After spending so much of the holiday season (Thanksgiving to New Years) in the kitchen I am thinking terms of ovenware--for slow cooking, a new enthusiasm! I made a butternut squash last week that had you roast the squash, onions and apples for an hour in the oven. The soup was fabulous and I think it was the roasting in the oven that brought out the flavors so well.
I had a nice chat with Tracey Broome over the holidays and she got me fired up about jumping in and trying out some ovenware. I am going to experiment with earthenware--that seems to be the classic body--and glaze a few pieces but leave some unglazed and see what fits best (me esthetically and the pots functionally).
Here are the first of the experiments--still drying under wraps:
An oval baker--perhaps a bit too big. I always have trouble judging shrinkage. It is 15.5 inches long and 11 inches wide at the widest point and 3 1/2 inches tall. I threw a bottomless pot and then moved the ring onto a slab. Probably i should have added handles. I guess I'll know more once I've fired the piece and tried cooking in it.
Then a baking bowl that I squared a bit and added handles to. It measures about 8 1/2 inches across the rim and is 3 1/4 inches tall. The base has a 7" diameter. The picture makes the bowl seem a little out of kilter but I think the piece is squared well.
Then I have 2 round baking dishes--like pie plates, I guess. One is 10 1/2 " across rim and 1 1/2 " high. The other is 9 1/2 " across and 2 1/4" high. Maybe one is for pies and one for quiches!
I'd love suggestions from my readers' experiences in this area. I am very uncertain about the glaze--to glaze or not to glaze. In looking through the web I see many pieces that are glazed with a clear glaze only on the inside (for ease of cleaning perhaps) but I worry about the stress of having only one side glazed. Any thoughts out there?
9 comments:
Those look great and the oven ware can be used as serving dishes too. can't wait to see how you glaze them.
Looking good so far! Well, I shared with you all I know about earthenware which is minimal at best. Once I get rid of all this white clay around here, I have a bag of red earthenware I could break into and try out some tests as well. Look forward to the end results! Good luck.
Gay - your pieces look great! Working in earthenware is fun -- but has it's own issues! The Italians have been using earthenware for ovenware for generations!
The only issue with not glazing is water/liquid absorption - it can cause it to crumble over time.
Do you have any terra sigillata? If you put a thin coat of Redart terra sig & burnish it will help seal the non glazed areas --and since it's the same color as the clay it won't change the appearance except for giving a somewhat glossy/burnished look. (If you are not glazing the inside - but want to seal the bottom/foot area).
I would also recommend not putting these in the dishwasher & always putting them in a cold oven to warm slowly in the preheat - in other words no extreme temp changes.
I can't wait to see them glazed!
I was tinking I would try some terra sig on a couple of the pieces--though I was thinking of putting it on the inside--to make cleaning easier. Is that a mistake?
I am planning on just using a clear glaze if I glaze to keep the red clay look. I was going to glaze the inside with clear....
Still thinking!
Gay - you can put terra sig on inside/outside -- doesn't matter. I thought you were thinking of unglazed clay as a cooking feature. (Some cultures don't glaze) I heard someone refer to terra sig as the original teflon!
Hi Gay, I just remembered I have a commercially made fish baker that I use occasionally and it wasn't glazed, but it is packed in our treasure bus and I can't get to it now to take a better look. I do recall it seemed to have a very smooth surface. The fish is baked by putting in a big piece of fish and then adding wine celery etc baking for half and hour and it's done.
I also remember seeing a site somewhere on the internet of a woman who makes bake ware made with a special type of clay that is unglazed but again I don't recall the site.
I've been researching terra sig and think that is probably what I am looking for. Val cushing says that terra sig renders the piece impervious--whic is what I'd be looking for if I used a glaze. I'll still test with and without glazes.
I appreciate the comments! Many heads better than one!
Lovely pots Gay - well you know I'm always going to be a sucker for the dirty red stuff! Thought you might enjoy seeing these pots, typical of the type made for baking in Buckley, Wales 19/20th century
http://ceramics-aberystwyth.com/buckley.html
Doug, those are lovely. BUT here I am trying to figure out how to make terra sig and you've got me wanting to try working with slip trailing--again--which I have tried in te past but failed miserably at! Oh, dear....
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