Taster's
Choice
Think Outside the Box with Cornbread Mixes
Amanda Gold, Chronicle Staff Writer, Wednesday, October 15, 2008
There's something about the marriage of chili and cornbread that makes
perfect sense. The stew-like blend of salty and acidic tomatoes, beans,
meat and vegetables offsets the crumbly, savory-sweet bread beautifully.
See SF Chronicle Chil Recipes
Together, they make a complete meal. Whipping up a loaf from scratch is
fairly easy to do - you can find a recipe for one with today's cover story
about chili (see Page F6). But packaged cornbread mixes can be completed
even faster. In most cases, it takes less than five minutes to combine
the dry mix with water or milk, eggs and butter before baking.
Nevertheless, unless it's doused with butter, cornbread can dry out very
quickly, and some versions will crumble against even the slightest pressure.
Today's panel - due to scheduling issues we convened Food section staffers
instead of the regular panelists - tasted products that ranged from overly
sweet to bland and savory. Some contained kernels of real corn, while
others were more cakey.
We baked the cornbread mixes according to package directions, and served
them at room temperature. For the most part, the results were less than
satisfying.
In first place, Martha's ($4.99/14 ounces at Andronico's) had a "good
texture," described as "dense, but not too sweet." One
staffer said it "smells more cake-like, but is very mild," though
another said the flavor was "a little boring." Four panelists
might buy this product, and one would not.
Second place went to widely available and extremely affordable Jiffy (75
cents/8.5 ounces at Andronico's), which tasters found to have a "fresh,"
"light" and "decent corn flavor," that "would
probably be OK with chili." Some said the texture was "dry and
grainy." Three might buy this brand, and two would not.
Two products tied for the third-place slot. The first was Whole Foods
365 Organic brand ($2.99/16.75 ounces), which was labeled "a tad
sweet," but "tastes like corn." Most found it "cake-like"
with a "bit of crunch." Three would buy it, and two would not.
The other brand to nab a third-place spot was Betty Crocker (65 cents/6.5
ounces at Safeway.) Staffers called this "cake-like" and "a
bit dry" and said that it was "not so sweet." One felt
that you could "taste the baking powder" in this product. Two
might buy the brand, and three would not.
Rounding out the top five was less well-known brand Firenza ($5.49/15.5
ounces at Bell/Cala Foods). "Like sponge cake," said one panelist.
Another found it "still sweet but not egregiously so." Other
tasters commented on the "artificial flavor" of the bread. Two
might buy it, and three would not.
Cornbead mix
Martha's 55
Jiffy 54
365 Organic 52
Betty Crocker 52
Firenza 50
Ralph's 49
Krusteaz 45
Napa Valley Pantry 43
Marie Callender's 42
Marie Callender's Organic 42
Bob's Red Mill 38
Dr. Oetker Organics 33
Hodgson Mill 29
Arrowhead Mills0
Panelists were Michael Bauer, Chronicle executive food and wine editor;
Jon Bonne, Chronicle wine editor; Lynne Char Bennett and Tara Duggan,
Chronicle staff writers; and Miriam Morgan, Chronicle food editor. All
products were tasted blind; a perfect score would be 100. Prices listed
are the lowest found, but products may be available at other stores.
E-mail Amanda Gold at agold@sfchronicle.com.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/15/FD5013EVMF.DTL
This article appeared on page F - 2 of the San Francisco Chronicle
©2008 Martha’s All Natural
