Tenmoku Tea Cup Firing Process -Electric VS. Wood Firing

1. What are electric firing and wood firing

Electric firing: Electric firing is a process that uses electricity as the energy source to make pottery. Kilns that use electricity for firing are called electric kilns, and electric kilns are currently the most popular firing equipment. The electric kiln has a small volume and can precisely control the temperature and air pressure inside the kiln, significantly improving the qualification rate of Jianzhan cups.

Wood firing: Wood firing is a process that uses wood as energy to make pottery. This process is closer to nature and can provide you with incredible products. Any wood-fired Tenmoku is “unique”; the temperature, pressure, and humidity at different locations will be different, making their patterns rich and charming.

2. Electric firing vs. wood firing

1) Product features:

Wood firing: The temperature inside the kiln varies from high to low in the firing process, resulting in the formation of some bubbles on the surface of the teacup. Moreover, due to uneven heating, some parts of the cup may be thick, some may be thin, and the color of the glaze may also change. But cups made by wood firing process have a beauty of nature.

Electric firing: Electric firing can effectively control factors such as temperature and pressure, resulting in higher quality cups, more uniform thickness and color, and fewer defects

2) firing difficulty

Electric firing has a fast speed and simple technique. The key is to control the firing temperature and time. After setting up the equipment, the kiln can automatically complete the firing process, which needs only one person.

But we need a team with extensive experience when it comes to wood firing. Due to the long length of the wood-firing kiln, each kiln requires a worker to add wood regularly to ensure that the kiln fire does not extinguish for 72 hours.

3) time and quantity

Electric kilns have different sizes. Small kilns can only hold dozens of cups, while larger kilns can fire more than 100 cups at once. Therefore, the firing time is shorter, and the frequency is higher.

The wood-firing Kiln is over 30 meters long and can fire tens of thousands of Jian Zhan cups at once. It takes 72 hours to fire and 48 hours to cool down naturally.

4) Different costs

Electric firing uses an electric kiln with a low investment cost and energy cost.

Wood firing Jian Zhan is fired in a Loong kiln. The kiln is made of brick and soil. Currently, the Jianyang Loong kiln is generally 40-50 meters long. The primary fuel is pine wood, and each kiln must burn thousands of kilograms. And it requires more workers, resulting in high firing costs.

3. How to choose cups made by these two methods

Wood-firing Jian Zhan has few controllable factors, so the yield is low, and high-quality cups are random, so the price is very high.

However, wood-firing Jian Zhan is simple, elegant, and has a natural texture, which has high collection value and is the favorite of Jianzhan enthusiasts.

Electric firing is using current technology to upgrade the firing process, making it more controllable and simplified, improving the yield and quality, reducing prices, and enabling Jianzhan to be used by the general public.