The most common food will be much tastier if cooked in pots. Soups, cereals, meat, fish, vegetables, desserts - you can bake, simmer, cook anything in ceramic dishes. In order for the pots to serve for a long time and retain the beneficial properties and taste of food, it is advisable to follow some rules.
When choosing pots in a store, carefully consider the inner surface: there should be no cracks, chips, bubbles, or gaps on it. If the pot is covered with glaze, pay attention to the evenness of the glaze, as mold can form on unpainted areas.
Wash the new pots well, fill the neck with water, put in a cold oven. Turn on the heat, bring the water to a boil, turn off the oven, but do not remove the pots until they cool. Then drain the water and dry the dishes. Soak the pots in cold water for 15-20 minutes before each use to allow the pores to absorb moisture, making the dishes juicier.
Clay is afraid of sudden changes in temperature and can crack, so put the pots in a cold oven, and after cooking, remove them on a wooden stand. Ceramic dishes in the refrigerator should not be immediately put on a direct fire, and it is not recommended to add cold water to hot ones. In addition, the pots must not touch the oven walls and heating elements.
Products can be placed in earthenware with or without preliminary heat treatment. But keep in mind that many nutrients and beneficial properties will be lost during frying and boiling. If you put food in pots raw, during the cooking process they will be mutually enriched with tastes and aromas, and the dish will turn out to be very tasty.
At the same time, the ingredients require different periods of time to reach readiness, and it is advisable to put them all together in pots. To reduce the difference, cut the ingredients into pieces of different sizes in inverse proportion to the cooking time, for example, meat small and vegetables large. Fill the pots to the top as the food will decrease during cooking.
Ceramic dishes have the ability to keep warm, so take them out of the oven 5-10 minutes before the end of cooking, and the ingredients will reach the desired condition in the pot. Then it is recommended to add bay leaves, spices, garlic and herbs to enrich the dish with spicy aromas.
