Toshiko Matt Black Dan Anderson

Mixing: I usually add the water to a 5-gallon plastic bucket, which can hold a 10,000-gram batch. The water is usually lukewarm to warm, and I always add hard-to-dissolve ingredients like soda ash first. I blunge each ingredient into the glaze with an electric drill and blunger. Once all the ingredients are in the bucket, I continue blunging for 5 minutes. I add just enough water so that when I dip my hand in the glaze, I can see through the glaze to my fingernails. If I cannot see my nails, I keep adding water. If the glaze gets too thin, I let the glaze sit overnight and siphon off water the next day. I then sieve the glaze into a clean 5-gallon bucket.

Application: Apply via dipping or pouring. I prefer letting bisque pieces with wet glazes or slips to dry over- night before applying additional slips or glazes.

Note: Glazes with barium carbonate or high percentages of metallic oxides are generally not food safe.