Stove vs. oven

Stove top and oven can both be used with MEC clay pots. Many dishes can be deliciously cooked with either method. Below are some differences to help you select the best cooking method:

Stove top

• More energy efficient.
• Keeps the house cooler in the summer.

Oven

• Far infrared heat completely surrounds the pot – including the top. This is preferred for baking and roasting meats.
• Can cook multiple dishes at the same time.

Stove (electric & gas)

Diffusers

When to use them?

Will a diffuser slow the cooking time, or require a higher heat source?

Yes, energy transfer is not as efficient.

You can use a slightly higher stove temperature or a slightly bigger, more powerful burner. On my gas stove, if I cook on #3 without a diffuser, I will cook on #4 with a diffuser.

What is the best diffuser?

Miriam says the SimmerMat works best for gas, induction, and 95% of ceramic/glass stoves. For the other 5% of ceramic/glass stoves a ventilated diffuser such as the NorPro is necessary. There is no way to predict the 5% of the ceramic/glass stove which require a NorPro. If you use a SimmerMat on a ceramic/glass stove and there is a bad smell, a NorPro diffuser is necessary.

How to use the SimmerMat

Miriam says to follow her instructions, not the instructions that come with the SimmerMat. The instructions that come with the SimmerMat say to use only on low heat. However, the SimmerMat instructions are designed for metal pots, and clay pots are different. It fine to use medium heat with clay pots and a SimmerMat.

Simply place SimmerMat on the burner, place your pot on the SimmerMat, start on low heat and go to medium heat in a few minutes. With pure-clay you can use the SimmerMat at medium for many hours.

MEC

Heat settings

When you are finished cooking, you want to avoid a sudden temperature change. Below are some suggestions.

• When cooking foods such as rice, you can turn the heat off prematurely (when there is still a little water in the pot) and let the pot sit for some minutes. The clay pot holds heat, so the heat in the pot will continue to cook the rice (and gradually bring the temperature of the pot down). After you turn the heat off, you will still notice moisture patterns on the outside of the pot. When the pot is no longer cooking the food, these moisture patterns will disappear. This is the most energy efficient method.
• Some foods such as broths & stews benefit from a period of no heat at the end for “settling” (this helps the dish come together and gradually brings the temperature of the pot down).
• If you are cooking a dish on medium-low (#4), you can bring the temperature setting to low (#2) for the last 10 minutes of cooking.

Changing the heat settings can be inconvenient – it’s fine to simply cook something like oatmeal on low (#2) – it will take a bit longer, but will be more hands off.

Preheating

A common practice on older electric stoves when using metal pots.

• With a clay pot – especially during initial seasoning and it’s first 4–6 uses – do not pre-heat the burner.
• After the pot is fully seasoned, you may be able to get away with some preheating.

Match your diffuser/pot to the correct size burner

• Most stoves have 8″ and 6″ burners. An 8″ burner is ideal for the SimmerMat.
• Do not put your diffuser or pot on a burner with a diameter more than 1/2″ greater than the diffuser or pot. Instead use a smaller burner.

Know your stove

• Some newer stoves can be very powerful and you may need a lower setting.
• Some stoves may have malfunctioning burners which result in uneven heat that a diffuser can’t compensate for.

Oven

Diffuser is unnecessary.

Temperature settings

• If the clay pot is used both in the oven and on the stove – start in a cold oven or at 250°F, then increase to desired temperature in 10 minutes.
• If the clay pot is only for oven use (you never use it on the stove), and it is well seasoned – start in a cold oven or at 350°F, then if necessary increase to desired temperature in 10 minutes.
• Max temperature is 450°F.
• Baking and roasting temperature required for clay is about 25°F less than temperature required for stainless.

Cooking time

The first time a clay pot is used in the oven, the cooking time will be a bit longer – the pot needs to “learn”.

Always cover with lid

Even breads.

Wood stove

The clay pots need an even heat source. I used to think that gas stoves provided the most even heat, but Miriam says wood stoves can provide a more even heat than gas!

Use a diffuser or cast iron trivet

• A diffuser like SimmerMat is enough to go on the wood stove.
• An elevated trivet also works, but might take much longer than needed to cook. However, if you want a low heat, an elevated trivet might be the perfect solution. Perhaps use the SimmerMat to bring the pot to a boil, then an elevated trivet to simmer.
• It is best to start with a cool SimmerMat or trivet. If SimmerMat or trivet is hot, remove it from the stove and let it cool down a bit before putting a room temperature pot on it. This is especially important if the pot is not yet fully seasoned yet. If the pot is fully seasoned, you are more likely to get away with putting the pot on a warm SimmerMat or trivet.

Gauging the temperature of your wood stove

1. Turn your regular stove on medium. See at what height you can hold your hand comfortably for 5 seconds.
2. Then try holding your hand at the same height over the wood stove. See how long you can hold it here.

Now you will know if it runs warmer or colder than your stove at medium heat. Be careful and don’t get burned.

Controlling the temperature of your wood stove

• Use less wood to decrease the heat.
• If your stove has a damper, adjust it. This will control how much air goes into the stove to raise and decrease temp. As you might surmise, this is not quite like a gas or electric stove in its instantaneousness or precision – but it works.

Campfire or grill

Traditionally clay was used directly over an open fire. Food cooked in a clay pot tastes better; however, food cooked in a clay pot over an open fire seems to taste even better. Traditional cultures balanced the elements – air, fire, water, earth. Clay counts as an earth element, fire is the fire element.

The food will cook a little faster because you are using a natural heat.

The pots can be placed over the fire or grill in various ways:

• Make a stand using 3 bricks or stones
• Use a suspended method
• Place on grate

It’s best to put the pot in place before starting the fire. The gradual building up of the heat will allow the pot to warm up slowly. However, it’s OK to put it over an existing fire as well, just be careful the heat is not too hot. If you put your hand where the pot will go, and can’t hold it there for more than 5 seconds, the heat is too hot, and the pot must be raised or you must wait for the fire to cool down.

It’s OK for flames to touch the pot. The bottom of the pot will get a bit black, but this happens on stove top cooking as well – it’s natural.

Sun oven

Clay cooks in the sun oven pretty much the same way it does in a gas or electric oven. Obey the oven cooking rules above. The sun oven instructions recommend pre-heating, but do not pre-heat. Or if you do pre-heat, just go to 200°F. I usually just put my clay pot in a cold oven. Sometimes pre-heating my solar oven takes it to 350°F – and that would be too much of a shock for a room temperature pot.

I have the All American Sun Oven. The directions say not to put any pot directly on the bottom of the oven – they recommend an airspace completely around the pot. My oven comes with a hanging rack which I put my pot on.

MEC says if you don’t have a rack you can simply use rocks under the pot to raise it.

I find my sun oven cooking times similar to oven cooking times, and perhaps a bit longer when I cook on semi-sunny days and I can’t consistently keep my oven temperature at 350. However, my sun oven was purchased around 2010, and I believe the current sun ovens are even more efficient. Also, depending on your location, you may have better sun than I. I’m located in Maryland.

Remember the rule that if you see steam coming from the pot, the food is usually done (or just past done). In a sun oven the steam clouds the glass, so it’s easy to tell when it’s done.

In my experience, everything except beans, works really well in a clay pot in a sun oven. If you read the blogs on sun oven cooking, many people complain about beans in a solar oven (regardless of the kind of cookware) – they simply take a very long time to cook.

Currently I use my clay pots in my sun oven in the summertime. I don’t like turning my A/C on, and would rather have my house windows open. However, I don’t like the additional heat that my oven generates, so sometimes I just find it easier to cook outside. Also, if I do have my A/C on, it just doesn’t make sense to me to cool the house and at the same time heat the house with my kitchen oven.

I’m not one who likes to be constantly tending my sun oven every hour to readjust the angle for the most efficient sun. I try to get my oven going early in the morning, and only adjust it 1-2 times. This means I don’t reach the highest temperatures possible, and my food takes a bit longer to cook.

Lately, I’ve started using the MEC griddle. I don’t think this would make sense in the sun oven. Steam would escape and cloud the glass cover, thus not allowing sun to penetrate so well.

I love using clay in my sun oven – it produces some really delicious food. You’ve got the intelligence of clay and the energy of the sun working for you! I know Ayurvedic teachers who say that cooking using the sun’s energy is healthier than cooking on an electric or gas stove with man-made energies. See campfire and grill comments above.

Rocket stove

Great for outdoors, especially if you have small pieces of wood around.

A rocket stove is an efficient and hot burning stove using small-diameter wood fuel. Fuel is burned in a simple combustion chamber containing an insulated vertical chimney, which ensures almost complete combustion prior to the flames reaching the cooking surface.

Wikipedia

No microwaving

Miriam does not recommend using clay in a microwave. Pots can develop “hot spots” because of the uneven heat. Hot spots can result in cracking.