Kiln log #31: the door side runs cold

Loaded Tuesday, 3 November, 7:40 a.m. Unloaded Friday at noon, after the pyrometer read 60°C and I stopped arguing with myself about opening it early.

What went in: 22 pieces. Eleven cups, six small bowls, three jars, two lids that belong to jars from log #29. Two shelves, three posts each, cones in front and back.

Shelf map. Top shelf: the six bowls in a ring, cups in the middle. Bottom shelf: jars at the back near the element, five cups along the door.

What came out: 19 good, 2 seconds, 1 bad. The front cone 6 bent to about four o'clock. The back one went flat. That is half a cone of difference across 40 centimetres, and the five cups by the door show it. Their blue ash is matte and a little dry, where the ones at the back went glossy and broke brown on the rim.

The surprise: one jar lid fused to its gallery. I forgot to wax the seat. My fault, not the horno's. It goes on the Seconds shelf next month with the lid still on.

Next load: door-side cups move up a shelf, and I am adding a witness cone in the middle.