thanks guys
I fire them in a pit. you don't bury them like chert b\c you need the flames themselves to fire the pots. I gently heat them all up around the fire for about 1 hour, turning them every 5-10 minutes.. they pretty much burn you a little after a while. you progressively get them closer to the flame. I let the flames die way down to a good bed of coals and then flip them upside right onto the coals (with a stick). then throw sticks over top of them and build the fire back up. somewhere between 1 - 1.5 hours of cooking them seems to do the job. The color happens all on it's own, likely a carbon thing, or oxygen exposure...I have no idea really.. As the fire cooks, I like to mound dirt up around the fire but not on the pots, this insulated them and lets them cool slow. I let them cool down all the way by themselves and remove that night or next day. The whole process isn't really something I can explain. Most of it is trial and error. My first attempts made pots, but some were not cooked enough, others too much, the clay didnt have enough sand.....then too much.. lot of variables when doing it abo.. Truth is I am still learning a lot, but no other way to do it than to just get out and do it.
I am maybe 2 hours or so from Eddie. Not real close but not real far
