Cones down, beers drunk

The firing finished yesterday, was suitably toasted with Fullers ESB and is now still glowing red hot inside my lovely kiln. Thanks to Andy for his help and stirling night shift work.

I do love the firing process but this one was particularly pleasurable. It can be a bit of a struggle to get the kiln going on the second morning, after a long quiet gentle stoking night, to get the firebox crackling again. But this time was a dream. When I woke Andy had kept the temperature steady and built up a huge bed of embers that were cascading all over the front of the pack. I opened up the grate, closed down the primary air and burnt down the ember bed - a nice easy job that gave plenty of time to make tea. As they burnt down the temperature rose and the cones started gently melting on the front shelf.

The rest of the firing was a gentle climb to top temperature with only relatively subtle changes in the kiln settings. Cone 12's down throughout, which equates to a cone 10 or 1280C. Four days of cooling and imagining and anticipation.