Reco Romertopf No.111 4-6-Pound Clay Bakerbestunited states

A friend told me about clay pots, so I decided to try this one. I normally cook for 2 people. This is a medium sized pot and you could easily cook enough meat for 4+ adults, but if you want to cook the veggies at the same time (highly recommended!), you will need a bigger pot. Last night I roasted a game hen - my first attempt. I adapted a recipe from the Chicken Boulangere in Bridget Jones' "Complete Guide to Claypot Cooking". It was incredibly easy. I soaked the pot while I prepared the veggies. Just put some sliced potatoes, onion, lemon and herbs in the lower half of the pot and season with salt and pepper. Put the game hen in the middle, and then I put some baby carrots and another layer of potato slices around the bird and brushed everything with melted butter. I put the pot in a cold oven, and turned the heat to 450. It was done in less than an hour. As this was my first time, I checked the hen temperature with a meat thermometer - it was a perfect 180F.

One thing to... Read more

I have owned a three-quart Romertopf for years, and it started getting used at least once weekly when I started baking sourdough bread in it--especially No-Knead Sourdough. I followed Dr. Ed Wood's ("Classic Sourdoughs") recommendation of doing the second rising of the dough in the Romertopf. First, I use a non-stick spray in the base, wait until the dough has doubled, then soak the top and bottom in water for 15 minutes--just floating the bottom, of course. Both then go into a cold oven, you set the oven to 450 degrees and come back in 1 hour and 10 minutes. The result is a gorgeous, golden brown loaf from this miniature brick oven!

As the other reviewer notes, this is really a forgiving method of roasting food in the oven, especially checkens, which can be a bit unforgiving (and then dry). Just soak the romertopf 30 minutes and put the chicken (and/or whatever) in the oven (preheated or not) at 400 degrees or so and it's going to be great in an hour or so (just take the top off for the last few minutes to brown the skin). You can pour some liquid into the bottom to keep everything moist (we like strong ale) but it isn't necessary. If you like roast chicken then your kitchen shouldn't be without this wonder.