Ping: Richard FL/Tandoori

Never Summer

Hi Richard,

I saw your post a page back and wanted to comment on the pottery base you're using.

You'll find the higher the pottery is fired, the better chance it will crack, or even explode in the egg. Your best bet would be to have your potter make it out of Raku clay because it's designed to withstand the thermal shock of being put into a hot kiln. Raku clay only needs to be fired to no more than 1850 F.

There's always a chance of cracking when putting any cold pottery pieces into a hot egg. Even with a raku piece, you might want to warm it in the oven before putting it in the egg. When we fire Raku, we put the pieces on top of the kiln to warm up before putting them in.

Patty

Richard Fl

Thanks for the observation. I placed the room temperature pot in the large on the clean grate in the bottom where the coals sit and then surrounded it with charcoal. Everything came to temp at the same time. however this pot did develope some cracks and was thinking that it was too thin ,1/2 inch thick,.. I did raku 10 years ago and the shock of water after rewmoving from kiln gave the crackle in the glaze. Do you think that a raku clay and firing might be better? I am not a potter, just a hungry man looking for different cooking methods. Right now my goal is a holder for the vertical skewers for the tandoori. thanks again for observation.

Never Summer

If you still have problems with cracking, the Raku clay may be the way to go. It just handles the thermal shock better. Even the way you're doing it, if a hot coal is sitting in one spot on the pottery it can cause cracking easier in the other clay bodies.

Good luck tomorrow!

Patty

Richard Fl

The pot comes to temp with the BGE, starts off room temp with fresh charcoal.
I am having hip replacement surgery tomorrow am and will not be able to play with the raku idea for 3-4 weeks, no driving.

What do you think about a 1 inch thick pot and firing it at raku 1850F?