There was a fierce wind blowing between the mountains when we were firing the salt kiln on Friday. It made for a beautiful day but the kiln area had to be closed off from any gusts that could interfere with the burners. It also was a warning that the weather was changing.
Sure enough, snow started on Saturday night so it was no surprise when I got a phone call on Sunday morning that the kiln opening was postponed. Highway 1 already had lots of accidents. So we’re having to contain our curiosity about the firing results. When the kiln is unloaded I’ll post photos of finished work but meanwhile here are a few photos of us salting, removing rings and discussing when to shut it down.
After candling the kiln all Thursday night Dave (bless his heart!) drove over to Herman’s and turned up the burners at 6am. When I got there around 10.30am the others were all there and had decided that the burritos should be half a pound each. I’m not sure why I made up quarter pound ones earlier. I was anxious that they fit on to the iron scoop but if rolled long and thin, the larger size are fine. We also used dampened newspaper to encourage vigorous dispersal of the salt.
When we felt that the kiln had reached roughly cone 8 all round we started salting, one burrito per peep, making two pounds total each time.
Looking back on the notes for previous firings it was felt that we could leave the salt to circulate around the kiln longer i.e. ten minutes and then have another ten minutes with the damper opened to six inches to clear the atmosphere. Somehow or other this pattern of salting in reduction and subsequent clearing caused the salt to produce orange peel and glaze much sooner. When I withdrew the first draw-ring after the introduction of twelve pounds we already had delicious orange peel! After fourteen pounds and with cones 10 bending we withdrew some more rings and mutually decided that we were done! I had been so worried about not using enough salt but I agreed that the rings were glazed enough. So now it really will be interesting to see what the effects are throughout the kiln.
After the last salting the kiln cleared for at least another half an hour and the cones 10 bent over. Dave has made careful notes of the process.
Just before we all left Joyce took a photo of the firers! Thanks again all of you for an exciting couple of days.
