Cornbread….yum! Perfect for potluck meals, children’s lunchboxes, and picnics. It’s great at a barbeque too. It can be a little time-consuming to make from scratch though and that’s where Krusteaz comes to your rescue.
Krusteaz was started in the U.S. when an American lady, Rose Charters, decided to help busy housewives by devising a delicious but easy-to-make pie crust. She joined the words “crust” and “ease” to name her innovation, and “Krusteaz” was born.
The company has since greatly expanded its range to include products like muffin mixes, pancake blends, as well as cornbread of course.
Cornbread is usually made using cornmeal (as opposed to the wheat flour used for regular bread). It can be flavored with bacon, syrup, cheese, or honey as in the Krusteaze product.
You would imagine that these delicious ingredients would leave your kitchen smelling heavenly as they bake but we’ve been seeing users making complaints about how their Krusteaz honey cornbread mix smells bad.
We’ve done some investigation and come up with some reasons why your Krusteaze honey cornbread mix may be smelling bad.
Reasons Why Your Krusteaz Honey Cornbread Mix Smells Bad
1. Sour smell
If you’re picking up a sour smell in your cornbread, do check if the milk you added to the batter is fresh. The cornbread powder needs milk, eggs, and vegetable oil to be added so perhaps the milk you added was sour.
If your milk is fresh, the sour smell may be coming from some of the unfamiliar ingredients that are part and parcel of processed, instant food. Fresh is always better!
The box mix contains ingredients like malted barley flour, leavening agents, ascorbic acid, and soybean oil, all of which may be unfamiliar to you and which may give the cornbread mix a slightly sour smell.
2. “Off smell”
If you are picking up a smell that makes you think the cornmeal is bad, check the expiry or “sell by” date on the box. Krusteaze has a shelf life of 18 months after its manufacture date. If it’s older than that, you may have found the reason for the mix smelling bad.
While you are checking the box, make sure that your product really is a Krusteaze one and isn’t some cheap imitation knock-off. If the smell really is unbearable, throw the bread away as it might be off.
3. Check your cooking oil
It may be worth checking your bottle of cooking oil to see if it has gone rancid. That would certainly give the cornbread a bad smell. Oil should be stored in a dark place away from moisture and should be used by the sell-by date.
Never reuse oil for baking that has been used to fry chips or any other food. Always start with fresh, previously unused oil when baking anything including Krusteaze cornbread.
4. Check your storage conditions
The packet mix may have gone off due to incorrect storage conditions. The bag should have been kept sealed until use and the box kept in a cool dry place.
The Bottom Line
While a slightly sour smell to the mix shouldn’t be that concerning, if it is unappetizing, you should toss it out. Making honey cornbread from scratch isn’t all that difficult or time-consuming so perhaps you should try that instead of buying the instant mix products.
It is simply a matter of mixing up some cornflour, baking powder, oil, eggs, honey, and buttermilk. Let us know how it goes!