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I bet that you have heard about some of the benefits of clay pot cooking? But how much these claims are actually true and to what extent?
To break some of the doubts about this, I have performed multiple experiments. In this post, I will summarise the results so you can get a clearer impression of what are just common beliefs about clay pot cookware without solid proof and what is actually true.
In general, cooking in Clay pots provides several benefits including preserving the aroma, taste, and moisture of the dish, while keeping the food warm long after cooking. Dishes cooked in clay pots have better sensory qualities, which have been also proven through scientific studies.
However, not all of the beliefs about ceramic cookware are true, at least not to the full extent. I am using clay pots for several years myself and in this article, I would make a more clear distinction between what you can expect from them and what not. So you can get a better idea do they fulfill the expectations that you have.
Finally, throughout the post, you will be able to find the links to several of my articles and video tutorials about the clay pots’ performance, safety, and use so you can find all the information in one place in case you would get the spark to explore clay pot cooking further.
Throughout these articles, I will provide you with more results of personal experimenting with clay vessels, scientific publications related to clay pot cooking as well as the impressions and tips about this type of cooking gathered from other home chefs
So let, ‘s go deeper and see what are the real benefits of clay pots and what are just beliefs.
Food prepared in clay pots tastes better
From my childhood, I have enjoyed the dishes from clay pots prepared by my grandparents. Moreover, since several years ago, I have started to cook in clay vessels intensively by myself.
I have always felt there is a difference in the taste of the food prepared in non-glazed clay utensils compared to other cookware like metal or enameled ones. Additionally, was in line with impressions the of many other home chefs that have tried clay pots.
However, I was questioning myself for a long time if the better taste of the food from clay pot cooking is the placebo effect, since clay cooking is perceived as traditional and natural, or if there is a real difference.
To tackle that question I designed one experiment
I prepared two,, versions“ of the exact same dish, one in bare clay and the other in a metal pot.
On the menu, I had paprika chicken stew and I started by measuring exactly the same ingredient quantities for both pots. These were the ingredient measurements:
-Fried chicken breast 230g
-Paprika 273g
-Potatoes 365h
-Parsnip 22g
-Chicken fond 32g
-Blended tomatoes 360g
-Water 900ml
-Clay pots need more time to heat up. Because of that, I wanted to set the same temperature for the clay pot and the stainless steel one before putting the ingredients inside. I achieved this by fulfilling 2/3 of both pots and heating them till boiling. Water boils at around 100C(depending on altitude), which secured that the temperatures of both pots were at around the same temperature after boiling has been reached
-After bubbles started to come out in both pots I poured the water and added the ingredients to both pots. The time difference between pouring and fulfilling the pots was short( around1min 40 sec ) which I couldn’t avoid since I was doing this.
-I cooked the dishes for exactly 60min cooking on medium heat (3 out of 6 on the stovetop) with the lids closed in both pots(except for 2 short mixing periods for 10s) and without adding any extra water. Following that, I took the homogenous soup from both pots and split it into 10 cups(5 cups for each dish “version“)
-I have marked the cups with the number 1. for Stew soup coming from Clay pot and 2. For the one coming from stainless steel one. Moreover, I put the mark on the bottom of the cups so I can not see it while taking the soup for degustation.
-Finally, I mixed the cups several times, and took the degustation test, obviously without knowing which one is which. Then I tried to distinguish two groups of cups based on their taste. I split the cups after degustation and I noticed that the group of cups that I separated to the right seemed to have a more flavourful and strong taste.
In the end, I observed the results by checking the numbers of the cups and saw that In the,, better“ I separated to the right there have been 4 samples from clay pot cookware and 1 sample from ss pot. I found this like good proof that that taste can be distinguished and that clay pot gives a stronger taste and aroma.
Nevertheless, I wanted to be sure why it happened that I separated one sample from the stainless steel pot in the better-tasting group.
To prove that I again isolated two portions of soup from two pots and repeated the whole degustation experiment. This time the result was non-ambiguous and I observed that in the better-tasting group I separated all 5 samples coming from the clay pots.
This was just one of the experiments in the series, that I have performed to distinguish does the food from clay pots tastes better compared to other cookware types like metal ones.
I have also performed similar experiments by preparing two versions of cooked beans and adding a blind degustation experiment with several of my friends. You can find the results of that experiment shown in this post.
In the same post, I have stated some of the scientific publications that compared the taste for the food between clay pots and metal utensils and confirmed the better sensory qualities of food cooked in clay ones.
Finally, In one of my articles where I collected the statistics of what are the most common advantages that people experience with clay pot cooking based on dozens of home chefs. Moreover, the special taste was one of the top-ranked ones.
Conclusion-Afer performing the degustation tests collecting the impressions of other people and considering available scientific publications I concluded that dishes from non-glazed clay pots have a more intensive and flavourful taste compared to other utensils like metal or enameled vessels. Glazed clay pots still have to be tested.r
Clay pots keep the moisture inside the food
One of the common things that you can hear bout clay pot cookware is that it provides great moisture circulation properties and that it keeps all the liquids inside the dish. However, i wanted to
During the experiment of preparing two versions of chicken stew(Look above) with exactly the same ingredients, I also measured the drop of water content during the cooking process in both stainless steel and clay pot.
As mentioned, During the cooking process I haven’t added the additional amount of water and I removed the lid of both pots 2 times during the cooking process for around 10 seconds to mix the dish.
During the rest of the cooking process, the lid was fully closed.
The lid of the Clay pot had one small hole for releasing the water vapor, while this wasn’t the case for the stainless steel pot lid
At the end of the 1h cooking process, before sampling the dish for a degustation(see the previous subheading), I measured the weight of the dish from both of the posts added and found a significant difference of more than 250g which was around 12-13% of total dish weight.
The dish from the clay pot has been transferred to the bowl for measurement because the clay pot with the dish was too heavy for the weight. The weight measurements are showing the net weight of the dish
Conclusion-Depending on the cooking length, amount of liquid in the dish, and boiling intensity the food cooked in clay pots can reduce the loss of liquids(mainly water) by mass. In the case where I cooked around 2L dish for 1h, the clay pot preserved 12-13% more liquid compared to metal utensils where in which I cooked exactly the same ingredients. Even if this percentage is not so significant by mass, maybe the liquids preserved in the clay pots also contain volatile aromas, which provide a better taste of the food, However, to prove this some more serious analytical measurements will need to be performed.
Keeping the dish warm for a long time
After the cooking process, the clay keeps the dishes warm for hours, which is something that I particularly like about these utensils. There are some common observations that I have also experienced in my cooking.
One interesting observation that you can make with clay pots is that after removing them from the stovetop with the boiling dish, the boiling will continue intensively for several minutes, or even more.
See the video below where bean soup has been recorded 5 min after removing it from the stove
There is a specific measurement called Thermal conductivity, which is a measure of a material to conduct heat(to absorb and release heat). The higher the thermal conductivity the faster the material absorbs and releases heat.
For ceramics(material from which clay cookware is*), this thermal conductivity coefficient is around 5-10 (Wm-1K-1) while some other commonly used materials such as stainless steel and aluminum are 20 and 205**(Wm-1K-1) respectively. This means that clay cookware absorbs the heat slowly, but also releases it for a much longer period compared to other common kitchen materials like metals.
However, there is a downside to the slow heat exchange properties of this material. It can accumulate a lot of heat and release it slowly, however, it also absorbs the heat slowly.
Because of that, it is always recommended to heat the clay pots on low to low-medium heat. When higher heating settings are applied on the stovetop, the heat generated could not be absorbed by the clay pot at the same rate. Because of that, extra heat accumulates in the stovetop and it can damage the stovetop
I have written the post with guidelines about using clay pots on different stovetops gathered from clay pot manufacturers. Additionally, there, you will find information about the best cooktop heating setups that can be used with clay pots, so you don’t need to worry about this.
Conclusion- Clay pots can keep the dish warm for several hours after the initial cooking process. This depends on the volume of the dish, size, and some other properties of clay pots like deepness, wall thickness, and the exact properties of clay used for making the pot. However, compared to other common cookware materials, clay pots release the heat much slower and keep your dish warm for a longer period.
*Notice that the clay cookware is made of ceramics for which the thermal conductivity data is presented. The clay is used as a raw material for making clay pots, and it is thermally processed to make cookware. During this thermal process, the clay becomes ceramics. If you are interested a bit deeper about what ceramic and clay are, take a look at my post here.
** Stainless steel is actually an alloy of iron, chromium, and nickel)-In food-grade stainless steels(alloys 304 and 316) the nickel content is around 8-12% while Chromium is around 20%. In addition, you can find more info about food grades of stainless steel grades in my upcoming post about stainless steel safety
Clay pots neutralize Ph of acidic dishes
One other common observation is that Clay’s vessels can neutralize the Ph of acidic dishes, and that way give them a more pleasant taste(of course if your goal is not to cook something that is purposefully acidic).
To tackle this idea I have tested the acidity of the chicken stew that I have prepared for the degustation test
I separated the homogeneous soup from both a clay pot and stainless steel,, version“ of the dish and measured the Ph using the Ph-sensitive tapes. Basically, these tapes change color based on the Ph balance of the liquid to which they are exposed. Additionally, there is a color code that comes with the Ph tapes which is used to determine the Ph level based on the obtained Ph tape color
After measuring the Ph of both stainless steel and clay pot-derived stew liquid I got a Ph of around 6, without observable difference between the two. I repeated the measurement for both cases with several tapes and always observed the same result.
This has indicated that there is no Ph level larger than 1 between the two dishes. However, this doesn’t confirm that there are no more fine Ph differences.
For that, I am planning to make an experiment with a Ph measuring device in the future to see if there are even minor differences.
Finally, From the degustation point of view, I couldn’t say that the clay pot stew had a less acidic taste compared to the stainless steel one which was another observation in contrary to the initial hypothesis.
Conclusion- from personal experiments and from previous experience I haven't experienced a major effect on dish neutralization by the clay pots, at least with the dishes that I cook
Apart from mentioned there are other clay pot cooking advantages like the great aesthetics of the clay pots for serving, safety for the food, and reduced environmental concerns. However, In this post, I wanted to tackle particularly the ones where I have performed a certain type of testing to prove denies.
However, I have covered some of these topics more in-depth in my other articles, which I will introduce and link to in the last subheading of this post.
What are the disadvantages of clay pots(Beliefs Vs reality)?
Like everything clay pots have their disadvantages. However, some of the common beliefs are just repeated information that circles on the internet without explicit reference to where they come from.
After using different clay pots for some years behind, I wanted to provide you more in-depth view of this type of cooking with a clear referral to the source of information that I am giving. Now, let’s discuss more in detail what are the disadvantages of clay pots.
In general, clay pots need extra time to heat up compared to metal utensils and they need to be handled more gently to avoid damage. In addition, non-glazed clay pots require initial seasoning before the cooking process and washing by hand as extra maintenance steps.
However, many of these properties can give the wrong impression that clay pot cooking is much more demanding than it actually is. At least, this was my impression when I started using these pot and the impression of many friends and family members, to which I have gifted clay pot pieces.
Nevertheless, let’s go to reveal how real some common beliefs about clay pot disadvantages. In the rest of the article I will gather some personal experiments and experiences, so you can make clear judgments by yourself.
Non-glazed clay pots transfer aromas between dishes
Even though this kind of feature can be perceived as a good thing in some cases it is not desired. The non-glazed clay pot has a porous structure and in theory, they can keep some of the aromatic molecules from food. However, personally, I could experience this effect quite rarely.
However in order to see if this is just my subjective impression or clay pots can transfer some distinguishable taste from one dish to another, I took a more experimental approach.
I tested the clay pot that I have been using for a long time, and its ability to transfer the aroma from the previous dishes to plain rice. I have compared the rice cooked in the mentioned clay pot with one cooked in stainless steel utensil which I have used as a negative control (I assumed that there is no transfer of taste from the previous dish in this metal pot).
Finally, after cooking the rice in both conditions I performed the degustation test to see ca I feel the difference. These were the exact steps:
The day before I was cooking plain rice in a clay pot I was using it for making cooked lentils with beef, after which I cleaned it standardly with just water and a cleaning vire.
The next day I took plain long-grain rice to cook in both pots(clay and stainless steel). I haven’t been using Basmati or other aromatic varieties of rice, but just the plain, non-aromatized long-grain rice
I cooked the rice in the Clay for 15min in boiling water. Simultaneously, I cooked the same rice just in a stainless steel pot, which I used as a negative control. The assumption was that methal cookware doesn’t keep the aroma of the previous dish (If well washed of course).
I have performed the same,, blind“ degustation experiments as for chicken stew, where I have split the cooked rice into 10 cups(5 cups for the rice from each pot). Then I marked the cups from the bottom by the number 1 and 2 to distinguish from which pot they are.
Finally, I mixed up the two groups of caps, and taste the rice from them to try to distinguish the two groups based on the taste/aroma and texture of the rice.
After the degustation, I was able to easily distinguish the two groups of rice samples because of their different texture. However, I didn’t know which group belongs to which pot because there was no difference in taste that I could feel.
I haven’t been able to recognize any flavor in any of the rice groups.
Conclusions- My observation from this personal experiment was that there is no noticeable transfer of aroma from one dish to another when the clay pot is cleaned properly(even in the case of plain rice).
However, This doesn’t mean that some strong-tasting dishes(e.g. with a lot of spices) could have a minor transfer of aroma to the subsequent dish(If they are well-washed). Finally, the capacity of the clay pot to transfer the aroma can be related to its porosity level. The more porous the clay pot, the more significant the aroma transfer will be.
Requirement of additional time for heating up
To compare the boiling time for clay pot and metal pot I chose two vessels with round the same volume(4.5-5l) and bottom surface. The bottom surface is important because it determines the contact area of the cooking vessel and heating source(stovetop), and thus the potential for heat transfer.
I Fulfilled both of the pots with the same amount of water(2L), put the lid on, and used the same heating setup(heat level 2 out of 6 in the first 5 min and 3/6 after). The pots have been heated up directly on an electric stove. Additionally, I have measured the time required for reaching the boiling point
The results have shown that the clay pot that I was using needed around 46 min to boil while the stainless steel pot needed 15min.
Conclusion- Even if dome manufacturers sometimes claim that their pure ceramic pots can heat up as fast as the other conventional cookware(e.g. metal ones), with all of the clay pot vessels that I have utilized in past years ( several of them) the heating up period is 50-150% longer compared to metal utensils. This doesn't mean that some other clay pot models can have a better heating-up performance related to their design and the exact mineral composition of clay used for their making.
Need for specific maintenance
One of the common beliefs about clay pot cookware is related to its maintenance.
When it comes to glazed cookware, maintenance is similar to some conventional pots like metal ones. Glazed clay cookware can go to the dishwasher and new pieces can be used straight without any special preparation.
Non-glazed clay pots provide some proven advantages as explained in the first part of the post, like giving a special taste to the dishes and keeping the moisture in the dish. However, they have a few extra steps related to their maintenance.
Seasoning- Non-glazed clay pots need to be seasoned just once before the first use. On this youtube tutorial that I have made, you will find a simple step-by-step guide on how to clean and season your clay pot before the first use.
Washing– In addition, as shown in the tutorial, it is recommended to wash non-glazed clay pots just with water and a cleaning wire. Moreover, it is good to avoid washing them in the dishwasher or with soap to prevent entering the detergents into the porous walls of the clay pots.
Soaking-Some clay pots need to be soaked in water for several minutes before each cooking, to increase the moisture-conserving properties of the clay pots. However, not all clay pots go through his process. To find out more about the soaking of non-glazed clay pots take a look at this article shortly all the information you need about this.
Conclusion-Glazed clay pots don't require any special preparation before use and they can be cleaned in the dishwasher. Ont the other hand Non-glazed clay pots need to be seasoned before the first use(only once) which takes an overnight soaking of your clay vessel, applying the oil on top of it, and keeping it in the oven for around two hours.
Finally, some non-glazed clay pieces require soaking in the water a few minutes before each cooking(see more info in this article), as well as a few minutes of cleaning with water and a sponge/kitchen vire after cooking. So, It is up to you to judge if such practice is perfectly okay for you or if it requires more engagement than you are willing to give.
Susceptibility to cracking
Finally, cracking and the need for gentile handling are sometimes considered disadvantages of clay pots. However, in reality, avoiding a few practices highly reduces the risk of this.
In the last several years, this happen to only one of my clay pots, because of non-gentile storage.
To avoid cracking in the first place I would recommend having enough space to keep your clay pots stored without other utensils on top of them(which is what led to damage to one of my clay pots)
The second important thing will be to avoid putting the clay pot roasters in a preheated oven, or clay pots on the high heating setting of stovetops(more than 5-6/10). This way you will avoid the strong thermal shock that can increase the chance of cracking.
To find more information on how to use clay pots on stovetops and how to easily find a good heating setup take a look at this article. There, I gathered recommendations from clay pot manufacturers and a few tips from my personal experience.
Conclusion– Clay pots are susceptible to cracking in some cases, however, by applying a few simple precautions you can significantly eliminate this risk.
Now after summarizing some common beliefs about the disadvantages of clay pot cooking, I will make a brath summary of the purposes for which clay can be a great option.
That way you can get out of this article with a clearer picture does clay pots fit your way of cooking.
Is clay pot cooking what you have been searching for?
Maybe your motivation for exploring clay pot cookware was searching for a safe alternative to conventional cookware. Maybe you have been attracted by some of the benefits that you have heard or you wanted to start your want to enjoy traditional dishes and way of cooking.
These have been also some of my motivations to start clay utensils. Moreover, the way of food preparation with clay pots has climbed on top of the cooking methods that I use, even if I am passionate about various other kitchen practices and utensils.
However, clay pots are far from ideal, and I tried to tackle both advantages and some downsides of using them.
Here is a list of cases where I see that clay pot cooking can be a great option:
- You are searching for a safe cookware alternative for you and your loved ones
- You enjoy preparing stews, soups, braises, rice, or baked bread as well as roasting delicious veggies or meat
- You are ok with putting some extra time into cooking and maintaining clay pots to get a healthy and nutritious meal
These are some cases where clay pot cooking will really provide the difference. However, this does not mean that clay pot cooking is not amazing in many other circumstances.
In one of my posts, I gathered data about the clay pots’ safety, so you can be clear about the existing information around this topic.
In addition, If you want to get a better view of what to cook in clay pots, take a look at my post here. There I gathered statistics on which dishes home cooks love to prepare in clay pots more than in any other cookware, so you can get some good inspiration😊
Where to find all of the information that you need to start cooking in clay pots? (In one place)
Here are a links to few practical posts and videos about the use and performance of clay pot cookware, s you can easily navigate to each of them
– Preparing clay pot cookware before the first use-my step by step tutorial
–Soaking of clay pots, and all you need to know about it
-Compatibility clay pots with different stovetops, and good practices with heating setups
Apart from articles about clay pot maintenance and performance, there are a few topics that may be interesting to you if you have started to explore clay pot cooking
-Does food taste better In clay pots? Another Degustation experiment
-Are clay pots safe to use?
-what are the most common benefits of clay cookware from the experience of home chefs?
Finally, If you are searching for new clay pots to bring to your kitchen, see this post where I have gathered the information on what you can expect from a few internationally available brands. Moreover, in the same post, I cover some of the stars that I take to choose the clay pots from local craftsman production, in case you have access to such places.
Be free and leave me any questions in the comments and I will be keen to share more experiences, experiments, and information sources with you
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