Earthenware

If you have purchased stoneware pottery here are some tips for taking care of your pottery.
I’ve made the majority of pottery that is in my cupboard. I have used it in my kitchen daily for more than 15 years, torturing every piece in the dishwasher, oven, and microwave so you would know what NOT to do.

For long lasting beauty of your pottery, hand wash only. If you must put pottery in the dishwasher, DO NOT use the heat dry cycle. You should know that eventually the glaze will get scratched similarly to your glassware. Dishwasher soaps use abrasives to scrape the food off your dishes, so over time the glazes begun to dull and craze.

None of the pottery I make is meant to be used as a cooking pot. Cookware is made with fire clay. The clay I use is stoneware. It is a high fire clay that is durable, but different from proper cookware, or fire clay. If you want to slip a serving dish into a warming oven, that is okay.

Yes, you can put it in the microwave. It does heat up if the pottery is in the microwave for a long period of time (more than 4 minutes) and in such cases, using a pot holder would be prudent.

Warm your teapot with hot tap water, drain, throw in the tea, then the boiled water. Steep.

Clean your teapot weekly to avoid a build up of tannin, or not. There are those that believe that you should never clean out your teapot – that the tannin build up in the teapot adds to the flavour of the tea. There are others that believe that by not cleaning your teapot, you will never have a clean and pure tasting cup of tea, so cleaning is apparently optional!

All of my glazes are food safe and lead free.