How to use a clay pot for Romanian Sarmale or other foods

How to use clay pots / earthenware. Have you thought about buying a clay / earthenware pot for sarmale or various foods, but don't know how to use it? Here's how:
I noticed that a lot of people are confused about how to use these pots. Should I use it in the preheated oven or not? Should I submerge it in water or not, before use? Let's see what it's all about!
There are earthenware (or earthenware) pots, raw, as I call them, with no glaze applied on their surface, or glazed. All are used in the oven, never on the stove.
Unglazed pots darken in color with use and age.
Many ask me if they should be kept in water before usage and if you put them in the cold or preheated oven. When preparing food with liquid, you do not have to immerse the clay pot in cold water a few hours before. You've already added enough moisture in the pot. If you added the liquids hot, and raised the temperature of the pot a little, then you can even put the pot in the preheated oven, at temperatures up to 190 degrees Celsius, without fear of it breaking it.
If you prepare something without added liquid (a piece of whole meat for example), then immerse the pot in water for an hour, beforehand. The walls of the vessel are porous and absorb moisture. In this case, place the hydrated dish with the food you want to prepare in the COLD oven. Don't preheat it. During cooking, the moisture in the walls of the pot turns to steam, and will keep the meat juicy during cooking.
If your clay pot is glazed, then there is no point in keeping it in water, whatever you plan to cook in it, it will not absorb moisture.
Other things you should know are:
- Never top up with cold water during cooking. Only with hot water, otherwise you can break the pot
- When you take it out of the oven, never place a ceramic pot, any kind of ceramic, on a cold surface because it will break. When removing the hot pot from the oven, place it best on a wood surface.
- Do not use too much dishwashing detergent for unglazed pots, as porous clay will absorb the substance. You can use baking soda instead.
- And after washing, you must leave the pot to dry without a lid, because otherwise you might have the unpleasant surprise of finding it moldy inside.