast iron skillet.

Then pour the remaining melted bacon fat from the skillet into the cornbread batter and mix it all to combine.

Then put the skillet back on the grill grate and pour in the cornbread batter mix. Remember, don’t put the skillet over the top of the coals. We are cooking indirect.

Let the cornbread bake on the grill grate for 20 to 30 minutes until done. We use the toothpick test. Insert a wooden toothpick into the center, it should come out clean when done.

Grilled Cornbread with Bacon Grease Tasting

Good golly this is good stuff. Just look at it. Can’t you just taste this? We cut this into 8 even size wedges.

It’s all crusty on the bottom and the sides with a tender with a light crumb. This cornbread with bacon grease is great all by itself or with yesterday’s warmed up dinner fixings.

Grab a helping straight from the skillet, or with a slab of melty warm butter, you’re going to head back for more.

Warm out of the skillet or heated up from yesterday, this is some good eats. So if you have never had grilled cornbread with bacon grease before then you’re missing something out of your life. Just don’t tell Grandma what you are doing.

Check out my other Kamado Joe and JoeTisserie recipes and links here on my Outdoor Eats page.