How to Bake Using a Ceramic Dish

One of the best things you can do for your family and friends is to cook for them and serve heart-warming dishes. We believe that cooking in a ceramic dish produces succulent food that you can serve. There are a variety of ceramic dishes or clay pots available elsewhere, but Portuguese ceramic cookware is one of the best and most authentic in the world. 

Why use a ceramic dish

With all the many other cookware you can use with your Authentic Pizza Oven, why use a ceramic dish? Ceramic dishes cook food evenly compared to other pans. Ceramics retain heat after cooking making it a suitable material to cook cobblers, stews, casseroles and basically every food that is best consumed and enjoyed warm. 

Ceramics function better than glass, it takes more time to heat up compared to metal but it holds heat longer. It has a nonporous surface which makes it safer to store food, and easier to clean up.

Ceramic dishes in general can withstand the high temperatures of wood-fired ovens. It is safer because there’s no flaking and it does not release harmful toxins that can contaminate the food. 

Using the ceramic dish for the first time and pre-cooking procedures

Just like your Authentic Pizza Wood-fired oven, there’s some sort of “curing” you need to do before using your ceramic dish:

• It should be soaked in cold water for at least thirty minutes before using it the first time. 
• After doing this, cut down the soaking time down to at least fifteen minutes. 
• Remember to soak the ceramic dish always before each use. 
• It should not be cold when putting it into the oven. 
• If you marinate food in the refrigerator, make sure that the ceramic dish is at room temperature before putting it in your oven.

You will want to soak your ceramic dishes before using because it will absorb the moisture and convert it to steam during cooking in your Authentic Pizza oven, cooking the food with steam and without the use of any oil. This makes for healthy cooking and eating.

One very important thing to remember when using a ceramic dish is to avoid putting it inside the oven directly from the refrigerator and leave it at room temperature first to prevent it from cracking. Also soaking the dish keeps it moist rather than cold and brittle which can cause it to crack as well.

Cooking your food with a ceramic dish

Cooking with a ceramic dish is not very complicated. Cleaning up is easier too. There are a few things to keep in mind when using a ceramic dish to cook your food.

1. Follow your recipe’s suggestion on preheating the oven. For sweet recipes and pastry, reduce oven temperature by 25 degrees Fahrenheit because ceramic cookware retains more heat than metal ones. This will prevent burning of the food’s edges.

2. Prepare your ceramic. Most recipes will need you to grease your pan with cooking spray or butter. For bread and cakes, sprinkle flour after greasing to prevent food from sticking to the bottom and makes it easier to remove food once cooked.

3. Set your ceramic dish on pot holders or trivets when removing it from the oven so it won’t crack and adds protection to your counter top from damage.

4. Always use appropriate utensils when removing food from your ceramic dish like plastic or wooden utensils. Utensils made of metal can cause damage to your ceramics. A damaged glaze can lead to contaminating food with lead and other toxins. 

Storing your ceramic dish

It’s also important to store your ceramic dish properly so you can preserve and use them for a longer time. In some countries, ceramics are passed on from mothers to daughters like they would pass on family recipes from generation to generation.

Here are some tips on storing your ceramic dish:

• Wash ceramic dishes by hand. Avoid putting them into the dishwasher as this can cause damage to your precious ceramics. Don’t scrape. Clean it by rubbing coarse-grained salt all over the surface. Avoid using detergent as they tend to be absorbed into the porous materials and may contaminate the food you cook the next time you use it.
• When storing your ceramic dishes, stack them nicely on top of each other in a pile. If you have more than one kind of ceramic dish, organize them by size like you would have a plate pile, bowl pile, etc. 
• If you take care of your ceramic dinnerware, they can be with you for the long haul. As long they are not broken, discolored, or notice a change of taste when you use them, you can keep and use your ceramic dish with your Authentic Pizza Oven for as long as you want to.

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