Seek help adapting clay baker recipe for Vietnamese Carmelized Pork

[EllenP]

This recipe appears on page 41 of "The Best
of Cooking Light 2". Essentially, it calls
for you to make a sauce based on carmelized
sugar on the stove top. Then, toss a
2 lb pork loin in the sauce, put it into a
pre-soaked clay baker. Put covered clay
baker into 450 degree oven for 1 hour;
stir; re-cover; bake another 30 minutes.

Unfortunately, I don't have a clay baker.
I do have various oven safe covered dishes
such as Corning casseroles and a metal
Dutch oven.

So, how do I adapt the recipe? The whole
point of a clay baker is the gentle steam
heat it generates. I am afraid that if I
just stick the meat into a normal casserole
or Dutch oven, then it will get too dry, or
the carmelized sugar in the sauce might
taste burnt or something.

Any suggestions? Would it work better if
I just lowered the heat and the cooking
time? Any suggestions as to what to lower
it to?

[ReneeV]

Hi!

Maybe a crock pot would work. The slow steady heat plus the tight lid may produce something like the same results. It's worth a try.

Boy does that recipe sound delicious. Let us know how it turns out.

Renée

[EllenP]

Thanks for the idea, but I don't have a
crock-pot either. It has to be a method
I can adapt to the conventional oven with
something like a covered casserole or a
Dutch oven. Any other possibilities out
there?