any clay baker recs?

[anomaly13]

i use an old roasting pan that is HUGE and i think it is aluminum. i also use a stainless steel veggie steaming basket left open as a roasting rack, not ideal as it is always falling over on it's 3 little legs. anyway was thinking of getting something else and a clay baker seemed like a good investment. i can use it for more then just roasting meat, right?

any recs on bakers and cookbooks?
what size is good for multi-purpose?, we are a family of 5.

[Owen'nZoe]

I have a Romertopf clay baker, and I really like it. I'm veg, but the rest of the family is omni, so I've used it for both meat and vegetarian recipes. It works wonderfully, but you have to remember to plan time to soak it (15 minutes), and not to preheat the oven. More than once I've planned to use it, but preheated the oven for something else without thinking, and had to use a different roaster.

The other mistake I've made with it is making baked beans in it. They turned out lovely, but the maple syrup really stained my pot. It is now permanently stained dark brown. Not a huge deal - it still works wonderfully, it just isn't very pretty anymore.

[Arduinna]

Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking by Paula Wolfert is great, lots of info on the different options too. For open roasting I really like my large cazula.

[catnip]

I have a couple of pieces from these folks: http://claycoyote.com/ and they are amazing.