claypot cooking Archives

CLAY POT COOKING
There are essentially 3 types of clay bodies used for cooking in clay; Stoneware (most Common), earthenware, and flameware.
STONEWARE:
Stoneware is typically a variety of clays and other ingredients that are blended for firing temperature, throwing or hand-building characteristics, fired color and impact on glazes. Stoneware is defined as pottery fired to at least 2000 degF. which makes the clay essentially non-porous and very hard. In the firing of stoneware, there is always some residual crystalline silica. These silica crystals expand and contract when heated and cooled. It is this expansion that can cause stoneware to crack when exposed to heat. Particularly troublesome is a crystal called cristobalite which very rapidly expands about 3% at 437 degF. Secondarily, if the stoneware pot is subjected to a very rapid heating or cooling, like taking a pot out of a hot oven and placing it on a cold surface, the result can be a crack due to different expansion rates in different parts of the pot. This is what will cause most failures.
These can be avoided by putting the cold pot in a cool oven and bringing both up to temperature together. Similarly a cold roast can cause a cold spot which can cause a crack. This can be avoided by putting a small amount of water in the pot to spread the stress.
Clay bodies can also be formulated to melt the silica crystals into the body, avoiding most of the expansion. This can be tested for using an instrument called a dilatometer.
Which all goes to say, if you avoid direct heat (stovetop), and are generally careful to avoid rapid temperature change, you should have no problem with stoneware cooking pots for oven, microwave and dishwasher.
CHINA is really a subset of stoneware, fired to a vitreous or near vitreous state and often times glazed over its whole surface. Because it is white, glazes maintain their color. The highest fired china is porcelain. For the most part, china has the same expansion issues as stoneware.

EARTHENWARE
Lower fired clays (1800 to 2000 degF) are considered earthenware. They may be glazed or unglazed (think Romertopf) and some of them, with care, can even take direct heat. Because of the lower firing temperature, earthenware is typically still porous but crystalline silica is not formed. It is somewhat fragile because of the lack of vitrification of the clay body.

More to come…see also flameware on this site.

Cooking in clay pots results in better tasting food.

But traditionally, stoneware pots could only be used in the oven. When Paula Wolfert started working on her book “Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking” she was looking for a US potter to make stoneware that would also go on a direct flame stovetop. She put us in touch with Bill Sax who was extremely generous with his knowledge and experience with this type of ware.

We’ve worked well over 2 years now developing, perfecting and testing a stoneware based, ceramic stovetop cookware that will take a direct flame. (As of this edit, Dec. 2014 we’ve been selling flameware on our main website www.claycoyote.com for about 6 years). Doing this, we’ve learned a lot about how to best use this somewhat new type of skillets, pans, casseroles and specialty cookware.

It’s fairly well established, if not scientifically, that food tastes better when cooked in clay. Actually, way back when, the concept of cooking foods and combining ingredients, was essentially made possible by the discovery of clay as a material from which to make cookware.

Today there is a lot of cookware available made from lower fired earthenware based pottery. Some of it is capable of use on a stovetop. Much of this is imported to the US from Mediterranean countries, Japan, Mexico and China.

What I’m talking about in this post is a relatively new (25 or so years) type of clay similar to stoneware, but formulated to withstand the thermal shock of use on a direct flame without any flame spreader or other protection. So here we go:

The biggest single thing that makes flameware different is that it is an insulator compared to any other cooking utensils. Glass is the only thing close. This insulating attribute is what separates it from other cookware and what requires some different handling and procedures.

WHEN HEAT IS PUT IN…It goes all the way through. With a metal pan, you typically turn the flame up to get the pan hot, then turn it down for cooking. The pan loses heat almost immediately. With flameware, you go directly to the cooking temperature. If you turn the flame high to start with, that heat will go through the pot and probably burn the food.

TURN HEAT DOWN OR OFF EARLY…the heat capacity of ceramic pots means they hold heat for several minutes. If you need to reduce heat, do so a couple of minutes early. If you are turning the heat off, do so before the dish is done, or remove it from the pan.

HANDLES WON’T GET HOT…unless you put flame directly on them or put the pot in the oven.

NO NEED TO PRE-TREAT or SEASON FLAMEWARE POTS…With most earthenware pots (especially unglazed) pre-treatment is needed, either to prepare for cooking (typically soaking) or before cooking (seasoning). A little oil for cooking is all that’s needed.

FLAMEWARE WORKS ON ALL TYPES OF STOVES…gas, conventional electric burner, glass top (both coil and halogen) and all ovens. To use it on an induction stove, you will need a metal induction heat source. You will NOT need a flame spreader or diffuser on any of these although you certainly can use one.

The reason for using a diffuser is that, being an insulator, the heat comes through the flameware in a more localized pattern and can, if the food isn’t stirred regularly, burn the dish.

CLEAN UP IS EASY…soak in water for a while and most food will scrub away. It’s not quite non-stick, but it is easy clean. If you burn something on, we’ve found the easiest clean-up is a spray with E-Z Off oven cleaner, let it sit a half hour and wipe clean. You can use any green scrubby, Brillo pad or scouring pad. Dishwasher cleaning is fine.

GO FROM STOVE TO OVEN TO TABLE…no need to dirty an extra pan to combine sautéed ingredients with sauces, vegetables and meats. Do it all in one! Sauté first, add other ingredients, liquids and cover and cook on the stovetop (ala a tagine) or slip into the oven to finish cooking.

Once you get used to cooking with flameware, you’ll find yourself reaching for it more and more.

Clay Pot Cooking – Cooking and Baking in Ceramic Pottery-Cooking in Clay

How To Cook With Ceramic Flameware Stovetop Cookware