Reston Lloyd Roasting Dish & Lid All-Natural Clay Roaster, Medium, Terracotta

This clay baker arrived safely, well packed, and perfectly in tact. It is stamped GERMANY on the bottom. (Less reliable units are no longer being made in Mexico). Although I read the information carefully, I am pleasantly surprised that this is bigger than I envisioned it to be, and not as heavy as I thought either (6.6 lbs). The bottom is glazed and the top is not. The glaze is not non-stick so a quick spray of the bottom with non-stick coating is OK for ease of clean up. I hesitate to spray the top because the steam may not release from the clay if the top is coated. A nice stiff brush will clean the top if necessary.This clay cooker will easily hold a whole 4-4 1/2 pound chicken, or a whole cut up chicken, or 4 large thick pork chops, or a corned beef, or a brisket, or a whole rack of ribs, plus there is still room for all the potatoes, carrots, onions and such. The directions are clear, (in many languages). Soak the lid 10 minutes and place the cooker and contents into a cold oven. Most meats take about 1 to 2 hours at 425-450 degrees. Simple! The steam from the lid will make the meats moist and tender. You can leave the lid off for 10-30 minutes after cooking to crisp up the contents. I purchased this because of the many things I can make in it including artisan bread. The bowl is deep and the dome is high, just right for great bread with a very crisp crust. Amazon has many clay cooker cookbooks available. This clay pot cooker is very versatile and with care it will last a long time. I may get a second smaller clay pot for the desserts!Update January 2014: I have just learned (from Breadtopia) that I do not have to start breads from a cold oven, nor do I need to soak the unit as I have been doing. The unbaked loaf has enough moisture in it to provide plenty of steam for the bread, when the lid is kept on the cooker. My bread came out with the same crisp crust as with soaking. Clarification: You DO need to pre-heat the cooker, lid and all, starting from a cold oven to baking temperature. THEN put the bread dough in the baker and bake the required time. (If you just put the baker into a preheated oven it may crack). This is the same procedure for using a cast iron dutch oven. By the way, I am using this for "NO KNEAD" breads. Works great!

Why would you buy one of these things, given that there's a learning curve and a good few hoops to jump through when cooking with one?The answer is that the chicken you cook in this clay cooker will be the juiciest, tenderest, moistest chicken you've ever cooked. A clay cooker becomes a small, very efficient, very moist cooking environment, and without any other adjuncts whatsoever, it passes that moisture on to what you're cooking. Römertopf makes cookers from quite small to large enough for a full sized turkey - we bought this medium size, which has a stated capacity of slightly over 3 quarts.This is a well made and truly beautiful thing - Almost too pretty to cook in. What it fits is pretty much the fattest local chicken you can find, but not much else - I quickly found that our cooker truly wouldn't hold anything else, which initially made me nervous, because I come from the mire poix in the bottom of a Dutch oven with some chicken stock school of chicken roasting.What I found out is exactly what all the makers of clay cookers tell you - You don't need anything in that cooker to make an incredible chicken - The cooker will do the magic - And indeed, it does. I stuffed the first bird I cooked with apple, fennel, onion, and some fresh herbs. Cooked it at 450° F for an hour, then popped the top off for about 10 minutes to let the bird brown. Pulled it out, put it in a towel on the counter top, gave it a 10 minute rest, and dug in.It was, as noted, an incredible chicken, but let's face it, I bought this cooker to write a blog post on slow cookers, and as good as that chicken was, it could have been a fluke, so I did the scientific thing - I bought another chicken a week later, did all the proper prep, but this time, I did nothing other than to throw that bird into the Römertopf with a tiny bit of olive oil rubbed on the skin, followed by our signature seasoned salt blend and fresh ground pepper - Didn't stuff it, didn't tie it, nothin' - Just cooked the bugger, and... It was the best chicken I ever roasted, hands down, bar none.

I love clay pots for baking poultry with or without vegetables. Recently I broke the one I had for 20 years so bought this Rumertopf as a replacement. It works just as well, I am delighted. I am also happy with the size, medium, which easily holds a 4 lb chicken alone or with some veges, potatoes, etc. The chicken tastes like a roasted chicken without the mess in the oven and, because I remove about 3/4 of the skin, a lot less greasy. The pot cleans easily.I am also thrilled that the manufacturer mails the pot entirely packaged in totally recyclable cardboard. Thank you to them for being so responsible.

Arrived on time for Thanksgiving dinner preparation. Easy to handle, delicious flavor, easy to clean and best of all - healthy cooking when you have someone with dietary issues in the family. Next thing to try out - baking bread! I had been looking for a Romertopf for ages and had feared I had to bring one back from Germany one day. So glad to find it through Amazon. Medium size is the one my mom used to have and it is the right size for a family of three to four.

Creates a beautiful all-over crust and color. Preheated w/soaked lid on in a 425F oven for 30 minute, transferred dough to pot, covered and baked for 30 minutes then another 20 minutes w/out lid. Just the way I like my breads, crusty. Cleanup a breeze but I did use parchment paper as a transfer method. I hope to try a roast or chicken soon. Had been searching for an enamel coated oval cast iron pot and found this instead. I'll update when I've used this for an actual meal. Thanks for all who answered my questions. Recommend? Oh yes. 👍

Very beautiful and well made clay pot. Even though I think it's a bit overpriced, still don't regret the investment. Making chicken in it, cooks fast and comes out very delicious.

La mejor opción, convierte cualquier horno en horno con vapor, ara hacer panes es un sueño, estoy feliz, valió la pena totalmente

Me encanto, aunque no dice que la metas con temperatura caliente o a cuantos grados, entre menos agua más hay cocción. A la segunda utilizada se rompió

Received in good condition. Bought it to bake Sourdough where I usually retart my bread overnight. Tried baking it with cold oven, didn’t turn out well. A lot of contradicting information on the web on how to use it for bread baking. At the end, I put the pot inside the oven and preheat it for 30mins. Add an additional layer of baking paper on the base when I load the cold dough into the hot pot. Fingers crossed. So far so good. Guess it might crack one day. It will be good to include instruction on how to bake bread in it.

Llevo años usando esta maravilla para cocinar el pavo, el sabor que tienen los alimentos y la suavidad es impresionante y delicioso!! Ahora compré la grande.