You may be aware of the lovely and distinctive salt glaze, which often has a smoothly bumpy texture known as orange peel. But, do you know where salt glazing first came to be known?
There in the Rhineland of Germany, they have a plastic gray stoneware that potters began using early in the Middle Ages. Plus, they had lots and lots of dense forest that the potters could use to fuel their kilns. By about 1100 to 1300 C.E. the potters' kilns were reaching stoneware temperatures and producing nice beer mugs, jars, and wine bottles.
The Rhine was an excellent conduit for trading, and the German potters' wares were soon being sold all over the region. At the end of the 1300's or the beginning of the 1400's, something brand new came into being and soon became popular everywhere it went. The German potters had discovered salt glazing.
So far, so good, but.... Why on earth did they even think to throw salt into their kilns at the end of the firing?
Ah, listen closely, and I shall tell you the tale.... Once upon a time, a Rhineland potter thought he had enough wood for one last firing before having to head out into the forest, with his wagon and ax, to do all the hard labor of cutting, splitting, and hauling the wood back to his pottery. Besides, his merchant friend wanted his latest pots ready to ship in four days; it would take longer than that just to replenish his woodshed.
He stacked his kiln and started the firing. Dark red, cherry red, red-orange, orange, then yellow glowed the kiln. But, disaster! He was out of wood, with the kiln almost to temperature, but not all the way. If he stopped the firing now, his efforts would be wasted; he would have to start the firing all over again once he chopped more wood. And worse, the pots wouldn't be ready for his friend, and friend or not, merchants dealt first with the potters who could supply them on time.
What to do? Desperate, the potter scraped the woodshed floor and scrounged the last few splinters there. He then charged into the house and flustered his wife greatly. Wildly, he looked about the place. "Wood! I must have wood!" His wife, eyes wide, pointed to the storeroom.
Throwing open the door, the potter rummaged through their household stores. There! In the back! His thrifty wife had saved some old sauerkraut barrels!
The potter and his wife hurriedly hauled the sauerkraut barrels back to the kiln, where the potter promptly broke them apart and began pitching them into the firebox. He saw the salty crust of dried up brine on the inside of the barrels, but thought little of it at the time.
The kiln was fired to temperature, fed on the salt-encrusted staves. When the kiln cooled and he unloaded it for his merchant friend, the pottery within was coated with a magical, glossy frosting of glaze. And thus, German potters discovered salt glazing.
Of course, this is only a legend...but the fact remains that salt glazing is still done today, and the orange peel glazes are still enjoyed by many.