Ceramic Firing In A Campfire

A first firing of this creates bisque or biscuit ware.

Ceramic firing in a campfire.

Initially you need to set a campfire that has glowing red heat. As a ceramic major in school i was looking for ways to fire pieces at home and finally decided to try doing a fire pit firing the piece. This is the first firing i have ever tried to do at home. This process is done typically in a hole in the ground or a pit pots are placed in the pit and burned.

A pit fire is the oldest known method of firing your pottery dating back to 29 000 bc. Understand why clay needs firing. It is a sign that the fire is super hot up to. Pit firing is the original method for baking clay.

Pit firing is an atmospheric process all of the colors and patterns are derived from the process and what is consume in the fire. Pit fire clay a traditional method of firing pots in a pit. An ordinary clay can only be turned into a pottery masterpiece at a temperature of more than 1000 f. Although individual clays vary in their maturation temperature most clays will become earthenware ceramics at around 700 celsius or about 1300 fahrenheit.

It works as a kiln using a hole in the ground as insulation and fuel to reach temperatures around 2000 degrees farenheit. It dates back nearly 30 000 years ago. Smoke firing in a dustbin this is the method we tried. When there is no equipment to measure such burning temperature here is the simple trick to know.