About Flameware

Flameware is simply clay cookware than can be used for cooking over a flame or on a burner, as well in the oven. Ours is made with my own custom blend of materials that, after firing, have an almost zero co-efficient of expansion when exposed to stovetop temperatures. My flameware is fired to stoneware temperatures (cone 10-11) with glazes that have been specially developed over many years to fit the unique characteristics of my flameware clay body. I have changed the composition of the clay body many times since I first made it in the 1970’s. Some materials have become unavailable, new ones have presented themselves. I use a hammer mill to custom grind some of the raw materials I use. The result is a strong, durable flameware.

See below my Instructions for the Use Of Flameware.

Our Clay Heritage pages examine extensive global traditions in clay cookware using a variety of earthenware clays mixed with materials that make them more resistant to thermal shock. The best examples of this work are beautiful, but are more fragile, weak and pourous than my flameware. Many cannot be used on high heat and and are harder to clean, but do bring with them great traditions in cooking — dishes and recipes that can be reproduced using my flameware.

Instructions for the use of Flameware from the Hoyt Corbett Pottery

The Hoyt Corbett flameware cooking pot can be used for cooking food on the stovetop and in the oven with the following considerations:

1)  Do not leave bare, unglazed areas soaking for long periods in water.

2)  Do not wash in a dishwasher. If you do, let it dry for a day.

3)  When cooking requires the burner to be set on high, begin at a lower temperature and turn the burner up gradually — in stages — to high.

4)  Never leave an empty pot on a burner on high for extended periods of time.

Flameware cookware is made with a unique combination of materials in the clay. Some of them actually shrink when heated, and counteract other materials that expand when heated. The net result is a clay that, when fired, has an almost zero co-efficient of expansion at the range of temperatures found in normal use on a stovetop. Since the conditions in an oven are much less extreme than stovetop use, flameware is suitable for use in the oven as well.