Can you put a clay pot into a preheated oven?

Question

I was making salt baked chicken last night, and I didn't have a casserole dish big enough for the bird. So, instead I used a half glazed Chinese clay pot, and put that straight into a pre-heated oven of 250C. Mine is similar to this one.

To avoid any thermal shock I placed the pot onto a wire rack instead of the baking tray. But I read in lots of places you shouldn't put clay pot into a pre-heated oven as you will crack it. Is this people's experience? I put this clay pot over the gas hob with no problems, and I find it hard to imagine that the air to clay heat transfer rate is so fast that it will crack the pot, but a gas flame doesn't.

Answer 1

As a preface, understand that thermal shock (the phenomenon that causes ware to crack or even explode) isn't an all-or-nothing thing; often ceramic (and glass) cookware succumbs to thermal shock after being stressed several, or even many, times.

In your case, though, I wouldn't consider what you did a risky activity. Putting an earthenware pot onto the rack of a heated oven with a quantity cold food inside is generally considered safe. The mass of the food keeps the pot from heating too quickly. What would be risky would be either putting an empty pot in a hot oven, or putting the pot on top of a baking stone or other preheated solid surface. And even then, I wouldn't necessarily expect it to crack the first time you do it -- as you point out, the pot is designed to work on top of a direct flame (although also with food inside).

I hope the chicken turned out tasty!

(note: I am a potter who sells pottery for use in ovens)