Our kiln is an 8 x 8 x 8 sprung-arch downdraft variety which took Master Potter Jan P. Christianson two years to build. It takes two or more days for three people to load the approximately 1,200 pieces it holds. Fitting the stoneware together for optimum space usage as well as leaving areas between stacks of pots for air circulation is like working a huge jigsaw puzzle.

When the loading is complete, the Master Potter wheels the thick, weighted door against the outside of the kiln, turns on the gas, and ignites it. Heat must be left on for approximately 24 hours for the kiln's internal temperature to test at 2,380 degrees. This is the vitrification point, or melting temperature, of rock salt.

The Master Potter then checks the kiln, puts on gauntlets and a welder's mask, and adds water-conditioner type rock salt into the path of the flames. The salt has just enough moisture within to make it explode when it hits the heat–it sounds like tiny kernels of popcorn. It vitrifies, or changes into an almost frothy-looking glassy substance which begins flying throughout the kiln on the thermals, and is attracted to the surface of the stoneware. Melted salt is what creates the lovely shiny, durable coating on salt-glaze pottery.

Approximately 40 pounds of rock salt is used for each firing. When salting is complete, the Master Potter turns off the gas and "banks" the kiln, covering all the holes and trapping the heat inside. He then allows the kiln to cool for three days. After this, Shadowlawn personnel unstack the pieces, hand-clean each one with sandpaper to assure smooth edges, and inspect them for flaws. The stoneware that passes Manager Kim's critical judgment is then ready for stacking in the warehouse, for sale and shipment.