Italian Terracotta Cookware And Cooking

[pigro]

I'd have pre-heated both sides, then put in the oil (BTW I doubt pre-soak in water would help much if you then put a layer of oil on top?) then the frittata mix, and I'd then have swung the second pan shut on top, and kept them in the closed position during the cooking process thereafter.

Halfway through (3-4 min's max I'm guessing from the depth that your finished article looks to have), while the mix was just starting to coalesce on the top, I'd have lifted the top pan by its handle just enough to run a spatula round the cooked base to free it up, then I'd have sprinkled a few drops of oil onto the coalescing top part, and finally I'd have closed the pans again and turned them 180 degrees about the long axis (i.e. lift the handles and spin it like you would a tennis raquet) so that the top pan ended up on the bottom - in thory, the frittata would have dropped via gravity, and the other side would then cook in the same way.

If I understand what yu did, you left the two pans open throughout ... now I see why you reckoned that placing them on a burner would be difficult (not to mention dangerous ... ) - I think that also explains why your egg mix sloped to one side and therefroe cooked a bit unevenly.

caveat - I haven't used one of these, so I don't really know wht I'm talking about!!

[juliancoll]

No point heating both sides - the one not being used would cool down by the time you flipped anyway and the 'other side' is used to flip - otherwise it would just be acting as a lid and that would be pointless - wouldn't it?

I can see that I'm going to have to make a fritatta using my plate flip method and post some photos to show how it's done - all this talk of pan porn has made me hungry.

[krisbhatti]

Sorry I didn't include photos of the pan when it was closed - I had one, but found I was only allowed to have 4 photos per post and figured a closed pan wasn't very informative. However, I neglected to say in my description that I did close it during cooking. I don't think the top half cooled so much as to be useless - much more useful than just a regular lid on a skillet since it does retain the heat nicely. If I were camping, I'd put some hot coals on the top to really make it bake!

I preheated both sides, flipping twice during the preheat time. I closed it up as soon as I added the eggs. When I opened it after 6 minutes, they were nicely set, except for one end because I didn't have the pan centered on the burner.

I have made frittata the usual way, though I prefer to have a second skillet heating on the stove and flip from one to the other, skipping the whole plate business. Since this pan is made in Italy and I'm guessing it wasn't made too recently, I know there must be some really good advantage to using it. I'm still hoping that someone who has actually used one like this will turn up.

Thanks again,
Kris

[Charles Phillips]

Fabulous photos of your frittata efforts, and it certainly looked more than good enough to eat! But, if I read your post correctly, this frittata took more than 26 minutes to prepare from start to edible. That seems to me to be taking sloow foood a bit too far - I can knock up a fabulous beef curry in that time (okay, using a fiorentina)!

[Gala Placidia]

You have been really busy with this thread while I was away in Italy! Just catching up with all the fun I missed.... Well, in my opinion, this is just another version of the traditional "mattone" to cook a small butterflied chicken or steak. You do not use fat as they cook in their own juices, hence the reference concerning healthy cooking which has been engraved.
Although the Romans would have been proud of your efforts to cook a "fritatta" in the same manner that they used to cook their "Ova mellita", I feel that a traditional skillet would be easier and faster to use. And I would not dare using it for a Spanish "tortilla".
You can also use it to cook some vegetables such as capsicum, aubergine, leeks, etc. in their own juices and you will be surprised by the results. I would love to have one of those utensils, I'm thoroughly green with envy.....