How to Clean and take care of Ceramic Cookware
While many mouth-watering dishes are cooked in ceramic cookware, many household cooks often fail to manage how to properly clean and take care of these precious gems lying in the kitchen room. Food is life, and life is simply beautiful with these wonderful cooking appliances.
No matter how often you grab your favourite outdoor food, at the end of the day you would opt to seek your relaxing home-made food. In order for those tasty food, ceramic cookware is among one of the must-have cooking appliances!
For those who do not understand what ceramic cookware is, let me begin with its true definition. Ceramic cookware fundamentally denotes to polished pans/ saucepans or even pots made with clay. These pots and pans are basically kiln-baked, and many often consist of aluminium or some other related metal that are ceramic enameled.
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Ways to take care of Ceramic Cookware
Is Ceramic Cookware heated in oven or stovetop? Various ceramic cookwares come in many heating forms which include heating in the microwave oven, convection oven, stovetop, broiler, etc.
1. Hygiene Comes First
Wash the Ceramic Cookware before first use. Clean your ceramic pan with warm soapy water and pat it dry with a towel or kitchen tissue when cooking in the pan during the initial use. This will clean all the residue dust or dirt in the pan.
2. Avoid Scratchy Spatulas on Ceramic Pots & Pans
Always avoid using metal, rough, sharp and scratchy spatulas to keep your pan scratch-free. Switch to wooden, silicone, or nylon spatulas while cooking as they are usually not sharp and do not leave marks or scratches. If the cookware’s condition is very bad then it’s time to buy new one.
3. Do Not Pour Excessive Oil or Butter in Ceramic Pan
Only some few drops of oil or butter would be sufficient to evenly coat onto the pan while cooking. Excessive oil is not needed. Applying oil prevents the food from getting burnt and helps the coating last longer.
Try to prevent using extra virgin oil as it creates a thin layer of carbon on the pan’s surface which eventually destroys its non-stick feature.
4. Do Not Cook on High Heat
To keep your ceramic pots and pans last longer, avoid cooking on very high heat. Always prefer cooking in ceramic pans on low to medium heat. High heat tends to burn the food or burn and damage the bottom of the pot. Also, never heat the empty pan for an extended time.
5. Do not Instantly Wash Hot Ceramic Pan
After cooking, let the pan cool down first before you proceed in cleaning. Washing the hot pan will eventually destroy the non-stick coating of the pan.
6. Keep Away from Children
Small children often tend to drop or hit the pan on the floor. This may damage the pan or distort the ceramic coating and the non-stick property of the pan.
How to Clean Ceramic Cookware
1. Wash Your Ceramic Coated Pots and Pans Manually
At first, let your intense hot pan cool down before you clean. Give your pan a warm soapy bath under tap water. Gently scrub away the residue with a soft sponge or dishcloth. Scrub the inside and outside properly with a sponge soaked in liquid detergent after every time you cook in it. If burnt food resides in the pan, submerge the pan in hot water for around half an hour before you begin washing it. As a result, this will ensure easier cleaning.
Always go for a gentle scrub, not a rough and harsh one. This involves using a soft sponge, plastic dishcloth, or a nonabrasive pad, and do avoid using steel wool or nylon ones.
Rinse your pan with warm water and pat dry with a clean, dry rag.
2. Sometimes All Your Ceramic Cookware Needs Is A Thorough Cleaning!
If you wish to eliminate stubborn stains from your cookware or you want to preserve its delicacy and shine, then you might need a deep, thorough cleaning.
Initially dip the pan in hot water and then gently scrub and wash. Sprinkle some amount of baking soda to the needed areas on your pan and allow it to reside for some time. Then gently brush with a dishcloth until you say goodbye to the stains and finally rinse with warm water. Pat dry before you store it.
3. How About Some Seasoning?
I’m pretty sure that many of us haven’t heard about seasoning our ceramic cookware. Sounds unique right? So, let me clear by saying that ceramic cookware does not require much seasoning often. There are some cookwares which are good to be seasoned prior to use in the first time. Such products are often mentioned or labelled in “how to use” section. Some particular cookwares also need to be re-seasoned about twice every year, to ensure renaissance of the smooth non-stick layer on the surface.
Initially rinse your cookware and pat it dry. Then it’s time for seasoning with a soft cloth or kitchen tissue soaked in a little bit of cooking oil, gently polish onto the cooking surface. Then let the cookware to be slightly heated for a very little duration. You can either heat it on the stove not more than medium heat flame or put in in the oven if it is oven-proof for about three to four minutes with 120 degrees Celsius. After you are done with heating, let it cool down and wipe it with a clean, soft rag or towel.
4. Store Your Ceramic cookwares Properly
No matter how much rush you are in, after cooking always store your cookware neatly. Don’t just wash it somehow and store your drizzling cookware back to its place. Always try to pat it dry after cleaning.
Do not over-congest your cookwares by piling one onto another and so on. Keep ceramic pots and pans separated from each other to avoid scratches and any other damages. If you do not want your cookware’s to consume much space and so have to store them by stacking one on another, then you can place a paper napkin in between them. However, there are lenient cookware protectors available in markets which keep your ceramic pots and pans protected from scratches, dust or insects.
