Stoneware Cooking Equipment Ideal For Food Preparation

Cooking with stoneware has been around sense man discovered fire. Early man would heat up flat stones in the fire and cook on them. When man started to farm and settle in one place, they needed to evolve their cooking methods so the stone fireplace was born. Clay and stone cookware were what was used before people knew how to forge metals. Once metals were being used in almost every house, stoneware went out of favor with most people. However, with resurgence in everything old stoneware is making a huge comeback. Pampered chief is only one of the companies that sell stoneware. You might have seen pizza stones but there is more than that. Casserole, bread and muffin pans are just a few of the possible cookware you can get. As with any cookware you get you will need to take care of your stoneware, to do this you need to a couple of things. Don't use metal utensils they will scratch the seasoning off and you will have to start over, so make sure you use plastic utensils. When you first get your stone you will have to rub it with cooking oil like vegetable oil, put it in the oven at 250 degrees overnight. Then let it cool on the top of the stove. After that, you will have to use oil every time you use it until it is seasoned. Stoneware is porous, seasoning it makes it non-stick, and helps close the pores. The more you use you stoneware the better it gets. When its nicely seasoned it will be black do not try to scrub this off this is normal and will not affect your food. When you store it do not store it in the oven I did this and after a few years my stone broke. Some companies have a lifetime guarantee but others do not you will have to check on this before you buy. Depending on what type of stone cookware you choose to buy depends on what you can cook in it. If you have a pizza stone, you can cook more than just pizza you can bake cinnamon rolls, biscuits, dinner rolls and cookies among others. Having a loaf pan, you can make a small lasagna, meatloaf, or bread. With a casserole pan, you can make anything you can think of. I use to love making homemade pizza on my stone the crust would come out nice, crispy and golden brown. The cheese would be melted and bubbly, but best of all the toppings would not be burnt. The metal pan always burnt the bottom of my crust. Having a 9"x13" pan was great for pork chops and chicken they cook so much more evenly then any pan I have had. Want to be eco-friendly then cooking with stoneware is a good idea. Stone is a renewable resource, going green is the in thing but do not do it because it's in vogue do it because you want to. Using renewable resources helps the earth and helps teach kids that even little things help. Stoneware does not leach anything into your food so your food comes out tasting like it should. Cooking is not the only thing you can do with your stoneware; making ice cream layer cake does not require any cooking and comes out looking great. You need to keep in mind that there are some things you should not do with stoneware. I would not put it in the freezer for a long time, you can put it in the freezer for a couple of hours but I would not put it in there for a couple of weeks. Another thing I would not do is keep it in the oven it just might crack in two. Using it in the microwave is another thing I would not do unless the directions say you can. There are other things you should not do with your stoneware so my best advice is if in doubt do not do it. Some of the things you can do with your stoneware are cooking sweats like cookies and brownies. Cakes come out really moist and perfectly done. I have not cooked anything in my stoneware that did not come out perfectly cooked. Most of your high-end kitchen stores will have some stoneware, you can get stoneware from Pampered Chief, and you can even get it at discount stores. The difference is the quality of the stoneware. You are going to have to do some research to find what is best for you. If you want your stoneware to last a long time then you need the best you can afford. After you have done your research on stoneware, choose one pan and buy it you want to make sure that you like it if you like it then you can buy a set of them. You might even want to buy a set for a friend or family member. Believe me when I say they will love it. If you know a Pampered Chief consultant then you can ask them all about their stoneware.