Friday, August 29, 2014

End of August 2014 Flameware

Recent firing of more flameware vessels. They came out nice but really matt. I'm not sure if that will make a difference in cooking. So far this one and a casserole work nicely. The odd thing is that the city seems to give us less power in the summer, so getting these to fire completely was really difficult. I also had to adjust the kiln setter to prevent them from underfiring. DOES anyone still use those, or is it all computerized now? Realize my knowledge of firing goes back to 1993!

In any case, Romano beans slowly simmered in tomato and olive oil. I also roasted lamb chops in the casserole. Lovely, and baked a mac and cheese in it the other night too.

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Last of May Firing

It's a pretty conventional firing, just plates, bowls, some salt pigs which I've never made before and other odds and ends. Since St. Theresa has been on the rampage lately (she's my kin) I decided to fire only to cone 5. And look how lovely everything came out. It was also super careful stirring of the iron glaze. For maybe 40 minutes by hand. But it pays off in the end. What perplexes me is how it turns out brownish on the 50-50 clay body but black on the light white clay. No idea why.