The pyrometer on my little kiln reads about 40 degrees off when it's cold, then catches up somewhere past 900 and lies the other way. I know this. I've known it for months. And still every firing I stand there like an idiot sniffing the peephole like it's a wine.

But the smell thing is real. Around 600 the last of the water comes out and it smells like a wet stone wall in August. Then it goes dry and a bit sharp and I know we're into the organics burning off. By the time I can smell nothing at all I'm close to where the glaze starts to move and that's my cue to stop pacing.

Anyway I've got two mugs with the same wonky handle shape in there right now, cone 5, one in a celadon I've never fired before and I'm fully prepared to lose it. My flatmate says the smell is just my kiln element dying. He's probably right. I'm not telling the pyrometer either way.

If you've got a kiln that lies to you, I want to know what your tells are.