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A lid has been an important part of any cookware since ages. Not only is it aesthetically pleasing, it also serves an important purpose – keeping steam and heat locked inside the pot. This helps the pot to cook faster and not heat up the kitchen by constantly releasing all the heat and steam. Interestingly, a lid plays an even more important role in clay pot cooking. Keep reading to learn more.

The Purpose of a Clay Pot with lid

A clay pot with a well-fitting lid plays a crucial role in cooking healthy and nutritious. After trying different ‘modern’ cookware made from metals or ceramics, healthy cooks are coming back to this time tested method of cooking for one simple reason – no other cookware can cook healthy and non-toxic. The reasons are use of reactive materials, toxic glazes and design that doesn’t serve this purpose. Does it mean that all clay cooking pots are healthy? Unfortunately, no!

The Challenge of Making a Well-fitting Lid from Clay

Besides using impure varieties of clay that contain toxic impurities and using chemical glazes, clay pot makers make one more mistake – they don’t pay attention to the lid design. When it comes to clay cookware, each piece takes its own unique shape during firing making it difficult to get a machine cut finish and as a result, the lid doesn’t fit. While some makers completely ignore the lid misfit resulting in food taking longer to cook and water drying up too quickly, others extensively use additives and chemicals to overcome this challenge. This defies the whole purpose of making a healthy cooking pot from a non-toxic material. But one company came up with a viable solution – more on that below.

How Miriams make Well-fitting Lids and How they help Cook Healthy

Miriams Earthen Cookware is a pioneering US-based company that handmakes pots and pans from lab tested primary clay without additives or chemicals. They took up the challenge of making well-fitting lid without using toxic additives head on and came up with a solution that tapped into the natural properties of pure clay to cook food healthier and more nutritious.

Their lids feature a unique design so there are 2 barriers locking the steam in the pot. Moreover, the lid is designed in concentric circles and the knob is pressed on to the lid. This keeps the inner lid cooler than the rest of the pot allowing steam to naturally condense there during cooking and fall back into food. In this way, steam formed during cooking stays inside the pot fortifying food with essential water-soluble nutrients.

3 more features to look for when buying clay cookware:

Now that we know the importance of a clay pot with lid, here are 3 more features to look for when you shop:

1. Use of Primary Clay: Although clay is naturally non-toxic, it is only true in its purest form, primary clay. The impurities in low quality secondary or tertiary clay used in terracotta cookware and other earthenware have metal toxins. They leach into food during cooking.
2. Flexibility of Cooking: An ergonomically designed clay pot with lid like Miriams allows you to cook different recipes (like soups, stews, rice, vegetables, yogurt, bread etc.) in a single pot. You can cook on any heat source (gas/electric/glass stovetop or in the oven). (Did you know the pot becomes nonstick after full seasoning? LEARN MORE)
3. Breathable Pot: Did you know that clay pots have an amazing quality to breathe? Although some makers use chemical-based finishing that clogs the natural pores of clay pot so it can hold liquids, MEC keeps them unglazed and uses unique hand-finishing called terra-sigillata. It keeps the walls semi-porous so air (oxygen) can pass through these unglazed pots during cooking, keeping your food fresh and aromatic.

Interested in getting a healthy clay pot with these and many other unique features to prepare the most nutritious dish for your family? Shop our online store and order a pot today. They ship worldwide!

People Also Ask:

Can clay pots be used on gas stove?

Yes, these clay pots works best on a gas stove because the heat is uniformly supplied to the whole pot. Just make sure to cook between the lowest heat setting and medium-low so it doesn’t crack. You can also cook on an electric cooktop using a heat diffuser that protects your pot from sudden temperature changes.