How to Season New Clay Pot, Cook, Maintain. Do’s & Don’t 

How to choose a good clay pot, How to Season a New Clay pot, How to cook in a clay pot, How to wash & clean them, and How to Maintain them. Do’s and Don’t with Clay Pot. A Complete Guide for Beginners who are thinking to switch to clay pot cooking this post would be very useful for you. Before Going to the Post If you want to Know How To Season Stainless Steel Cookware Check Here, How to Season Ammikal , How to Season Cast Iron Paniyaram Pan

Claypot(Earthern Cookware)

We call the clay pot MANCHATTI as it is made up of Kalimann(clay) we call it Manchatti. Very Rarely seen in many of our kitchens nowadays. There are many reasons for not using clay pots because of maintenance, and cost, also people use induction stoves the clay pot doesn’t work. Completely Agree according to me I always say Uurodu otthu vaal means “Where you live abide with it.” No complaints in Life what God Gives we need to accept it.

After we bought our house in Dubai, we come to know that Gas Stove is completely banned in our place. But I started learning to use the Electric Hob, Slowly I get adapted to it. Now I am handling all types of cookware in Electric Hob. End-of-the-Day PATIENCE is the keyword for HAPPY LIFE.

Why we Should use Clay Pots for Cooking?

1. Clay Pots retain the oil and give moisture to the food we no need to add unnecessary fat to make the food tastier(That’s why while you make Poriyal, the vegetables get the glaze without adding any excess oil)
2. Clay pots add nutrients like calcium, phosphorus, iron, magnesium, and sulfur to food, which are extremely beneficial to our bodies. (That’s why we should store and drink water in earthen pots)
3. It retains the nutrients of cook food. It will not change the color of the food.
4. It is safe to use acidic ingredients, hence neutralizing the pH balance and making it healthier.
5. The earthy aroma of cooked in an earthen pot is unbeatable.

Any more Reasons needed to use Clay in our Cooking?

Complete Guide for Earthern Cookware:

How to Choose a Good Clay Pot for Cooking?

1. Before buying the clay pot first, check the type & size of your stove, what type of stove you have and what base will work on it. If you are using a gas stove choose a narrow-base clay pot. If it is Electric Hob choose Flat base clay pots. Size depends on how many people you cook. I always choose 8 inches because we are only 4 people.
2. Regarding the Colour I prefer black Pots are best for cooking, they are very strong and Durable. Deep Burned Pots Can Withstand High temperatures when used on Gas Stoves.
3. How to choose, If you are a Beginner always Choose Unglazed earthenware made from pure clay that is safe to use. Also, glazed pots look more attractive and they are naturally non-stick and much easier to clean. When buying glazed clay pots, make sure they are lead-free.

How to Season new Clay Pot:

1. Soak the pot and lid in water overnight. You can see the bubbles, the clay pot is absorbing the water.
2. The next day Fill the pots with starch water(rice-cooked water), and rest them overnight or atleast for 4 hours.
3. Then keep the pot along with the starch water on the stove on low heat. Once the water starts slightly boiling switch off the stove.
4. Rest it for 4 hours and then discard the water. Wash the pot using a normal scrubber. Don’t use any dish wash liquid or soap.
5. Dry it completely. Apply oil and now the pot is ready to use.
6. While cooking for the first time fry the onion in oil and discard it and then start using the clay pot for regular cooking.

How to Clean Earthern Cookware?

1. Don’t use dishwash liquids or soap for cleaning clay pots. High temperature and detergent in the dishwasher damage the seasoning of clay cookware.
2. Transfer the Food to another container once u cooked. And then Boil the clay with enough water and then discard the water.
3. Use rice flour & lemon peel, scrub and wash the Clay pot. We can get rid of the stinky smell by scrub the clay pot with lemon.
4. This simple step is more than enough to clean a clay pot.

Frequently Asked Questions:

1. How you are using Clay Pot on an Induction Stove? My stove is a hot plate hob, not induction so any flat base cookware will work on my stove.
2. Does the Clay Pot Work on Induction? The key difference between a hotplate and an induction cooker is that the hotplate uses heat produced by either electricity or gas for the cooking, whereas the induction cooker uses radiation to cook. A traditional clay pot will not work on an induction stove. These types of stoves work through magnetism, so whatever pot or pan you place on the burner must have some type of metal to react and function.
3. Is it safe to use the clay pot if it turns black: Yes we can use it. Unless if see any cracks on pot we should stop using the clay pot further.

My Claypot Collections and link for Buying them,

Belly Pot Shaped Clay pot which you can use for Instant Pot, I use it mostly for fermentation process inside the instant pot, like making the ragi kozh, Curd, etc.

Small Teracotta Bowls, we can use them as a serving Bowls or Baking.

Black Pans with lids we can make tea, rice, or any poriyal

The Kadai from Thanjavur Local Market Amma sent, Uruli Shaped Pan brought it from Global Village, Sombu Shaped Pot From Al Adil. These are my collections.

Hope this post will help you use Clay Pot at Home. If you have any Doubts about cleaning or If you want any specific clay pot recipes you can email me at cpremas79@gmail.com. Do Follow me on Instagram for more Recent updates and every cooking recipe video

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Thanks & Have a Good Day! 😉Enjoy Cooking and Cleaning!