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Step 1
Cover the kiln shelves with kiln wash to protect them from the wood ash that will turn to hard, glass glaze. Use wadding, small balls of fire clay mixed with sawdust, to pad the bottom of the pots. Wadding should be used to prevent pots from sticking to shelves, from pots sticking to one another, and to keep lids from permanently attaching to their pots.
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Step 2
Load the kiln with raw, unglazed pottery pieces. Loading procedures will depend on how your Anagama kiln is built. Some kilns have a loading port in the "belly" of the kiln for easy access, while others require the disassembly of the front port bag wall to enter. Loading is a tedious all day process that requires deep thought about pot position and a lot of patience.
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Step 3
Place 12 pyrometric cones in at least three places inside the kiln where they can be seen through the stoke holes. Check the cones often during the firing to monitor temperature and adjust the flue draft or stoke the fire as needed.
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Step 4
Build a small bonfire in the bury box or main port of the kiln to warm the inside slowly. Gradually build the fire overnight. Within 24 hours, the temperature inside the Anagama kiln should reach 2350 degrees.
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Step 5
Stoke the kiln continuously day and night by organizing a team of people to work. You will need at least five people at all times; one at each stoke hole and one at the bury box.
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Step 6
Hold the kiln at this peak temperature for at least two days to allow ash to build on the pots, which will become the glaze. Cooperation and kinship between potters is key to a successful Anagama firing.
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Step 7
Watch for the last pyrometric cone to fall and close up the kiln. Allow the Anagama kiln to cool for at least five days before unbricking and removing the pots. Enjoy your beautiful, naturally glazed pottery.
