When cooking in conventional pots, moisture breaks into steam right from the start because the entire pot and lid quickly heat up. This steam tries to find a way to escape because the very hot walls of the pot cannot let the steam condense. As a result, the steam must be vented out of conventional cookware through steam vents.

In contrast, the heat from your MEC pot is uniquely food-friendly — it first spreads the heat evenly, then it cooks the food almost halfway before steam can be released. The steam that now slowly builds up inside the pot gets condensed because of the special design of the pot & lid, allowing it to circulate inside and letting food cook with its own steam pressure.

The straight walls of the pot made in concentric circles, the inner flute on the lid, and a cooler knob underside allow for steam to rise, condense, and drop right back into the pot/pan. The pan has a taller, more conical lid design compared to the pot to help with steam retention, given its shallow base & shorter walls.

This benefits the food immensely on a nutritional level because steam contains water-soluble nutrients. 9 of the 13 essential vitamins and minerals are water-soluble, so any steam lost is nutrients lost!

MEC has no steam vents on the lid: it can safely use the steam pressure to cook your food retaining these essential nutrients!

Note: MEC still retains steam even if the lid has a slight wobble or imperfect close. This wobble forms naturally during the firing process due to water molecules escaping the clay body (at temperatures of over 900-110 Degrees Fahrenheit). We don’t prevent this from happening as a precautionary measure. In case one forgets to turn the stove off, the imperfect close allows excess steam to escape before damage occurs to your pot or pan. Before sending out any pot/pan, we check the fit of all pots & lids to ensure functionality, despite a slight wobble (if present).