Most people feel the urge to upgrade their kitchen from time to time. The easiest and the most budget-friendly way to keep changing the kitchen is by introducing new types of crockery and utensils. They help add a sense of newness in the kitchen and also make the served food look more delectable. Different types of materials like china clay, glass, plastic, brass, steel, and copper have been used for a long time to make utensils and crockery.
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However, a recent sustainable and environment-friendly choice that has become popular is earthen cookware. These cookware have non-stick properties and are also quite economical. Here are some tips and tricks that one must remember for a more seamless experience if they're planning to introduce wooden cookware to food.
Also Read: Why Should You Cook Food in Earthen Pots?
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* Use Wooden Spatulas
When cooking food in earthen pots, it is always important to use wooden spatulas instead of spatulas made from any other material. Using spatulas made from copper, metal or steel can ruin the internal part of an earthen pot and affect the flavours of the food negatively. A wooden spatula can take the extreme temperature inside an earthen pot and, at the same time, will not have any ill effects on the interiors of the pot.
* Keep Them Safely
Earthen cookware should always be kept at a distance from regular utensils because these are more fragile and might break easily. Keeping them with regular utensils made from steel or copper might create cracks in their surface, even due to the slightest friction between these two types of utensils. One should always make a separate section for earthen and keep it very safe to avoid any problems. Even the slightest of cracks can lead to leakages, so one should not take this lightly.
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* Keep Pots Dry
Keeping earthen pots damp for too long may lead to the development of moulds and even fungus on the surface of the earthen pots. The right way to wash earthen pots is to keep them under the tap and remove all the food with the help of one's hand. After washing them thoroughly, the earthen cookware should be kept in the sunlight to be dried properly. Never store them in the cupboard or cabinet without properly drying it before.
* Don't Use Detergent
One should avoid using detergent at any cost as it may remain stuck in different corners of the earthen pots even after washing them thoroughly. This is the very reason why the right approach towards washing earthen cookware is to just use water. If one is more worried about hygiene, then one can use baking soda or salt instead. However, using detergent is not the right option as the stuck detergent particles will get dissolved in the food and might even be poisonous for consumption.
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* Don't Store Citric Food
Citric fruits and other types of acidic foods have acids that can react with the clay of the urban cookware. This will affect the taste of the food and might also negatively impact the texture of the utensils. To avoid such problems, one should not store citric fruits and vegetables in an earthen cookware for a very long time. It is important to remember that these types of cookware are best for instantly cooking food and not for storage purposes.
* Soaking Pot Before Cooking
One should soak their earthen cookware in some water for 10 to 15 minutes and let them dry properly before cooking food in them. This step is really helpful in making the clay of the pot porous. It will also help in retaining a lot of moisture, which is essential for cooking food and also prevent any kind of unnecessary cracking in the pots. After soaking the pot in water, wipe it off with a clean port and wait for 20 to 25 minutes before cooking food in it. Let it stay on the heat for two minutes, and then start cooking food.
* Cook On Low Heat
Earthen pots are not for people who like to cook their food fast and do not like to wait for a long time. These pots cook food at an extremely low temperature and cannot take extremely high temperatures. This is why it is important to ensure that the flame is always low. Many people know that cooking food at low heat helps impart a better temperature. It is the most effective technique for cooking biryani and different types of chicken and mutton dishes.