Washing, drying and storing

Earthenware is washed in hot water with a sponge, without detergent. The wall is porous and takes up whatever it is washed with, so detergent would stay in the vessel and come out in the next meal. A dishwasher is out of the question, and a vessel is put away only once it is bone dry.

Why no detergent

An unglazed vessel has no glaze closing its surface. What is poured into it enters the wall — which is why the fat from seasoning stays in the clay, and why detergent gets in just as easily. Rinsing does not carry it back out: the next cooking heats it and returns it to the food, as a smell and as a taste. Hot water and a sponge lift grease well enough, because the layer of fat in the wall keeps residue from taking hold.

The sponge stays dedicated. One used on plates carries detergent inside it, and brings it into the vessel even when none is poured in.

Burnt-on residue

Pour in hot water and let it stand for half an hour, then loosen the residue gently with a wooden spatula. If that is not enough, a spoonful of bicarbonate of soda sprinkled over the damp base will do it — leave it to sit, then rinse well. Wire wool and abrasive cleaners are out: they strip the layer built by seasoning and roughen the wall.

The dishwasher

Three things in a dishwasher work against earthenware at once. The detergent is strong and the vessel takes it up deeper than in hand washing. The cycle is long, so the wall stands soaked for hours. And at the end comes a drying phase with a sharp rise in temperature, on a wall full of water. A vessel comes out of a dishwasher stripped of its fat, with moisture in the wall and detergent in it.

Drying completely

After washing, the vessel stays out in the air, upside down or tilted, until it is completely dry — as a rule overnight. A porous wall holds water longer than the outside suggests: the surface is dry to the touch while the inside is not. A vessel put away damp in a closed space picks up a stale smell, and in time mould.

Where it is kept

Somewhere dry and ventilated, not in a plastic bag and not in a sealed box. Pieces are not stacked tightly inside one another; where they must stand in a row, a cloth or a sheet of paper goes between them so the rims do not catch. The sac and the crepulja are stored apart. If a vessel stands unused for months, rinse it in hot water and dry it before the next meal — and after a long pause a thin coat of fat does it good.

If the vessel seeps water

A new vessel may sweat or darken on the outside during its first meals — moisture passing through the porous wall, which is not in itself a fault. The layer of fat and a few cookings close it. But if water still drips after preparation, if a wet patch always appears in the same place, or if the vessel answers a tap of the finger with a dull sound rather than a clear ring, there is a crack in the wall and it is no longer fit for the fire.

Washing

hot water and a sponge, no detergent

Burnt-on food

half an hour soaking, then bicarbonate of soda

Dishwasher

no — detergent, long soaking and a sharp temperature rise

Drying

in the air, completely, as a rule overnight

Storage

dry and ventilated, no bag and no sealed box

Sweating when new

usual at first; steady dripping means a crack