Vallaurus Terra cotta cooking pot (vintage)

[Cathi]

I'm new to owning my Forno Bravo oven and wood fire cooking in general. My sister recently gave me an old Vallaurus (French) terra cotta cooking pot (about 5 qt) with heavy duty handle. Its very well seasoned.

My question is, "Can it be used in a wood fire oven?" I understand some terra cotta cannot withstand high heats (500-1000F). Is that correct?

Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

Cathi
Lodi, CA

[Gulf]

Hi Cathi,

Welcome to the forum. I'm sure there are others who can answer your question better than me. I haven't used terra cotta, pyrex, or corning ware type bowls in my oven. My wife won't let me lol. All of those vintage items are hers alone. I'm sure that they can be used but, I understand that it takes a gradual warm up for them to not experience a thermal shock. The fact that your pot is "vintage" tells me that you should not use it in the wfo or, at least, wait until you are very familiar with your oven and the temperature ranges that it can achieve. I have found that, cast iron, graniteware and stainless steel is all that I need. However, I haven't found the need to use any pots and bowls in the oven at temperatures above 500f.

EDIT: Congratulations on the Forno Bravo oven. Learn all that you can about WFO cooking. As you already know, they go much further than pizza .