Sometimes, it may appear that your pot retains extra moisture and cannot fully air-dry. This may be the case because the pot is new & didn’t get used enough times (6-7 times) after the initial seasoning; as a result, the pot’s semi-porous walls have not had an opportunity to shrink and therefore are holding some moisture. Most times, wiping the pot down with a cotton cloth after washing wicks the moisture out, allowing for faster drying.

Longer drying times may also occur if you are living in cold or very humid areas. In these cases, you can help the pot dry faster by wiping it down with a cotton cloth after washing, then drying it on the stovetop on the lowest heat setting until the rim is hot to the touch. This needs to be done only a few times, and you will see the pot drying faster overall after this process.

Sometimes you may experience cream, or black colored bubbles or whiteish residue on the outside of the pot while cooking. Here’s why this happens:

Miriam’s Earthen Cookware being made from 100% pure & Primary clay, extracts toxins as a result of its purity and negatively charged ions, when heated. These toxins, which have a positive charge, could be from the soap used to wash them, and/or in the food & water, including additives/metals in water; animal fat (most animals store toxins in the fat); and pesticides, fertilizers, & heavy metals found in vegetables, lentils, & beans. Since the pot is unglazed, these toxins get pushed out all the way to the outside walls of the pot.

In our testing and experience, changing water to filtered water has sometimes eliminated this issue. Also, changing from non-organic to organic ingredients helps reduce and eventually stop this. We also recommend not using any commercial soap for cleaning.  Cleaning is a breeze and baking soda is enough to get the job done well!

Also, please note that if you have changed water upon noticing this, it may take 1-2 uses before the oozing stops. Well water or water in some cities have a higher concentration of metals, chlorine, chloramine, and other toxins, and they are removed this way.

This can also occur if chemical ingredients like pectin or other additives are used like when making jellies.

If you see this happening a lot, and you have addressed the cause, it is a good idea to clean the pot in the following manner before continuing to cook in them:

Wash the pot thoroughly and steam water in it without the lid on. Typically, the pot pushes out toxins, but when steaming water with the lid open it will pull-in anything in the walls. After steaming for 10 minutes, turn stove off and let pot cool down until water is warm. Pour water out and wipe dry with cotton cloth. Set it aside to air dry for about 10-15 minutes before using again.