Seasoning clay bean pot

[texastweeter]

I'm an enameled steel kinda bean pot myself. Clay would get broke.

[Richard Chrz]

I’m afraid I would break mine if I got one. I’m a bull in the china shop kind of cook, things have to be tougher than me.

[texastweeter]

Richard Chrz ditto.

[fzxdoc]

Nice photo, yakima . How did the RB&R turn out with the pinquitos?

About how tall is that bean pot? I'm guessing 18 inches or so? I'm thinking about the ease of reaching down into it to get it clean after use.

Kathryn

[yakima]

fzxdoc. Thank you. Pot is 10 inches tall; throat is 4 3/4 inch inside diameter. Need a long handled ladle. The only issue so far is the overhead microwave. Better to pull pot forward, off small back burner, to use ladle. Cleaning is not an issue.
RB&R was a hit, even with 2 and 5 year old granddaughters. Left out hot sauce, and did not give them andouille sausage.
I can feel your purchase coming on.
Phil

[acorgihouse]

This may not be pertinent, but I'll toss it in. I have this little thingie, called (as I was told) an anafre pot. I got in Honduras several years ago, until COVID I went there on medical missions about twice a year for ~10 years. Seems every little restaurant has these on table, with bean/chorizo/cheese in the pot on top, and a side of fresh tortilla chips. Heated by hot coals in the bottom section. I wanted one, and bought this in a little market full of clay pots and whatnot. The lady I got it from spoke zero English, and my ability to converse rationally about cookware maintenance in Spanish is sadly lacking. I asked the cook, Ana, at the hospital. It's a tiny hospital and she is THE cook, so can basically wrangle anything. She told me never put two temps together, no hot food in cold pot, and no cold food in hot pot. They put room temp food in room temp pot, put hot coals in the bottom, and let it heat all together. I've always done that, and it works fine. I wouldn't cook from scratch in it, although I think with slow warming would be okay. I have had people say "why don't you just put a sterno under there?" and, well, no. I like it the way it is traditionally used. She also told me to season it, although she didn't say season (can't remember how she worded) but she told me to heat some chorizo in it a few times and let it sit for a while, to help the clay. Honduran chorizo is more like a loose hotdog than the hard salami-type chorizo I mostly see here, but I did that a few times with some sausage and a spoonful or two of bacon fat, and it's good. Nothing really sticks, it looks glazed a bit but is not. I have heated it a few times on the cool side of the grill, same way pot and food heat together, and it did well. Can't put on my stove, as I have induction, but this is working well for me. FWIW.

BTW, sorry, that isn't the world's biggest cockroach in the background. Got photobombed by a lizard.

[yakima]

acorgihouse, ancientcookware.com has a stove gizmo similar to yours. Under their Philippines subsection.

[acorgihouse]

yakima I don't need a stove gizmo. I have induction stove, so no clay would work, but as I said in my post, I like doing it the way it was meant. Many have told me to "just put a sterno in there," but I prefer to put a piece of hot coal in there to keep it hot. Thank you anyway.

[yakima]

All I was trying to say is that a device, which seems similar to yours, is available.

[yakima]

One wonders if Meathead will ever get over his canned bean fetish?

[Meathead]

Cheap shot. Here's a page mostly about dried beans. Search for beans and it is the first hit. https://amazingribs.com/tested-recip...science-beans/ Mentions Rancho Gordo prominently. But consumers prefer canned beans because they are quicker, easier. I always ask myself about which ingredients to use in a recipe. Should I ask a reader to make a run to the grocery? Since the taste difference is minor, I often use canned and offer dried as an option.

[yakima]

Perhaps a bit. But I like the irony of speed and convenience, when your site is devoted to low and slow. As I learn more, and plan to try something, your recipes always work.
This entire site is a wonderful resource for us retired dabblers.

Kenji, Serious Eats, has a nice piece re salting both soaking and cooking water. Am surprised that Rancho Gordo has not picked up on it.

[Meathead]

We are not just low and slow. We have recipes and methods for superfast searing steak on charcoal chimney (search for "afterburner") griddling, and more.

[yakima]

ofelles, have you a recommendation for a le Chamba pot suitable for roasting a
whole chicken? This dried beans rabbit hole has morphed to include clay pots. We have many Mexican markets here in Yakima, WA, but clay products are mostly glazed, making me leery of lead.
Thanks,
Phil

[ofelles]

Ask if the glaze is lead free of course if you trust their answer.
One of the roasters would be good https://www.mytoque.com/collections/...e/products/sps
Just read the instructions.

[fzxdoc]

ofelles and yakima ,

FWIW here's the answer about lead from the mytoque.com website:

SAFE
There are no toxins used in the production of La Chamba dishes. The pieces are not glazed and there is no lead found in the clay. The black color comes from the firing process and the smooth finish of the pieces is the result of painstaking hand-burnishing with stones.

K.

[yakima]

So, fzxdoc, do not go to claycoyote.com.

[fzxdoc]

OK. I won't.

[fzxdoc]

P.S. So have you ordered the Flameware basket yet?

K.

[yakima]

No, am resisting.
But, did pick up a Pampered Chef stoneware roaster at a thrift store.

[yakima]

fzxdoc, do not go to ancientcookware.com.
I have a used copy of Paula Wolfert's Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking on its way. Have so much old and new cast iron, can't really justify more pots, but books provide vicarious pleasure.
We do have an instant pot, have used it 2 or 3 times. Between the warm up and the cool down, not impressed. I am more of a Luddite.
Phil

[fzxdoc]

Phil, IPs are not for everyone. I like them for ease of use and for the ability to focus on the rest of the dinner while the main is being pressure cooked. Plus dried beans in an IP are the bees' knees, as my grandma used to say. Pressure gets the flavors into those beans in a hurry.

And OK, I won't go to ancient cookware.com . Just like I didn't go to claycoyote.com.


K.

[yakima]

I am a one pot, one course wonder. Don't have to focus on the rest of the dinner, cause it ain't there! But I am impressed with the presentation and photography you and so many others share.
Phil

[yakima]

ofelles, fzxdoc , SheilaAnn. I continue meandering down this clay pot rabbit hole. Ofelles, you are way ahead of me. I am trying to convert Kathryn; and SheilaAnn, as a cookbook queen, prolly already has this: Paula Wolfert's Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking. 2009, apparently out of print, got a good condition copy from Thrift Books, about $15 all up.

Looks like a wonderful resource, with background and interesting recipes. Have seen no mention, thankfully, of an Instant Pot.
Phil

[SheilaAnn]

yakima I do not have this book! Surprisingly! Paula is a regular speaker at my culinary historians club and a member as well, not to mention a friend. She’s a great person! I’ll have to find this book.

[yakima]

You two ladies definitely need this book.

[yakima]

fzxdoc and SheilaAnn: Mixteca bean pot back in stock at RanchoGordo.com.

[fzxdoc]

Thanks for the tip; I'll go to the site and see if they're still available. I hadn't seen your post because it came when I was offline for almost 10 days while family visited, and by the time I got around to checking my messages, it must have evaporated somehow. I'm glad yo posted today so I could see it!

K.

[fzxdoc]

Well, I just checked and they're sold out again. I'll keep my peepers peeled, though, and hopefully I can find it in stock one of the times I visit the RG site.

K.

[yakima]

Turns out you can separately buy the lid/bowl which comes with the Mixteca bean pot.
I wanted 3 more; called, no problem, about $7 each. Of course then I had to get the order up to $50 for free shipping!

[fzxdoc]

jfmorris fzxdoc I have several unglazed pots and really enjoy cooking stews and beans in them. I have a couple of the "normal" red clay ones and a couple of these black clay ones. I always use a flame deflector under the pot and heat it up slow

https://www.mytoque.com/collections/chamba-cookware

fzxdoc, do not go to ancientcookware.com.
I have a used copy of Paula Wolfert's Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking on its way. Have so much old and new cast iron, can't really justify more pots, but books provide vicarious pleasure.
Phil

I took you at your word, yakima , and did not go to ancientcookware.com. (actually, I did because I knew you were so thoughtfully trying to save a dent in my credit card. Or not. )

Anyway, I bought this on sale from www.177milkstreetstore.com at about 40% off and free shipping.

Thanks, ofelles , for the nudge, too. Between yakima and you, I have a new toy. I'm thinking a smoked brisket and Kent Rollins' Cowboy Bean dinner is in our near future...

Here's my new Bean Baby:



Kathryn

[ofelles]

Congrats!
I really like mine. I have several pieces. Great presentation on the table also.

[fzxdoc]

It's actually sitting on our countertop in that photo, ofelles . The Bean Baby will live in the pantry after I get it seasoned.

Thanks again for letting us know about this brand. I really like it. I watched the video of how it was made in a small village in Columbia. Fascinating.

https://www.mytoque.com/pages/how-la-chamba-pottery-is-made

K.

[yakima]

That looks really nice, fzxdoc. What size?

I am having great fun dishing out beans from my recent 50 lb purchase in Quincy, WA. We have a good friend, born in Mexico, who has not seen Flor de Mayo red beans since she was a little girl, over 50 years ago.

I just picked up epazote, which is supposed to help with flatulence. (Presumably, to reduce!) Have not added to any soup yet.
Phil

[fzxdoc]

That looks really nice, fzxdoc. What size?

I just picked up epazote, which is supposed to help with flatulence. (Presumably, to reduce!) Have not added to any soup yet.
Phil

Thanks, Phil ( yakima ). It's a 6 quart size, which is sort of large for only cooking a pound of beans but is a good size for soups and stews. I had decided on it as opposed to the one from Rancho Gordo because it was available, the price was good, especially since it included free shipping, (compared to what I would have paid from the My Toque site), and the size was good for my needs. The Rancho Gordo Mixteca, at 2 quarts volume (although it's recommended not to fill it with that much), is perfect, they say, for cooking 1 1/2 lbs of beans but would not work, I'm guessing, as a serving dish as well.

I like the shape of both pots (the Rancho Gordo one is easier to anthropomorphize ) but thought the Chamba one gave better access to soup and stew for serving at the table--more like a rustic tureen.

And of course, like the Rancho Gordo Mixteca pot, the Chamba pot is also lead and toxin free.

So far we don't have a problem with flatulence with Rancho Gordo beans, but I'm wondering what sort of flavor epazote brings to a soup or stew. I'm thinking it certainly would make Mexican foods more so. So I'll be on the hunt for some. We have a Mexican tienda in town, so I'll inquire there as to whether they have some or can get some for me. Let us know how you like the flavor.

P.S. How do you like the Paula Wolfert cookbook?

Kathryn

[fzxdoc]

yakima , look at that photo on June 9th post #12 on page 1 of this topic, and tell me that the bean pot positioned under the RG store clerk's arm doesn't look like it could be a little bean buddy, not an inanimate pot. Maybe I've watched too many Pixar movies with my grandkids.

Kathryn

[yakima]

OK fzxdoc, I got it, albeit slowly.
Re Wolfert book; I wish it had photos to accompany the numerous clay pot descriptions.
Re epazote: I acquired the dried version. But hopeful that I can source fresh. The Yakima Valley, here in south central Washington, is about half Hispanic, so we have many Mexican markets and grocery stores. I can source fresh masa (not masa harina) and am perfecting fresh corn tortillas. Mighty fine. Skip wooden or aluminum presses, go with cast iron. You do have a press?

[fzxdoc]

I do have a press, yakima . Cast iron. Works just dandy.

K.

[yakima]

Diana Kennedy's work re Mexican cuisine is outstanding. I picked this copy up at a thrift store. New soft cover copies are available at ThriftBooks.

[fzxdoc]

I cooked from Diana Kennedy's iconic The Art of Mexican Cooking book back in the day. Many of my now-routine cooking moves were learned from her and are second nature to me now whenever I cook Mexican food. She is to Mexican cuisine what Marcella Hazan is to Italian cuisine. She's amazing.

You scored yourself a nice book there, yakima .

Kathryn