Sand pot/clay pot?

[silentmeow]

Just brought home three chinese sand pots of various sizes. I have cooked rice in them so far to "season" the pots. Last night I baked a chicken in the large one. My question is why did the chicken not brown? I had a Rommertoff(sp) baker years ago and the bird browned beautifully. These are glazed on the inside bottom, not sure if that would make a difference or not. Any ideas or input would be appreciated!

 

[Andy M.]

If you're cooking in a moist closed environment, browning is difficult.

Tell us more about the recipe.

 

[silentmeow]

Andy, I put a whole chicken on a bed of onions, surrounded by potatoes, carrots and brussel sprouts in a pot that had been soaked for 30 minutes. That was in the unglazed clay cooker. In the oven it went, heat was turned on and it baked beautifully. I think it has something to do with the glaze inside the sand pot. Maybe I should brown it first and then put it in the sand pot. I just thought of this but the clay cooker is made of clay and the sand pot is...sand. Perhaps that is the difference!

 

[GB]

The veggies that were soaked in water would cause the chicken to steam which would retard the browning process. I am not sure that that is the only reason that it did not brown, but I bet it at least contributed.

 

[jennyema]

I have a clay pot chicken cooker which you soak in water before using. That's the only way I've seen clay pots used (soaked) and is really the point of them: to cook the chicken with continuous moist heat provided by the wet clay walls.

But the chicken doesn't brown sealed up in the clay pot. Some recipes say to cook the chicken uncovered for 15 min more to brown it a bit.

 

[silentmeow]

Jrnnyema...this is the type of pot I used to have. Had to soak the top and bottom b4 cooking in it. I thought it was rather pricey but I always had a beautiful chicken and didn't have to remove the lid(at least that's what I remember, but my memory could be slipping......) It cracked after about two years and is now decoration for the garden! This new pot is glazed in the inside of the bottom, no soaking is required. At least thats what I have read. Can't seem to get the photo worthy end result and was wondering if anyone here had used these clay pots be and could offer any advice. Cat barf..gotta run. back later

 

[silentmeow]

Sorry Jennyema. I misspelled your name.

 

[silentmeow]

GB (can't mispel that one!) This sand pot doesn't require soaking b4 use. It is the Chinese type with a wire basket around the outside.

 

[GB]

I was refering to the veggies that you soaked, not the pot itself.

 

[jennyema]

You said in your above post that you had soaked the pot for 30 minutes. If you cook a chicken in a sealed, moist pot, it won't brown.

 

[GB]

Ahh looks like I misread it. I though it was the veggies that had been soaked. The soaked pot makes a lot more sense

 

[Mad Cook]

I guess you would have to brown it first before putting it in the glazed sand pot. The one I have does the job for me, the meat is soft and juicy and the flavor is fantastic when cooked in these un-glazed pure clay pot. It's metal and chemical free (does not react with the food). The clay used is sourced and hand made in US. It comes with a special steam locker lid which seals all the nutrients in and give a healthier food.

Unglazed terracotta ware may be metal and chemical free but is it bacteria free? Unless you are very careful about cleaning it bacteria can leach into the "pores" of the clay vessel and come out to "bite" you if you don't heat the pot and it's contents to a high enough temp (or even if you do because some nasties can survive high cooking temps). There is also the danger of fungal contamination if you don't clean the pot carefully enough and microscopic traces of food are left on it.

Incidentally, if you live in property built before the 1970s or in an area which has had mains water supplied to it since before then it is more than likely that your drinking water spends at least some of it's time between the water treatment works and your sink in lead pipework even if your internal pipework has been replaced with copper. And if so there will be lead in the water you drink, cook and wash in, the more so if you are in a soft water area as soft water dissolves more lead from pipes and solder used on the pipes.