Earthenware cookpot experiment #1

[Alric of Drentha]

I made an earthenware cookpot, and we boiled water in it!

I threw a cookpot from white earthenware a few months ago, and I've been waiting for the weather to turn nice so we could try boiling water in it. The snow's been melting all week, so we built a fire and tested it this afternoon. The pot didn't survive the test (I didn't expect it to, since it was my first attempt), but I still feel the test was a success. I think we'll be cooking all our food at events in earthenware by summer.

Here's the pot hanging over the fire. It's based loosely on some sketches from a report on late Anglo Saxon pottery, though the shape is pretty generic.



Our fire was pretty small - we didn't have the time or dry wood to build a proper bonfire. We couldn't build up a large bed of coals, so we lowered the pot down into the fire.





I was amazed at the amount of thermal shock that the pot was able to take. I thought that putting it directly in the flames might make it crack, but it didn't seem to mind the direct heat.



Our fire was burning down low, and the water was almost boiling, so we lowered the pot right down onto the coals to get it up to boiling temperature.



We got it to the point where small bubbles were beginning to form in the water, but then one of the branches in the fire shifted, its glowing red tip rested against the pot, and the pot cracked. I figure the uneven heat from the red-hot branch resting against the pot was too much stress for it to take. If we had taken the time to build a proper fire and not put the pot so close to the coals, ensuring a more even heat, I think we wouldn't have had any trouble.

I'm going to throw some more pots this evening and do some more tests, now that I know that I can make it work. Hopefully, we'll be able to leave our modern steel pots in the car from now on, and just cook in pottery. I'm pleased!


(Ylsa minding the fire)

Does anybody have any experience cooking in earthenware, and do you have any advice to share?

[Maeryk]

thermal shock is much more a concern when it's hot + cold (or vice versa) with a previously empty vessel.

In other words, pouring gallons of ice cold water into a hot, but empty pot is asking for trouble. As is putting an empty, cold pot directly over the fire.

I treat them like paper cups.. IE: you can use a blowtorch to boil water in a paper cup.. as long as there's water in it when you start.

[Keegan Ingrassia]

It also depends on the pore structure of your clay body. If its not open enough, then the ceramic won't be able to transfer heat from the outside to the inside quickly enough to achieve a uniform temperature, and the temperature difference, expansion/compression will cause it to break itself apart.

At any rate, well done! I'd just finished firing a couple small cooking pots for myself; hadn't gotten the chance to use them yet. On one set I used a satin matt white, with some wood ash on the shoulders, and a bit of copper mixed in for a green tint. Fired in cone 10 reduction. The other set was salt fired, bare clay, with some copper glaze again thrown on the shoulders. Not terribly happy with the shape of the drinking jugs, but they're growing on me. I'll be throwing more soon.

[Glaukos the Athenian]

I made an earthenware cookpot, and we boiled water in it!

I threw a cookpot from white earthenware a few months ago, and I've been waiting for the weather to turn nice so we could try boiling water in it. The snow's been melting all week, so we built a fire and tested it this afternoon. The pot didn't survive the test (I didn't expect it to, since it was my first attempt), but I still feel the test was a success. I think we'll be cooking all our food at events in earthenware by summer.

Here's the pot hanging over the fire. It's based loosely on some sketches from a report on late Anglo Saxon pottery, though the shape is pretty generic.



Our fire was pretty small - we didn't have the time or dry wood to build a proper bonfire. We couldn't build up a large bed of coals, so we lowered the pot down into the fire.





I was amazed at the amount of thermal shock that the pot was able to take. I thought that putting it directly in the flames might make it crack, but it didn't seem to mind the direct heat.



Our fire was burning down low, and the water was almost boiling, so we lowered the pot right down onto the coals to get it up to boiling temperature.



We got it to the point where small bubbles were beginning to form in the water, but then one of the branches in the fire shifted, its glowing red tip rested against the pot, and the pot cracked. I figure the uneven heat from the red-hot branch resting against the pot was too much stress for it to take. If we had taken the time to build a proper fire and not put the pot so close to the coals, ensuring a more even heat, I think we wouldn't have had any trouble.

I'm going to throw some more pots this evening and do some more tests, now that I know that I can make it work. Hopefully, we'll be able to leave our modern steel pots in the car from now on, and just cook in pottery. I'm pleased!


(Ylsa minding the fire)

Does anybody have any experience cooking in earthenware, and do you have any advice to share?

Alric,

Archaeological evidence I was familiar with suggests that the cooking was done not hanging as an Iron pot would. Rather, the "domed" shape of the bottom of clay cookpots was designed to sit directly over coals.

later on the romans designed a cool "stove" that was in use for almost 2000 years, by making "tables" of stone with round holes and placing the same cookpots over them, and a fire underneath.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2284/209 ... 39cdf4.jpg

I recall seeing Mexican ladies cooking and making "cafe de olla" (pot cooked coffee) in clay pots, on stoves almost identical to the ones in Pompeii. But that is far in the future.

Most cookpots I am familiar with had a substantial amount of temper, or grit added to the clay mix of the pot, to help manage thermal shock and make the pot more durable.

Some Roman period cooking pots from Qumran



Late Bronze (circa 1300 BCE) Pottery from Jerico


The shape of the cooking pot really changes only with the arrival of the cast iron stove with a flat top.

Nice work by the way. Try using it by resting it on coals instead of flame, and regulate the heat by the quality of the coals and how deep it sits inside of them. It looks like it would be nice for a slow cooked stew or beans, or a nice soup.

Was it hard to make?

Glaukos the Athenian

[Alric of Drentha]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone!

Those are some lovely pieces, Keegan. Am I understanding that you're making cookpots from high fired stoneware? What kind of clay body do you use, and how's your experience with that been? I've read a lot of horror stories about cooking over a fire with stoneware, and I'm curious to learn about your experience.

This earthenware was really forgiving, and the pot was very simple to make. I'm going to see how long it takes me to crank out a few more in a few minutes...

The clay has some fine grog in it, but I might try mixing some larger tempering in and see what difference that makes.

I wondered about placing it directly in the coals - thanks for the information about that. Musing about this, how would you heat the pot before placing it in the coals? Would you just set it next to the fire, and then lift it and place it on the coals once it had heated up a bit? Or should it be able to withstand the shock of being lowered directly onto a bed of coals?

[Maeryk]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone!

This earthenware was really forgiving, and the pot was very simple to make. I'm going to see how long it takes me to crank out a few more in a few minutes...

The clay has some fine grog in it, but I might try mixing some larger tempering in and see what difference that makes.

I wondered about placing it directly in the coals - thanks for the information about that. Musing about this, how would you heat the pot before placing it in the coals? Would you just set it next to the fire, and then lift it and place it on the coals once it had heated up a bit? Or should it be able to withstand the shock of being lowered directly onto a bed of coals?

Well, IF you get the thermal transfer properties of the clay right, then as long as it's full, you'll be in good shape.

[Alric of Drentha]

Thanks, Maeryk.

And now, getting ready for round 2!



These are about 1cm thick like my first attempt but rather larger. Keeping the insides centered so there won't be any thin spots after I've trimmed them was a challenge, but I think I managed it. I'll build a fire and give them a test run once they've been fired!

[Peikko]

If memory serves, I believe that there was a style of early medieval (possibly Saxon) pottery which had the "lugs" for suspension inside the rim of the pot...I'll see if I can find it amongst my papers as it seems your sort of thing.

[Alric of Drentha]

Bar lip pottery, like this piece in Dunning, 'Pottery of the Late Anglo-Saxon Period in England: the Regional and Chronological Groups of Local Pottery, and Imports from the Continent,' Anglo-Saxon Pottery: A Symposium?

I would love to use a pot like this, but Dunning suggests that it's a continental form (from the Netherlands) and was only imported in a few eastern locations in England (and also in Cornwall). My persona is from Chester - I feel that I could make up an excuse to be using these, but I would rather use a more local style.

I would really love to hear that I'm wrong to think that I oughtn't to be using some of these, though, because I think they're really cool.

[James B.]

I will have to direct da wife to this thread; she cooks with earthen ware all the time at events.

All I know is we don't put it on the fire or the coals directly we set them near by and the heat is enough. We just set them on the ground or a tripod we don't hang our pots.

[Peikko]

Bar lip pottery, like this piece in Dunning, 'Pottery of the Late Anglo-Saxon Period in England: the Regional and Chronological Groups of Local Pottery, and Imports from the Continent,' Anglo-Saxon Pottery: A Symposium?

I would love to use a pot like this, but Dunning suggests that it's a continental form (from the Netherlands) and was only imported in a few eastern locations in England (and also in Cornwall). My persona is from Chester - I feel that I could make up an excuse to be using these, but I would rather use a more local style.

I would really love to hear that I'm wrong to think that I oughtn't to be using some of these, though, because I think they're really cool.

Ah I see your dilemma...and yes we in the southwest are rotten with this type. Still it would be fun style to build for fun. Also, sorry for my vagueness, you see I'm not a "pottery" person really...more of a conflict archaeologist.

[Glaukos the Athenian]

I will have to direct da wife to this thread; she cooks with earthen ware all the time at events.

All I know is we don't put it on the fire or the coals directly we set them near by and the heat is enough. We just set them on the ground or a tripod we don't hang our pots.

Well what do you know. A quick desktop anthropological research may prove you right!

Apparently most people seem to prefer to place 3 stones , bricks over the fire, or make a 3 point support out of clay, and the pot over them, hovering over but not touching the fire or coals...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kashfia/479074900/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kashfia/47 ... otostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/reneschaap/3269396472/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/saif/1863783/

Notice how the shape is barely different. A world away and thousands of years apart. Remarkable.

[Thomas Powers]

I've forged a lot of 3 legged pot holders (spiders) for use in cooking over fires, (metal pans for the most part).

My favorite as far as forging is to take 3 pieces of stock (say 1/4" by 1/2 to 1" depending on size). Forge weld the leg sections of the first two pieces and then hot bend the tops out and then forge weld the leg sections for the next piece and bend and then bend around and forge weld the last two sections together. Then true up and forge the foot to help keep the piece from sinking in soft soil under heavy loads.

Another method (based on the 1570 Opera) Is to take 1/4-3/8" x 1-1.5" strap and bend a circle and forge weld the overlap and then forge weld the legs on. I generally cheat and just rivet on the spit holders on the legs (they start as pieces ----====---- and then get bent up like cattle horns)

If I'm in the states for Battle Moor Crusades in the Outlands I should be bringing my forge and would be happy to help folks work on period cooking gear---bring your documentation please and if possible let me know ahead of time so I can arrange to bring the correct stock---including real wrought iron for folks who want to go all the way!

Thomas
SKA wilelm the smith who's apprentices extol him for his "grandmotherly kindness" (see Zen Flesh, Zen Bones for explanation)

[Baron Conal]

the original pot.....

was it glazed on the inside?

[Alric of Drentha]

No, these are unglazed.

[Baron Conal]

No, these are unglazed.

why is the inside so much lighter in color than the outside then?

[Peikko]

No, these are unglazed.

why is the inside so much lighter in color than the outside then?

...soot, shadow...um just cuz?

[Alric of Drentha]

Soot - the whole pot was bright white before I put it in the smoke.

Any word from your wife, James, about how she cooks in earthenware?

Thanks to everyone else who have posted ideas - I've got a lot of things to try once the next batch of pots are finished.

[I. Stewart]

I'm very impressed by what you've got going. I'm also very interested in how your experiments turn out. Please keep us updated.

[Appel]

From my experience in having clay cookware made and using it, the grain size of the earthenware clay is important.

Low fired earthenware clay (cone 06-04) with grog (fired clay bits) or clay with sand wedged into it work the best. Some cookwares out of Devonshire were referred to as "gravel tempered" because of the grittiness of the clay.

Very fine clays will also be more prone to crack. Some medieval pottery was also shell tempered. I've heard of people using parakeet grit (ground shell) to wedge into the clay to temper it.

[AZPapillion]

Wife of James B. here - he had the basics right. I use the earthenware (glazed or unglazed) beginning at room temp and slowly move it towards the fire - in the dirt next to the fire until it warms up.

I can't really tell you how long it takes to heat up as each piece behaves differently depending on both the clay and what's in it.

The best word I can think of is gradual - gradually heat it up and gradually cool it down. I have a wonderful pipkin that I keep warm spiced wine in all day and just refill it - provided it never goes dry and then I want the pipkin to cool down a bit before pouring room temp liquid into the warm ceramic.

I have 3 or 4 ceramic pots that I use on a semi regular basis - 3-5 times per year, 1 pipkin and a few other little bowls that all go into the fire. All are from different vendors and my large glazed cauldron (1 gallon in size) is from the 1980s, but was brand new when I acquired it 5+ years ago. Still works great.

The only ceramic I've had break is one where the vendor came and looked at it (a fry pan) and said that it was already cracked before I got it as it split into 3 pieces and not in two.

Hope this helps!

Kim