Cracklin' Cornbread

With a perfectly seasoned skillet and some rendered pork skin, anybody can enjoy this southern classic. Unfortunately, not everyone has the ingredients or the equipment, and store-bought pork rinds are a laughable stand-in. Could we find an acceptable substitute? Here’s what we discovered:

Test Kitchen Discoveries

• We tried everything from salt pork (too salty and tough) to Fritos fried in bacon grease (just wrong), and eventually settled on fried bacon for our makeshift cracklings.
• If you dollop the batter into your skillet a little at a time instead of pouring it all in at once, you prevent the oil from being pushed to the sides. This ensures the cornbread won’t stick to the skillet.
• To keep the cornbread crunchy, remove it from the skillet shortly after it’s done. This way it won’t steam and soften while it sits in the warm skillet.