Then put 2 cups of cornmeal in it and make a depression in the center of the cornmeal. Into this center, put a lump of bacon grease the size of a walnut and one egg. Next add one cup of buttermilk and stir all together, making sure the bacon grease is broken up evenly throughout the batter. Smooth the top of it by dribbling a little milk on top and smoothing with a knife as though you were icing it. Bake at 400 until done in the center, about 20 minutes.
Some people bake cornbread in a cast iron skillet in the oven.
If you do this, grease the skillet and preheat it empty. Then pour the batter in the heated skillet. If you use cast iron, you will get a certain amount of your daily iron intake from just cooking in it. This is a treat served at the famous Mabry Mill, on the Blue Ridge Parkway - the most photographed site in the entire National Park Service. They serve two cornmeal cakes with Southern style barbecue between them.