Clay Pot – preserving and seasoning
Clay pots or Earthen pots are environmental friendly and ensures delicious food. Clay pot cooking has a vast history and the potter’s wheel was invented in Mesopotamia and transformed pottery production.
Seasoning of clay pot
Clay pot cooking is traditional and it is best to use unglazed clay pots as it has the ability to absorb the water and circulate steam so that the food is cooked evenly and softly.
Some simple procedures are to be followed before using a new clay pot.
-Soak the clay pot fully in water overnight (nearly 8 to 24 hours)
-Take away the clay pot from the water and gently scrub it with a scrubber. Make sure not to use soap or detergent.
-Then dry the clay pot with a towel
-Apply any cooking oil (like sesame oil or coconut oil) all over the clay pot evenly
-Allow it to dry in the sunlight (2 to 3 hours) or gently heat it in a stovetop (low heat)
-Now the oil is absorbed and dry, now it’s ready for further use
-Now you can boil it with rice starch water , allow it to cool and wash it in water and dry it .It’s done and ready.
CLAY POT PRESERVING (MAINTENANCE)
Clay pot is porous in nature, hence it is essential to follow certain procedure to clean it.
-Do not use soap or detergent to clean the pot, since the soap would get absorbed into the pores and released into the food while cooking.
-You can use rice flour , besan flour or wheat flour for cleaning the clay pots.
-you can also use boiled water and salt for cleaning
-you can also use the coconut scrubber
-make sure to dry before you put it away (you can dry in sunlight if possible)
-Since clay pots are sensitive to temperature change, it would easily crack and so it is important to raise the heat or temperature slowly while cooking.
-For strong strains ,use unsoaped stainless steel pad or allow the pot to be filled with water overnight with one to three tablespoon of baking soda.
-It is good to use the rice starch water for boiling that removes the odour and freshen the pot.
I would like to share the picture of my mud pot collections which I use for daily cooking ..
It’s always good to follow good things…
