Cooking in Clay

[Richard Kilgore]

Anyone use a clay cooker such as a Romertopf? The insert with mine sounds contradictory, in that it talks about cooking at low temperatures, but indicates 220C (Gas 4-5) for all the examples provided. The conversion table in J. Pepin's Technique book does not quite jive with this, but tells me 220C is about 425F, which does not seem "low" to me. I have gotten fairly good results cooking chicken and Pork Loin at 350, and I would appreciate any info from your experience in using one of these.

[Schielke]

I got a medium sized one for christmas this year, but have not used it yet. Now that I am remided of it, I will have to break it out.

Ben

[Richard Kilgore]

Last night I did a Pork Loin in the clay cooker: thin slices of three cloves of garlic inserted into knife slits in the loin, then rubbed with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. One medium onion cut into eighths on the bottom of the clay cooker, topped with three sprigs of rosmary, the loin (fatty side up) and three more sprigs of rosemary. Cooked at 375F for 90 minutes --- it registered 170F internally (so 350 should have been better), then finished with the clay lid off for about 12 minutes. The garlic was creamy and the pork still moist. The rosemary was not much more than a rumor.

[Richard Kilgore]

I thought I had tried to invite discussion, but may not have been broad enough. Anyone else use clay? Pros. Cons. Does it make a difference in the result...compared to anything else?

[Anna N]

I thought I had tried to invite discussion, but may not have been broad enough. Anyone else use clay? Pros. Cons. Does it make a difference in the result...compared to anything else?

I had wanted a clay pot cooker for some time and actually own a very shallow one that is capable of holding only some stewed fruit. I had a friend who swore by them and always cooked her chickens in them and the end result was good but I'm not sure it warranted the soaking, the cleaning and the storing of a special pot! Recipes, also, seem to be hard to come by. So, if someone were to give me one as a gift, I'd be more than willing to try it but I am no longer willing to spend the bucks to buy a pot that I think will get very limited use. Still, I shall follow this thread with interest and hope that others contribute. Thanks for starting the discussion.

[Richard Kilgore]

I have not found soaking them for a few minutes to be a problem...just soak it while preping the ingredients. And cleanup is not a big deal...a light scrubing with a plastic thingie, then into the dishwasher.

What I am curious about is whether or not the clay contributes something to the result that another material does not. Subtle, not so subtle, nada, short-term, after longer use? Anything that should not be cooked in clay?

[docsconz]

We received a pot for Christmas 2001, but have yet to use it. I too am interested in your queries, to see if we should dig into the closet and break it out.

[Richard Kilgore]

Another issue may be: while the dishwasher seems to work okay, will this affect flavor over time?

[kpurvis]

I cook with mine a lot in the winter. Chicken is what it's known for, and it does a fine job of it, but I've also used it for a really dandy version of that Vietnamese pork dish with the hardcooked eggs and the caramel sauce. It might take awhile, but I could track the recipe down. Can't remember where I found it.

Another thing the pots do well, if you have a large enough one, is bake bread.

I'd never put mine in the dishwasher. I've never needed to. If you've soaked it well before cooking, it doesn't have a sticking problem, and I think of the stray brown marks as seasoning. I'd never put anything with pores through a dishwasher. You want flavors to soak in, same as cast iron.

[claire797]

I use mine for chicken. A 4-5 pound roaster cooks in about 1 hour and 20 minutes at 475F. So far, I've had perfect results every time.

I do have problems with chicken skin sticking and have run my claypot through the dishwasher several times. It gets so dirty that I can't imagine NOT putting it in the washer. If this has any affect on taste, I sure haven't noticed it.

[Richard Kilgore]

I have always soaked it well before using. The first time or two there was more sticking to deal with, but now very little. Even with using the dishwasher the pores are filling in, and I assume this means it is seasoning well. Anyone have bad results from using the dishwasher?

I have done duck, chicken and pork with good results.

How about soups and stews? I have not tried it, but think it would do well.

[lovebenton0]

while poking around for some interesting kitchen gadgets i snagged a romertopf at the local thrift store for 5 bucks. the bottom reads... w-germany 110. looks like a small, maybe a 2 quart equivalent. not sure. i've wanted one for a long time and have not invested, then this just leaped into my cart yesterday. i cleaned it with water and an eraser sponge thing to get the store must and dust off of it. yep, it has some seasoning to it, but i gave it a solid whiff test and there's no fish smell, so i think i'm set to experiment.

now, what to do first.... maybe pick up a chicky and try that.

any suggestions out there... i'm listening.

[Joe Blowe]

Thanks for bumping this up, because it just reminded me that Ikea is blowing out Romertopfs (made in Mexico, distributed by Reco) at 10 bucks a pop.

They're labeled as the Fanby Clay Baker, Item Nr. 501-195-77, and measures approx. 9" by 12.5" at the opening of the base unit.

FWIW.

[Smithy]

I'm glad you bumped this back up to the top, lovebenton0. There's been a lot of discussion about cooking in clay since this thread was last active. I'm convinced that clay adds a bit of flavor and character to dishes cooked in them. For starters, it has a good high thermal mass so it's slow to respond to temperature changes - and for those of us with electric ovens and burners, it evens out the cycles to maintain a more constant temperature. I think it also does an interesting flavor meld that I don't get, say, from enameled cast iron.

In my Romertopf I've taken to coating and stuffing a whole chicken with paprika and whatever spices I thought might go nicely with that, adding bits of quartered onion and celery and whatnot, and cooking it in the Romertopf for oh, a couple of hours at 375. (So far in my experimentation I've decided that 375 is as hot as I'd care to take the chicken; hotter temperatures seemed to cook it too quickly, and it wasn't as tender. 350F might work better but I haven't tried it yet.) Here's my original post on that discovery, over in the "Paprika: Confessions of an Addict" thread. I do soak the bottom of the Romertopf for a bit, but as someone else noted above, it's just a matter of pouring water into that bottom while you're prepping the dish, and then pouring the water back out.

My Romertopf was a $5 garage sale special also, so I've been dishwashing it after most uses. I haven't regretted it so far, and can't taste any off tastes. It's possible I'm missing out on some flavor melds that come from seasoned pots.

Edited January 29, 2007 by Smithy (log)