Question from Arien
Dear Debra,
Thank you for sharing the amazing information on a variety of cookwares. After reading your My New Cookware section, I was very interested in the soapstone pots so I went on to greenfeet.com and bought two. However, I do have a simple question that I am sure you can answer because you have been cooking in them for a while now.
When the pots first came, there was a litte note inside the pots saying that NEVER to heat the pot when it’s empty, always make sure to have food or water in it. I am a bit confused by this message. Does that mean I cannot preheat the pot before I do my stir-frys or scramble eggs? How do you use yours? I cannot imagine putting cold oil in the cold pot and then put the food contents. I have always preheat my pots or pans to medium before I add oil. Can you please give me some advice on this? and can you tell me more on how to use these pots? I love cooking rice in cast iron pots but the rusting some times drives me nuts, I would love to cook in clay too but they are porus….
Thank you so much for your time and your great work!
Debra’s Answer
Well…I thought I had read all the instructions, but I didn’t see that little slip of paper, so I have been preheating my soapstone pots with no ill effect. Especially since one of the characteristics of these pots is that they are slow to heat, so I always preheat them before I put in the food.
One of the best things to use these pots for is scrambled eggs. They just taste better and have better texture than in metal skillets. I heat the pot, then add the butter, let it melt, then add the beaten eggs.
I also love to use my soapstone pots to make soups and stews, and they would be great for things like rice.
I just went and looked at the actual printed instructions brochure from the manufacturer and not only does it not say anything about not preheating, it says, “A pre-heated griddle or pan make even tabletop cooking possible, turning out sizzling steaks and seafood.”
So I have no idea why yours came with a slip of paper saying never heat without food. Call greenfeet and ask them and let us know.
I love my soapstone pots but I was wondering about nickel contamination from it. Research said that if properly cured the levels that migrate to the food are minimal…but is there minimal levels when it comes to nickel?????
I love my soapstone pots too.
I’ll tell you what science has to say in a moment, but first I just want to say (and this is my personal opinion)…
Nickel and many other substances occur in Nature in extremely small amounts. Our bodies are designed to be adapted to these amounts, as they appear in nature. So whatever you may be exposed to when you walk past a soapstone outcropping while on a hike would probably not be harmful to you. This is not to say there are no toxic exposures in Nature, but even if the planet were pristine and unpolluted by man, all these metals and other substances would still be there as part of Nature. And all that said, Nature didn’t make soapstone for us to use as cooking pots.
The bigger problem arises when man takes materials from their nature context, refines and concentrates them and then puts them in consumer products. Then the dose we get is much larger than Nature intended, and we have health effects.
Here is a good overview of nickel that is easy to read: ATSDR Public Health Statement for Nickel. It answers your question about exposure limits.
My impression is that your level of exposure from a soapstone pot would be MUCH less than nickel exposure from a stainless steel pot.
Hi Debra,
What kind of soapstone pots do you own, and where did you purchase them. I am so very interested in moving over to soapstone, but have no idea where to start. As with everything else in the world, there are tons of sources.
I bought my soapstone pots many years ago at a cookware store in Napa, California. They don’t have a brand name on them.
I’m not aware of any different types of soapstone that may be better or worse than others.