I know this sounds strange but...

I was talking to an 85 year old barber today at the barbershop and he told me something interesting. He may have been pulling my leg but thought you guys might like to hear it. He said that when he started out is the business sometimes they would get a razor that was to hard and was difficult to sharpen, so he said that when that happened they would get thier wife to make a pan of cornbread and when she pulled it out of the oven they would break off a section of the hard crust a dipose of it and then push the razors blade inside to hot loaf of cornbread and leave it there till the loaf cooled and when they would remove the blade the heat from the loaf would have softend the blade just enough that it would be easier to sharpen.
Now was this a talltail? well I don't know but you make what you want of it.

Steel is tempered starting at around 300F. Cornbread is cooked at 400F-425F, so it's definitely possible. The edge is thin enough that it would get up to temperature very quickly, so assuming it takes the interior of the cornbread 10-15 minutes to cool below 300F (possible, esp if you left it in the iron skillet, and especially if you also left it in the warm oven) then that might be enough to knock off a point at the edge, which would be enough to significantly ease honing.

I'm not sure why cornbread specifically, since you could just put the razor in the oven, wait 15 minutes, and get basically the same result. Unless your barber was from the south, in which case why not cornbread.

mmmm, cornbread....

Yep we are from the south born and raised! Also this guys 85 years old so his oven may have been heated with a fire.

Well... they would stick only the blade in the hot cornbread... the scales would melt it they simply placed the whole razor in the oven.

that is bada$$....there's a reason those folks are called the greatest generation!

the cornbread thing works but only in a cast iron skillet. thats the only way it gets hot enough. i have done it with knives for years, it also works well to rehardenn if the blade has been broke and reground back to shape


****cornbread holds its heat longer than just about anything you cook.

Alabama born and raised!!!

Why cornbread? It probably tastes good too.

I was under the impression that the corn bread never reached 400-425

what temp does sugar boil at and at what temp do things light off?

the corn bread stays at a much lower temp because it still contains water
once the water is all evaporated it can go higher, but then it burns

make sense?
thank me

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Originally Posted by smythe

Well... they would stick only the blade in the hot cornbread... the scales would melt it they simply placed the whole razor in the oven.

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Does bone, horn, ivory, etc melt at 300?

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Originally Posted by gratewhitehuntr

I was under the impression that the corn bread never reached 400-425

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Hmm, it sounds like a good excuse to bake some cornbread tonight!

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Originally Posted by hoglahoo

Does bone, horn, ivory, etc melt at 300?
Hmm, it sounds like a good excuse to bake some cornbread tonight!

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My understanding is... those hard animal products will withstand those temps... especially bone... if you ever seen a burnt roast... the flesh may char but the bone is still intact.


I also celluloid would probably survive the hot cornbread... though it may soften a bit, I don’t think the blade would conduct that much heat to melt the celluloid… but I could be wrong.

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Originally Posted by mparker762

I'm not sure why cornbread specifically, since you could just put the razor in the oven, wait 15 minutes, and get basically the same result.

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Just a thought, it may be that being heated by being inside of something hot heats the blade more evenly. I know that for certain types of tempering, they will coat the steel in clay or other materials to even out, or carefully vary the way the metal heats and cools.

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Originally Posted by gratewhitehuntr

I was under the impression that the corn bread never reached 400-425

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I use cast iron for everything, and I love cornbread, so if I get a chance I'll cook some cornbread next week and stick a thermometer in it and see what temp it actually get's to. However, you're right that it can't get to 400-425. I don't know about other people's recipes, but I bake my cornbread at 350, so that "should" be the maximum temp it could reach.

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Originally Posted by gratewhitehuntr

what temp does sugar boil at and at what temp do things light off?

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Candymakers know that sugar begins to burn at around 350F. But that is for sugar from cane or beets, which is sucrose. But corn sugar is mostly dextrose and I don't know if it burns at the same temperature, and google doesn't turn up anything.

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Originally Posted by mparker762

But corn sugar is mostly dextrose and I don't know if it burns at the same temperature, and google doesn't turn up anything.

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I think I've still got an old CRC handbook at home. I'll look up the boiling and combustion temps of dextrose if you want. The problem is that the boiling and combustion temps for dextrose may not matter. All those figures assume you're working with just dextrose, as opposed to a complex mixture that includes dextrose.

Also, cornbread has WAY more plain old table sugar than corn sugar. A single batch (if I'm remembering my recipe correctly without looking) has about the same amount of plain old white sugar as it has of corn meal, and only a small percentage of the cornmeal is dextrose.

I know here we put oil in a cast iron skillet and heat it at 500 degrees till it just starts to smoke then we pore our batter into the hot grease and return it to the oven and back down the heat to 400 until she is finished. makes a nice crunchy crust.

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Originally Posted by Doc

I know here we put oil in a cast iron skillet and heat it at 500 degrees till it just starts to smoke then we pore our batter into the hot grease and return it to the oven and back down the heat to 400 until she is finished. makes a nice crunchy crust.

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Now that's just rude!! You post a whole different cornbread technique, and don't post a batter recipe to go with it? Shame on you.

My mind was streaming along on the scientific principles being discussed here and then you go and post that! Damn! Crunchy cornbread... maybe with a few corn kernels stuck here and there in it.... I think I know what my wife is gonna make to go with dinner tonight! :-)

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Originally Posted by Doc

I know here we put oil in a cast iron skillet and heat it at 500 degrees till it just starts to smoke then we pore our batter into the hot grease and return it to the oven and back down the heat to 400 until she is finished. makes a nice crunchy crust.

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Although I am much too young to get into the cornbread discussion, but I always noted that my mother and grandmother make theirs by adding the batter in pre-greased pan and start it off @500 and then move it down. As such, when I make it here in NY, I have to cook it on 450 because my gas oven runs a little cooler than the thermostat. Being form GA I miss my Grandmother's cooking, although its probably not the most healthy. I still grab a couple of 5lb bags of grits and meal when I go home so I don't go too lean up here.
I might try this method for a razor I have had that I haven't been able to hone. I can't seem to get a good bevel on it for some reason or other.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 1/2 cups white cornmeal
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup low-fat milk
• 2 large eggs
• 2 to 3 tablespoons melted butter

PREPARATION:

Preheat oven to 500°.Add about 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil to a 10-inch seasoned iron skillet; place in oven.
In a mixing bowl, combine the meal, flour, salt, baking powder and soda. In another bowl, whisk buttermilk and milk with eggs and melted butter. Gradually fold milk mixture into dry ingredients, folding and mixing just until all dry ingredients are moist.
Using oven mitts or potholders, carefully remove the hot skillet from the oven; swirl slightly so oil coats sides of pan. Pour batter into the skillet then return to oven. Reduce heat to 350°. Bake cornbread for 35 to 45 minutes, until it pulls away from sides of pan and is lightly browned.
Cut into squares or wedges.

I'm gonna try this recipie this weekend in our Big Green Egg!

I tried Doc's recipe and stuck a thermometer in it on the way out of the oven. The internal temperature was about 165 f, which isn't nearly hot enough to effect the temper.

Also, be sure you use the WHITE corneal that is called for. It's much sweeter than yellow cornmeal. If all you've got is yellow, add 1/4 cup of sugar to the dry ingredients.

why not use a baked potato? that way you get the cleaning props as seen in another post on here while you wait. plus you could put foil around the "razoto" and it would stay pretty hot and cool slowly. and it's easier to just eat up a potato in the microwave than make cornbread :P

just my 2 cents, i could be wrong with this :P

why not use a baked potato? that way you get the cleaning props as seen in another post on here while you wait. plus you could put foil around the "razoto" and it would stay pretty hot and cool slowly. and it's easier to just heat up a potato in the microwave than make cornbread :P

just my 2 cents, i could be wrong with this :P

But... but... baked potatoes are good... but they don't taste anything like southern cornbread!

Fellow North Carolinian here.

This topic has been very enjoyable. I am going to try that recipe. But I think you should just duct tape the razor to your exhaust manifold of your car or truck and drive around a little :w

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Originally Posted by Ari

This topic has been very enjoyable. I am going to try that recipe. But I think you should just duct tape the razor to your exhaust manifold of your car or truck and drive around a little :w

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would make it a sharp ride :rofl2:

Very sharp indeed. :rofl2: