Hey everyone, so I’ve been messing around with kilns and bricks lately, and let me tell you, it’s been quite the learning experience. I wanted to figure out what exactly goes into making those kiln bricks we use. It’s not as simple as I thought!
So, I started by digging around for some info. I mean, you’d think it’s just clay, right? Turns out, there’s a whole history to this. I stumbled upon this old text that talked about a place where they “burnt them in the place where bricks are burnt.” They called the brick-kiln “malben” or sometimes “malcen,” and it seems like it was also a place for some kind of fire ritual to a god named Moloch. Creepy, huh? But it gave me a sense of how ancient this whole brick-making thing is.


Then I moved on to how kilns are used. From what I gathered, people would stack bricks into a massive kiln and just bake them with fires made from wood, charcoal, or coal. The whole baking thing takes like five or six days! That’s a long time. Imagine the patience those old-timers must have had.
I also discovered that the color and feel of the bricks depend on the type of clay they used in that area and even the weather and the fuel they burned. Different places have their own unique bricks, which I think is pretty cool. It’s like every region has its own brick fingerprint.
- I tried to break down the process of making bricks into simple steps. First, they prepare the clay, then they shape it into bricks… that part I got.
But here’s a sad part I found: in places like Peru and other low-income countries, they still make bricks in these old-school kilns that just pollute the heck out of the air. I mean, greenhouse gases and all that bad stuff. It made me think about how we take our modern, cleaner ways for granted.
It really got me thinking, you know? Have you ever stopped to think about the bricks in the walls around you? Your home’s walls? It’s something we usually just ignore. I realized that brickyards can have like twenty different types of bricks, depending on color, texture, and shape. I was really shocked about that.
And get this, to unload these super hot bricks from the kilns, you need some heavy-duty, tough bricks. I guess that makes sense, right? Hot bricks need to be handled by something that can take the heat.
Lastly, I learned that properly built and used brick kilns can be a good way to make charcoal. They’ve been used for years and years, and they don’t cost a fortune to set up. I guess that’s why they’re still around, huh?


So yeah, that’s been my little adventure into the world of kiln bricks. It’s way more than just clay and fire. There’s history, different techniques, and even some environmental stuff to think about. Who knew bricks could be so interesting?