Cooking in Wild Clay Pottery - Part 2.5 - Making Pots (Again)

This is part of a series which I intend to conclude by cooking a meal in a pot made from clay I dug out of the ground. In this part, I'll make some more pots to replace the ones that failed in the firing. I'll also look a little at what went wrong last time.
This playlist contains all of the episodes in this series: • Pottery & Ceramic Craft
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[@GAMING891]

I love the term "wild clay" because it implies feral and domesticated minerals

[@oz_jones]

I prefer to forge my swords from iron that has roamed free

[@jwalster9412]

@@oz_jones it's more rich in magnesium and carbon, less copper and aluminum.

[@k8eekatt]

@@jwalster9412 a cual pun

[@douglasfur3808]

regrettably "wild clay" is tainted for me as a local grocery chain uses "wild harvested" as the slogan for their natural foods line. On milk cartons it brings to mind the image of a milk maid brandishing a pail and stool while chasing an auroch through the woods 😁.

[@simonhopkins3867]

it's a conspiracy it's organic and free range being portrayed as wild.

[@azurehanyo]

My children cheered when I told them, "He made more pots!!!" No questions, no discussion. They knew precisely what I'd meant. Please make more of these videos! We love them.

[@catstify]

I love this series and it's the same thing I said to my partner! It's 10/10

[@bullfart9221]

@@catstify you built like a clay pot

[@oz_jones]

Wholesome

[@jwalster9412]

This looks so much like a bot comment, but it's probably not.

[@bullfart9221]

@@jwalster9412 you built like a clay pot too

[@Lazuli901]

I happened to be watching a video about Cherokee pottery techniques, and I found something interesting I thought you'd enjoy! Apparently, the Cherokee used to put a corncob inside whatever vessle they were going to cook, and when the cob began to smoke, they knew they could push it into the fire without risk of shock. I'm not sure how well it would work, but it's a neat idea!

[@revol113]

I’ve tried to explain to people why I like your videos so much. For me, it’s because you enjoy trying stuff that’s new and different. You’ve broken the mediocrity and routine nature that life can become, and you set yourself challenges and learn. Honestly, you’re an absolute inspiration Sir Shrimp.

[@CJ-fn6hh]

@@joesender daddy*

[@pppantz]

For me the channel is a quiet place of sanity and calm. With occasional belly laughs.

[@MrBod1975]

I get a grandad vibe who can teach you life skills

[@hiddengardener6921]

Isn't it impossible to put words on it.. I think it's just how relaxed and real he is. We've all forgotten about the simple things

[@OurCognitiveSurplus]

Let’s be real, it’s our autism.

[@kellehendrosencanton6227]

Speaking as a person who probably takes themselves far too seriously most of the time... I absolutely love the sense of whimsy and curious discovery you have. I've really enjoyed watching this journey so far, and I look forward to more.

[@dawnmagee3354]

Oh my goodness I can't believe how invested I am in this project! Can't wait for the next episode! Thanks Shrimp

[@Christopher.E.Souter]

I am constantly amazed that you are able to find the time to undertake such an enormously wide range of time-consuming activities: long walks, walking spoons, foraging, cooking, scam-baiting, cost-restricted menus (such as living on £1 a day for several days), weird stuff in cans, etc., etc., the list seems endless. I can't find any satisfactory substitute for the most obvious cliché to describe you: a 21st-century Renaissance man. 👍🏻 I never miss a single one of your videos, and I watch every second of each one, from beginning to end. Many, many thanks for all the wonderful things I have learnt about through your videos. 🙏🏻

[@MrBod1975]

Wow loving this series, even if they fail I just love your analysis of how you can succeed, I think most want success but you are so grounded that even with failure you take the positive. Keep making videos atomic shrimp you make days dark lighter again

[@Ben-zy2ep]

was up late last night thinking about mr shimp and his pots. glad to see this update today. Im not sure how much longer I could have handled the suspense

[@shaynecarter-murray3127]

This is my favorite YT channel. Between your content, your presentation, and your voice/accent, this is the YT equivalent of comfort food

[@kermitthepog7063]

It's the little bits of wisdom that you drop along the way which make you one of my favourite channels, the bit about the scenic method of making things really spoke to me. You've inspired me to get into crafting stuff, amongst other types of projects. Just finished waxing a pair of canvas trousers and a rucksack yesterday.

[@GIBBO4182]

The clay pot saga continues!

[@GwenShep]

It's honestly so lovely to see you experimenting and having fun with it rather than doing the most efficient route, it's how happy accidents are made much like the wobbly leaf pot, excited to see how they turn out!

[@IanSlothieRolfe]

Really enjoying these videos. I like that you are trying to discover the rules without looking too much at other sources (I'm assuming you did some research but you don't seem to be following a guide) - its sort of like trying to recreate the history of how people worked out how to make pots. I think digging a deeper hole will help, if only to sheild the wind and even out the temperature profile. I like the idea of covering over the pit once the fuel is exhausted so it cools very slowly. Its good you have friends that don't mind you digging holes and setting light to them in their garden!

[@bsvenss2]

Take a backup of the pots. If the firing fails again, you can always do a roll-back to version 2.5 or maybe 2.4.

[@ThomasFoolery7]

I’m so invested in this, I need to know how the ArtiFossil comes out!

[@physicalnova2965]

So relaxing and instructive, I love this series !

[@SananaAnanas]

I love this series! I'm so intrigued about what the final result will be ☺️

[@Pattoe]

"Unviably floppy" Don't worry, it happens to us all.

[@arwen-_-E.M.P.]

I am quite interested by pottery and All art forms related to it, so I’m very Interested by this video series. If I could double like this video I would!

[@devttyUSB0]

Your words at 12:31 - 12:48 resonate with me greatly. This not only goes for pottery or handywork. It is applicable to most if not all professions.

[@katiewilson4502]

Glad to see more of this series! Just wanted to say I love your content!!!

[@vikitoruss]

Be aware of a blonde kid with a green hat. He HATES pots. He came to my store and destroyed EVERY POT I had. Hopefuly he won't find Atomic Shrimp HQ is

[@howiedavis2316]

Nothing to do with the video series ( which I am loving ) , but your outro music ( which I also love ) reminds me so much of George Winston ( again love ) who I first learned about with his December album back in 1982 ( not sure if you have heard of him, but do yourself a favor , give a listen to any song from that album, and hopefully, yes, you will love it ) . With lots of Love from HB .

[@runswithcows]

I'm not entirely sure that this is helpful but I made loads of pots/cups/vases/ash trays as a child. They were all fired in a school kiln. Anyway the point is: I bashed the air out of the clay, a good half an hour of picking up the clay and slamming it down, picking it up slamming it down ad infinitium. Never folding over as that would just add air, just pick up and slam down.

[@captainbackflash]

If you don't know what a pot used to be? It's an ash tray. In the 80's, in school, when we did pottery, evey part that was too shitty, was an ash tray!

[@atsed11]

lol in school when we made potter our teacher told us to make school appropriate things. One of the kids in my class made a piece that definitely looked like an ash tray and my teacher went up to him and asked what he was making. A sucker holder, totally not an ash tray lolol

[@captainbackflash]

​@@atsed11 *lol* a sucker holder! Good one.

[@asharnanaeblake287]

As partly an artist/maker/teacher of ceramics, that has used home-brew clay like this, I have found this a very interesting series. I used clay from Cambridgeshire where I live, and much of my refining and making process was made a little easier purely because I had access to a pottery studio. It was not easy clay to work with, and I found it suited throwing more than coiling because it did not like being over 1cm thick, or having uneven thickness at all. It also tended to dry in my hands quite quickly, I have hot hands for a potter. (It also melted completely at stoneware temperatures..... but that's another story.... involving a thoroughly ruined kiln shelf.) The Cambridge clay was blue grey in colour before firing, and fired to a toasty yellow orange. If you were going to do much of this, it would be worth casting a/some thick plaster bowl forms to use as moulds instead of glass/wood/metal, because the plaster leaches moisture from the clay, making it quicker and easier to build onto, and the clay drops out of it naturally when its ready to be handled. Also don't be in too much of a rush to make a vessel in one sitting if at all possible, it is perfectly fine to let the clay harden to almost leather hard before adding more coils, at most you may need to score and slip it, but usually just adding water with a brush or sponge and rubbing the surface will wake it up enough to join perfectly. This waiting time to let the clay settle and harden will also make it very much easier for you to get the form and thinner walls you may want, and help stop sagging/flattening and warping of the form as you make it, especially with this type of wild clay. Two tools I can't recommend enough when coiling are: 1. any sort of of turn table. Picking up and moving/handling a wet pot will alter and weaken it's form. 2. A fine toothed serrated tool, preferably kidney shaped, it makes smoothing the coils together on the first pass much quicker, with less pressure, so the form is easier to keep. I also like to use a diagonal upward stroke on the inside and diagonal down on the outer, as it helps to keep the rounded form and adds overall strength. ( a smooth kidney for the refining is also very useful) I also like burnishing with the backs of spoons... purely because they have a handle. lastly, I have found the more regular your coils are when you roll them, the easier it will be to build and finish your pot. It is far easier to control form and thicknesses. Sorry for the novel.... and if any of this was unwanted or already known advice... just my thoughts upon watching your making process.... and was kindly meant.

[@douglasfur3808]

yay you're on the right track. Your ideas for a larger fire and adding more fuel to have enough ashes to protect the pots is spot on. (Toasting the dry pots around a small fire before stacking them for the bon fire can help with too sudden heating.) The technical term you were seeking to describe your fluted pot is "wibbly wobbly". The ingredient you noticed in the unrefined clay that acts plastic but doesn't add strength in the fired or unfired states is probably silt, flour size silica particles. Your observation about grog decreasing plasticity more than a like amount of sand is correct. Grog is greedy for water and will steal it from the clay minerals making them less plastic as well as diluting them. It looks like you're prospering from your work philosophy of learning about pottery from the clay by using the most primitive materials and techniques. 🥇ichiban style.

[@robchissy]

i am loving this series, can't wait for the next episode, i'd say it's my second favourite, my favourite is the scam bating, 3rd is the rambling through the woods

[@sheryla54]

I've no idea what possesses me to watch your content, but I'm glad I do 😁

[@ChadKovac]

Thank you for these. I'll be trying this in a few weeks myself and you've given me a bit of a head start. You and Andy Ward.

[@AllegedlyHuman]

What a wonderful video! I really do enjoy this series, and this meandering path you've chosen is quite relaxing and just good for the soul, if that makes sense? And hey, it even makes for more Atomic Shrimp content, which is always a plus in my book

[@ianbutler1983]

Very interesting. I saw a program about the clay warriors uncovered in China. They were made by the coil method as well.

[@beethimbles8801]

Really really love this series. More traditional craft series? Natural medicine? Shelter building? Wood whittling?

[@tgdb4968]

Been waiting for this, good man Shrimpy!

[@C-Hirsuta]

I am particularly excited about the spherical pot! Looking forward to the next update :)

[@jessicastarmer2974]

Your favourite pot is also my favourite- it reminds me of a ‘hunny’ pot from Winnie the Pooh 🥰

[@umrsyfq]

I love this series. Such a great series to unwind to.

[@frankiefranklin9761]

Did you think of doing press or drape mould pots? That can be a way of making thin ceramic without structural issues as you can use the mould to support the clay when drying. Sorry this is legit my job so I will continually add stuff like this to these videos 😂

[@frankiefranklin9761]

As you can see I comment before I finish the video and yes you tried press moulding 😂

[@strider_hiryu850]

that slightly egg shaped one looks more "jar-like" to me. not that there's anything wrong with that. each pot is beautiful in it's own way. especially the last one, which reminds me of the sort of pot you find in The Legend of Zelda. specifically: Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask

[@Corkoth55]

You have the patience of a saint. I need to learn to be more like you. Take in the experience.

[@minijimi]

Good job Mr Shrimp. Looking forward to how they turn out. The wavy pot is my favourite however I think that will end up in pieces after firing.

[@merlinathrawes6191]

Love these videos! A breath of fresh air.

[@k8eekatt]

Aww that sweet memory of Steph's pot made my heart smile. I love it that you're inviting your children to join you in your videos.

[@DaniPetkova]

How am I so emotionally invested in a bunch of pots??

[@jackys_handle]

What if you made clay utensils? Could be neat.

[@johnl8996]

You could read the ingredients of paint to me and I'll still hang on every word. This is a fantastic series!

[@sarkybugger5009]

Now this is dedication, Mike. Soldier on, you'll get there in the end. 👍

[@gnomespace]

The point of a journey is not 'to arrive'.

[@AtomicShrimp]

Yeah, the destination is just one place

[@h0lx]

To be fair, I kind of wish you would have to repeat the first steps quite a bit more, for this excellent series to last longer. Have thorougly enjoyed it so far

[@Top-Code]

"why? what did you think i meant?" UHHHHHHH

[@Paul-AustinTX]

Potters use a piece of string, when tautly passed under a pot, releases it from a surface.

[@AtomicShrimp]

Yeah. I think it would have been OK if I had just left it on the cloth. Not sure why I put it on the bare board

[@commentername9737]

Primitive Technologies doing clay-work/pot making: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oWO1fKeLnZugabM

[@pixelfingers]

Really liked the look of these pots

[@TomOConnor-BlobOpera]

It'd be interesting if you could get your hands on a potters wheel. Perhaps you could make one from a broken record player or something :D

[@georgevanaken925]

14:23 I’m loving your attitude of ~ “Hey, I know what let’s try!” Good times. Well done, sir. Wishes, toward a healthy and happy holidays for you and yours. 🙏 Edit: What I’m trying to convey is: Brilliant. 👍

[@jonathaningram4672]

I like watching your vids. I think the clay you have is not the right type, like you said it's known for brick making. I'm from the NE UK and hit clay mailing a pond for a landlord. I did some pottery work as a youngster, your clay looks more orange than what I've encountered/worked with. maybe geographical limitations/zones?

[@frankiefranklin9761]

YES TO LEAF EXPERIMENT I am commenting as always before the end and I am excited to see

[@thomasmcd]

Sending luck to the pots... and the artifossil

[@kitchenworker446]

Very interesting Mr Shrimp. I live in Lancashire in a place called Clayton-Le- Moors. The earth in the garden is very heavy clay in parts and there did used to be clay works and mining in this area. Where I live is a village just outside of Accrington. This is the home of the world famous Accrington Nori brickworks ( now sadly gone). The story goes that these bricks were the hardest bricks available anywhere and they were supposed to to be imprinted with the word "iron" to denote how hard they were. The person who made the imprint mould did it the wrong way round and the result was "NORI" instad of "IRON" and it stuck and for ever more they were known as Accy Nori bricks! I'm not sure if this is true or and urban myth!!

[@byeFofiko1]

I eagerly eagerly await your next video mr shrimp! I go to MIT in Cambridge (US) so I'm vicariously living in nature through your videos! We have a lot of similar interests so any time I watch a video of yours I know I'm in for something I really enjoy! I tried to make bricks with clay in Florida, but dried them in the sun so they cracked a lot. I was about ten so couldn't make a fire. I'm not sure when I'll ever be able to do stuff like this again

[@eloquentsarcasm]

Good stuff Mike! I was into pottery when I was younger, and the frustration is real, lol. You can make what you THINK is the perfect piece, but tiny flaws in the clay/heating/cooling can render it useless. You're making great progress, keep at it and don't let failures get to you, I much prefer smithing, as metal is easier for me to "read" and gauge when heating and forging.

[@Terraphice]

I can't help but hope you'll revisit some of the other old experiments and projects from your website, since you're re-doing the pottery over 12 years later.

[@silva7493]

Oh, Stef's bowl reminded you of a leaf! Sorry for accusing you of having liscencious thoughts, I guess they were my liscencious thoughts (blushing). I must've lost track somewhere, I couldn't figure out at the end which one looked a grotesque monster. I think they all look very nice.

[@Willowq4]

I just love this. I was watching your scam vids and saw that you do everything. Cooking in a clay pot, the food tastes 💯 better. I've never made them through,so I'll start at 1. ❤️🇦🇺

[@thefightinggameplayer]

This is one reason I would love to try something like this; experimentation and failures should be reasons for learning. Learning about why the pots fail after firing can be a good portion of the process.

[@SpaceCircIes]

The way you describe working with clay. "Daydreaming with my hands" is my favorite part of the hobby. For me it's about the journey, not the destination

[@jwalster9412]

Experimenting is fun.

[@j1952d]

If you decorated the clay by imprinting it with string, you could make some fake "Beaker People" pottery.

[@DisappointedDragon]

I never knew waiting for pot making videos could fill me with such suspense XD. Looking forward to seeing the firing

[@QtmMtrlzr]

Really enjoying this series. I did a couple 6wk classes at the local clay co-op over the last year and really enjoyed the process. There's something so primitive, simple and creative about creating these clay items with your hands.

[@YellowFacedMunchkin]

You should look at the KZbin channel "primitive technology" he's made many pottery videos

[@JonathanDavidsonn]

6:27 HELLO GORDON! surely I'm not the only one who's neurons flared up at that quote

[@Rob8]

I found this interesting in regards to salt glazing. It is suggested that it was discovered accidentally. "It’s reported that the salt glazing began due to kilns in the Rhineland being packed with salt-soaked wood from the barrels that held brined food. The salt from the wood created vapors in the kiln that then reacted with the clay bodies when fired at a very high temperature. In its basic form, "salt reacts with the silica in the clay pots to produce sodium silicate." Sodium silicate is essentially a liquid glass and therefore naturally glazed the pots, using the properties from the clay." -some random website

[@GigaBoost]

I can't belive I didn't get the fact that your daughter made a vulva pot until you brought back the joke with the oak leaf

[@sheikchilli8670]

i didnt know people of the corded ware culture (3000bc) were uploading on youtube

[@Bloodray19]

I don't usually watch your content other than scambaiting, but I've been enjoying this series quite a lot.

[@oliverg6864]

If you don't want your clay to dry out like that in storage, you should keep the clay stored in a sealed container with water in the bottom, with the clay elevated above the water. That way it keeps the humidity in the clay. Apparently that's how ancient Chinese potters kept their clay, and the longer it ages like that, the better the clay becomes. I did that with my own wild clay and I think it really improved the plasticity of the clay after I had stored it for several months. As well it was at a perfect hydration level. Good luck with firing this time! I'm really enjoying your clay series

[@IowaKeith]

If you make a really thin gravy (boiling water and flour) or add noodle water or excess rice water, it helps add plasticity to the refined clay. That is an old process that was used throughout history.

[@helenbrown6194]

For such uncooperative clay I think your pots are very good.two other ways you might enjoy making pots are the Japanese technique- kurinuki where you make a solid lump of clay with the external shape you desire let it stiffen to leather hard then hollow it out ,like hollowing a pumpkin for carving.or you might try starting your pot rim first ? Make a coil the size of the rim you want lay it on a little bit of board then build up your pot with a little smaller coil every time ,essentially making a dome.smooth interior and exterior as possible rotating your board as you go as an I provided turntable finally a blob fills the hole in the top like the capping block in an igloo.let t harden a bit then run a sharp blade round the base to release it from the board and refine it to a finish. Have fun

[@lenalyles2712]

Love this series, have watched Native Americans and Mexicans make pots. It's fascinating to watch.

[@cesariojpn]

I was slightly right, by the time this ends, we'll have 35 videos on pot making with branches out to variant topics.

[@Valdrag]

I do enjoy videos of professionals showing us their craft, but there is something likeable about going through the learning process with you Mike. This is a good series.

[@UristMcPerson]

I wonder what would happen if you got some strips of dried twigs or metal rods and made a lattice from them, which you place the clay around to form your bowl. Maybe if the difference in tension within the clay wall can be mitigated by that, like rebar in concrete, allowing you to get some thicker walls!

[@CigaretteTricks]

I have zero interest in doing any of this, and yet I find this series of videos absolutely riveting. Can't wait for the next one.

[@raraavis7782]

When you're more excited about Mr. Shrimp's pot making adventures, then anything going on in your own life 😅

[@TealCheetah]

Things might not dry well enough if you have humidity. I live in a desert and the problem has always been things drying TOO fast.

[@RoswelliVideos]

Seeing the time, effort and care that goes into making these pots... makes me feel bad now every time I break them in Zelda to get 1 Rupee.

[@Blackdeathteal]

Not going to lie that last pot looks like one you would smash in video games to get currency out of , be glad there is no Link's looking for Princess Zelda near you Mr Shrimp

[@stefflus08]

Sulfides are quite heavy, so I'd try refining a thin slip in a tall, narrow container and discard more. Perhaps the entire lower half.

[@bbgdaryl]

I'm really enjoying this series far more than anticipated. I've never had an interest in pottery before, but knowing all the details and different ways it can be done is so fascinating.

[@saidchammas]

16:55 your thumb's positioning gives me an idea: would you consider making a pot in the shape of the statue from "night at the museum"?

[@tripsheridan160]

im really looking forward to seeing these pots fired and ready to go!! i do pottery so if the leaf thing works with the plates, then im definitely going to try that. i know that you said that using a kiln is out of the question, but i do think its worth pointing out that you can make a temporary wood kiln that only takes up about a square meter of space. you would need more complicated parts, particularly, then you are using here. excited to see how your pots look!

[@infango]

i think there was different problem no acapella version of Fire by Arthur Brown ;)

[@joefization]

Who would have thought clay pots could be so exciting? I suspect our ancient ancestors blood is still flowing strongly within us and watching a man discovering how to use the earth to cook his food is fascinating to the core of our being.

[@gafrers]

Great new episode of this series

[@TheBalthassar]

When you get a pot stuck like that you might get away with using a piece of wire or dental floss to cut it off the board. I was taught to do that to get pots of a wheel, but that was a wetter process that was more like sliding them off to avoid damage.

[@johnrula]

Love your videos this series may be life saving info , keep up the great work…peace

[@fishingurban]

Your ability to face failure with curiosity is inspiring, been enjoying this serious a bunch!

[@dude7803]

i hope this is not an intrusive question, but i was wondering if the shape of your hands and the missing joint on your thumb makes shaping the clay harder than it would be for the average person.