Cooking with a tagine

[indianwells]

[Mod.Edit: this post has been moved from an old thread to start a new thread]

I've cooked in both tagines and Le Creuset cast iron and to be honest I can't tell or see the difference. I will say though that when you take the lid off the tagine it does look nice when cooking for guests. Taste though?, no difference.

 

[Morning Glory]

I think the concept of a tagine is something to do with the way the steam rises and falls due to the shape. They're designed to be used over fires, I think rather than in a conventional oven or hob, so maybe that is why it doesn't make a lot of difference in Western style cooking.

 

[medtran49]

I think we may have discussed this before, but there are cooking tagines and serving tagjnes. The really pretty decorated tagines are usually serving vessels only and should NOT be used for cooking. Some of the glazes used are not compatible with heat. Some of the materials (clay/slip) are not compatible with heat. A decorative tagine may break or may leach something you don't want to consume if it is used for cooking.

I learned the above because I wanted one of the really pretty ones and was researching. Since it would effectively be just a dust catcher, decided against it.