Hi Amy and e-mail group friends,
I'm really intrigued by clay pot cooking. I've checked out my
catalogs (I'm the Co-Empress of the Realm of Mail Order...I share my
throne with another friend), anyway, I've checked out my catalogs
("Williams-Sonoma" and "Chef's") and find several shapes and sizes of
"clay" pots. There are only my husband and me to cook for. Our kids
are all grown, though they do come for dinner occasionally. I'd like to
get a Romertopf (unglazed earthenware Roman pot). They come in three
sizes, 3-qt, 4-qt, and 61/2-qt. Advice would be appreciated. I
anticipate using this for cooking veggies mainly, but can see where I
could cook a chicken or roast in them occasionally. I've recently
discovered the pleasures of roasted garlic which I read is best cooked
in an unglazed earthenware "clay" container. In my catalogs, I also see
"terra-cotta" weights, Tantoori Pots, Chicken Bricks, Terra-cotta
Tagines and La Cloche Bakers (unglazed stoneware bakers for baking
breads in regular ovens that simulate an old-fashioned, brick-lined
bread oven). Do any of you ever use these assorted thingys to cook
with?
Someone also mentioned using unglazed stoneware as another
alternative to the unglazed earthenware Roman Pots. How is this
different? I'd also like to hear your ideas about what kinds of cooking
thingys that you like best. For example, I use a convection oven
because it seems to retain the moisture in foods better than a regular
oven. My convection oven (about $100) is basically a very large pyrex
bowl in a stand with a lid that contains the heating element and blower.
Thanks in advance,
Lois J
MRS AMY E CAMPBELL-SMITH wrote:
> hello again!
> thanks for the replies to my clay pot cooker questions. andy k. in
> san francisco e-mailed me and told me how to measure how big the pot
> is. well, i did, and it is 16 cups. i am supposing that is big
> enough to bake some bread in...in fact, andy mentioned sourdough
> bread, and i have some sourdough starter in the fridge that is so
> wonderfully sour! i would love to use it in a recipe and cook the
> bread in the clay pot, so, andy, or anyone else, do you have a recipe
> for sourdough bread? is my cooker big enough to make a loaf of bread?
>
> until then. i will make some roasted veggies in it...maybe some
> squash...mmmm!
> thanks!
> amy
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