Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Alternative Ways To Use A Pottery Kiln

Wondering capitalize on kiln ownership? While firing pottery is clearly the important speck of pottery kilns, a symbol of anecdotal tales of alternative uses exist on the margins of pottery groups and Craft departments. Present kilns are ideal efficient; here are some off-label ways to harness that power.


Baking and Cooking


Personal-use pottery kilns are typically single-chamber down-draft models, heated from the backside by electricity or familiar Gauze. Kilns heat clay pieces to model flying temperatures; it stands to intellect that, by the corresponding logic, they can heat cookery. While half-serious claims of multitasking--baking bread while firing pottery--may float encompassing online, whether you choose to cook in your kiln, it is elite to manipulate it as a committed oven when doing so. Whether you heat foods using the lid of a kiln set on a high temperature, use extreme caution.

Sterilization

High heat kills bacterial and microbes; the high-temperature autoclave machine is used worldwide to sanitize items. The pottery kiln can be used as a basic autoclave for metal instruments, food preparation supplies, wood, and other items as long as the dehydration process will not cause damage.



In other passage, for the peak results in the contingency of either baked goods or pottery, choose one or the other for any habituated firing.Provided you choose to bake bread or other eatable in the kiln, preheat it, equitable as you would with an oven. Fascinating the Profundity of your kiln into affliction, anticipate carefully approximately how you'll remove boiling eats from inside the kiln--if your kiln has shelves, this may not show a complication; provided it does not, you may necessitate to advantage a pan or tray with handles that can be grabbed with tongs or potholders.Be undeniable To cleanse the kiln afterward, so that no menu, crumbs or other debris latest inside.



If you need to disinfect large numbers of supplies, or must sterilize outsized or unusually-shaped items (For instance, pots that are too large to be boiled in another container on a stovetop), the kiln can prove a valuable tool.


Note: this method is recommended for personal use only. Businesses and health care facilities should use professional-grade autoclaves that use pressure further as heat to kill germs.


Non-Pottery Art Projects


The primary function of a kiln is to use heat to cause certain chemical changes--namely, dehydration--to occur. Potentially useful for food preparation, kilns can also dry out virtually anything fluid-based for future use in art projects. It can also be used to age and weather painted wood, or to make paper appear slightly charred.


When using the kiln for these purposes, experiment carefully with temperatures. It is advisable to know ahead of time which temperature setting you will need to use for a specific project. Be mindful if attempting projects such as enameling; the pottery kiln may not reach high enough temperatures, and a special glass kiln may be required.