Why You Should Start Cooking in Clay Pots. Get the Most out of Home Cooking
Clay pots are best at bringing out the unique flavor of home cooked dishes. From roast, stews, to bake potatoes and vegetables, anything you can cook in the oven will taste its best in a clay pot. The food will also be much healthier, due to the natural properties of clay. No wonder it is used for cooking and food storage from very ancient times. This is why you should start cooking in clay pots. You’ll find here all their benefits and the instructions to use them properly.
Clay pots somehow communicate with the ingredients of the food you cook in them and impregnate with water and flavors. This way, the cooking is more even and the food, more flavorful and tender.
Why you should start cooking in clay pots. Main benefits
- Food flavor is more intense, due to a slow and equable cooking. Clay is full of pores, therefore permeable, ensuring heat and humidity circulation through the pot.
- Increases tenderness and mellowness and the food is extra fat free.
- Reduces food acidity, due to clay pH. The acid tomato sauce, for example, will be sweeter if cooked in a clay pot.
- They are very practical. You can be sure the food will cook evenly and won’t burn without having to check it in the oven. Moreover, you can keep the food in the pot when you set the table.
Even though cooking this way is tastier and healthier and clay pots are not expensive, clay pot cooking is mostly ignored. Clay pots are mostly used for their design, sometimes just for serving, or for certain traditional dishes like Romanian stuffed cabbage. Nevertheless, the main benefits for your health and for the taste of your food are why you should start cooking in clay pots any baked meal.
Having coffee in a ceramic cup will make it stronger and sweeter. In addition, it’s recommended storing the milk, cream, honey or wine in clay pots.
Why you should start cooking in clay pots. Instructions
The ceramic pot remained unchanged since ancient times. Cooking with clay pots and their preservation are the same.
Clay pots must be prepared to avoid breaking at first fire contact.
Follow these steps:
- Immerse the pot in water for 12 hours.
- Rub the entire pot with garlic, or just the bottom, for the varnished ones.
- 1/3 fill with water, add 1/3 cup vinegar and let simmer for 2 hours. Be careful, water mustn’t be boiled away totally (turn off the stove before 2 hours if there’s just a bit of water left).
- Remove the pot from the stove. Wait for the water to cool down, then swash. Rinse and let it dry completely, before you store it some place.
The bottom of clay pots must always be moist. Cracks appear mostly when there are dry areas and there’s a temperature imbalance in certain spots.
Why you should start cooking in clay pots. Other tips
Avoiding thermal shock is essential when cooking in ceramics. So never put a cold clay pot into an oven that’s already been heated. Likewise, don’t put a hot pot on a cold surface. Always use a grate, cork stand or other thermal insulators. Also, avoid cleaning a hot jar with cold water and so on.
Start cooking by setting the heat to minimum, then gradually increase up to medium level.
If you want a varnished clay pot, better make sure the varnish used is lead-free because lead is very toxic.
Clay pot cleaning
Usually, it’s enough to rinse the pots with warm water and gently rub with a sponge. For hard to clean spots, you can use salt, vinegar or baking soda.
Sources: mydailyjoys.com, lataifas.ro, cevabun.ro, artizanat-cadouri.ro, bruno-art.5net.ro, moldovenii.md, nutrichef.ro, truedelights.ro, uicamihai.blogspot.ro, culinar.ro, unica.md
