Mods Can this be renamed Romertopf Clay Baker and other Clay cookware, or should we just leave it as it is?
Nice try. I hope it takes off. Waiting to hear of Romertopf preps other than chicken and bread.
I’m realizing I was somehow trying to hitchhike on to this thread, but it’s not realy about the bedt ways to use clay cookware.
I haven’t tried any of these, but I might!
Pork
Lamb
Or
Rice
Seafood ?
Any reason it wouldn’t work here? Perhaps it depends on whether the bottom is glazed. Mine is not.
What is the discussion here?
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Good ideas, other than roasting a whole chicken, or baking a loaf of bread, for using Römertopf clay bakers.
I also wanted to include other clay cookers as well.
From
They mention bacalao al pil pil and roasting garlic
I have bought from, failed to use even once, and then re-donated romertopf clay bakers at least 3 times from thrift shops in the last 5 years.
I’m about $60 in the hole on these and never tried to make a chicken or anything else in them even one time because of all the ways I already have to cook a chicken better.
Something about clay cookers and ceramics in general are attractive to purchase, but when it comes down to using one on the oven, I always have the same thought:
“Is there anything this vessel can do that a Dutch oven cannot? In a blind taste test, would I or anyone else be able to discern which meal was cooked in the clay pot vs a Dutch oven?”
And then I re-donate it to the thrift shop.
PS. I do own an Emile Henry clay tagine that I found thrifting, haven’t used, but haven’t re-donated just yet.
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Excellent question. The people selling and reviewing these things say yes, but the reasoning never makes sense to me. The tops are “porous”–really? There are vent holes and a loose fit. How porous does the clay need to be? And you’ve already soaked it, filling the “pores”.
The same thing happens with tagines, cassoules, dolsots, etc, etc.
Which “thing” you are referring to?
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The sellers and reviewers touting unverifiable and largely unreasoned advantages of X.
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My dad used Römertopf to make stews of all kinds. Seems like a damper cooking vessel than your regular DO.
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I had a small Romertopf and it made great chicken. I didn’t pay much attention to the type of chicken at the time (30 years ago), and I guess it had been brined or water injected because the chicken was swimming in juices (which made good gravy). It broke, and I found a larger one at a yard sale. I attempted to make traditional French gigot a la sept heures (lamb braised for many hours), but even at low oven heat it boiled instead of simmering and the lamb became tough. I recently gave the pot away.
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Biryani would work well, also Japanese and Chinese clay pot dishes. Anything intended for a tagine too.
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I probably recently bought your pot, stored it, stared at it a bunch of times, and donated it back. I’m not that far from Berkeley. Stranger things have happened.
I have no doubt they could be used to make all sorts of delicious dishes. My quibble is that I’m not sure they confer much of an advantage over a Dutch oven in any circumstance of which I’m aware, and hence don’t have a place in my kitchen collection.
Another indirect bit of evidence is that nobody really makes many of these any more, consistent with the concept they were a fad without any major advantage over the more popular Dutch oven.
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While clay pot cooking is ancient, this particular reincarnation only dates back to the mid 1960s.
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I had a set of these at one time. I don’t remember ever using them, but I may have.
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You jinxed me. I’ve had the medium-large Emile Henry oval roaster with the integral “rack” for many years. It cracked completely in two yesterday in a 400F oven!
I absolutely BABIED this thing–never dropped, always checked for cracks, never heat-shocked.
Huhu au!
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Oh no!
Oh, yes. I’ll report on their warranty service.
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