Honestly, in my opinion and I may be wrong, we cook our meat to 185 to kill anything in it so placing your wet cooker in a cold oven and heating it to 400 is probably going to kill anything on it bacterial or viral.

I personally wouldn't over worry this one.

I'm not a scientist and admit to being a little laissez faire about washing my hands etc so maybe I'm not a role model, but I use clay from Pampered Chef that isn't sealed. I let it soak overnight often when something has stuck esp in my big bowl.

If you are worried, perhaps you could just put it in the oven at 400 for 30 minutes or so before using it again?

Grace

My clay cooker came second-hand from a flea market and I use it often. I would scrub it well with a brush and hot water, then put it in a cold oven and turn it on to 400 and let it bake for about 15 minutes, then turn off the oven and let it cool down naturally.

You all sound so sensible. I'll do what you suggest. My kitchen isn't laboratory-clean, either, but this scared me a bit. Thank you all very much!

Be smart!! You cook a chicken that has been soaking in a bacterial soup to remove the feathers and know that the cooking kills the bacteria....you boil the jars that have sat in the basement for years and preserve food in them....why wouldn't heating that clay kill all the bacteria?
Why wouldn't you just not worry about and figure that cooking in that pot will kill all the bacteria?
It's fine!
Linda C

What everyone said !!!
LOU

FWIW, the standards for dry heat sterilization is that 1 hour at 340, then allowing it to cool, should kill any germs. See the link. And if you're using a soaked pan, it probably will be sterile at a lower temperature. (Water helps the heat to penetrate and kill the germs.)

I once did some medical volunteer work in a third world country for a few months; we used a pressure cooker to sterilize the surgical instruments. Worked fine.

Here is a link that might be useful: dry heat sterilization

Here's what I do...

1. Scour it well with either baking soda or kosher salt to get rid of all of the oil.

2. Let dry thoroughly.

3. Store until the next time I want to use it.

Yeah, Susan. Don't be so quick to dump on DH. :-)

Jim

I just reread your original post.... some of the clay cookers don't have to be put into a cold oven, but I'm not sure what kind you snagged at the garage sale.

Grace