Bisque Firing and High Firing: A Basic Overview of Kiln Cycles

Basic Overview of Firings: Bisque and High Firing

Let’s continue talking about the kiln – the most important piece of equipment in any ceramic studio. This is just a brief overview of a few key concepts; we’ll go deeper into them in future posts.

Clay is usually fired in two stages:

1) Bisque firing
In this first firing, the clay pieces get their permanent shape, but they remain porous. Once the form has been fixed in the bisque, the pieces can be handled much more easily afterwards – for example to apply a glaze.

2) High firing (glaze firing)
In this high-temperature firing, the glaze melts and fuses to the surface of the clay body.

(There are different ways to do this: oxidation firing, reduction firing, Raku, and so on.)

As always, there are exceptions. For example, ceramic decals are sometimes applied in a third firing/stage.