This is actually whole milk on a white pot. First fired at cone 04 in an electric kiln. I brushed the milk on and refired in the BBQ for about an hour at 600 degrees or so. It's now waterproof. Why you wonder? Prehistoric pots in England show resides of milk, I think a kind of glaze. Waterproof too. It works much better than fat. I also tested pork, butter, goose, and wax. Milk was best. So did a whole pot and cooked some broth with bones and onions. Works like a charm. But I need to get it onto a wood fire.
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ReplyDeleteThank you so much for posting this. Finding specifics (temp & time) on how to do this has been difficult.
ReplyDeleteI think just low fired earthenware over a fire with milk brushed on would be fine. I gave the pot to Emilie Sibbeson who did her dissertation on this topic, and she has this pot now. I bet she could tell you many specifics. She's at Canterbury.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I tried this yesterday in a modern gas oven (550 degrees F for 1.5 hours) and it seemed to work. I'm excited to give the pot a try cooking in hot coals.
ReplyDeleteI bought a beer tankard from a Ukrainian potter, who apparently uses some variant of a milk glaze. Under its description he writes "Materials: blue clay, red clay, milk". After using it once and washing it repeatedly with baking soda and warm water as per the potter's instructions, there is an unpleasant smell emanating from the tankard. Have you ever encountered this? The smell makes the tankard unappealing to use.
ReplyDeleteOoh, I don't know. But that doesn't sound so great.
DeletePaul, I'm wondering if you put your milk-glazed tankard in your oven and slowly raised the temperature to about 550 for an hour or so and then slowly lowered the temperature again, if that might take care of the odor problem.
DeleteBake it in kiln or oven600F and smell will go away
DeleteI want to try this for some outdoor cooking pots. Would this work with a midfire clay? or do you think that earthenware would be necessary?
ReplyDeleteYes, This clay is made for cone 6. But I never fired it that high. Just bisqued then applied the milk and put over fire to create the glaze.
DeleteSeems to me that the clay would need to be fired to vitrification and then sealed with the milk. If it's not fired to vitrification then it would still be porous and the milk might not seal it well enough. I don't know though. I am new to pottery and am trying to learn about milk glazes and what type of pieces I can make to use it with. Is it good safe?
DeleteFood safe!
DeleteIn the past a pit firing probably couldn't get up to cone 06 temp, so it would likely have been a very low fire bisque, then brushed with milk over the fire as I did, until shiny. Food safe for modern guts? Unlikely! But I've eaten from it. Doesn't leak!
DeleteI watched a French Arte+7 programme a few nights ago on the cuisine of the Russian republic of Karelia which featured a traditional potter and his family. He makes and sells to local housewives milk-glazed pottery for everyday use in booking and eating. He said after biscuit firing and dunking in fresh milk he re-fired to only 300º (didn't say for how long) and to a woman's question at his market stall he replied it could be used in a microwave as well as on gas. His wife mainly uses a wood oven for long slow-cooked stews. I'm about to experiment hence finding my way to this thread. Thanks Ken and everyone!
ReplyDeleteRead "cooking" not "booking"!
DeleteVery interesting, Thanks Sarah! So interesting that people still make pots this way.
ReplyDeleteHi Ken, just few questions:
ReplyDelete- you dip the pot in wilk: is it biscuit or leather?
- when do you refired it in BBK?
Thanks
John
Hi! This, if I remember correctly, was bisqued, then brushed with milk constantly while over an open flame, which caused the milk to go shiny and black. On the test shards it worked better than butter, lard, suet, oil. Have fun! Ken
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