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The Clay Hole University · Other Ways to Find, Fire, and Form

Onggi: Korea’s Giant Fermentation JarsPrintable pottery guide

The Korean jar tradition, on paper: why onggi breathe, how thick ropes and a paddle raise a giant wall, how to read a jar, what your own big pots can borrow, and a log for every big pot you try.

$16.005 guides, 1 free
  • Skill level: Advanced
  • 17 printable pages
  • 3 video picks
  • 5-question quiz + answer key

Flip through the free sample
  • Instant download
  • Prints on any printer
  • The lesson stays free
The printable, at a glance

What is the Onggi: Korea’s Giant Fermentation Jars printable guide?

It is the free “Onggi: Korea’s Giant Fermentation Jars” lesson rebuilt for paper: what onggi are and why the walls breathe, the coil and paddle method step by step, how a jar lives and works, how to read its shape, five things to borrow for your own big pots, three films worth your evening and four questions answered. Built to be printed, kept at the bench and written in.

Prefer to read it online first? The “Onggi: Korea’s Giant Fermentation Jars” lesson is free, and always will be.

  • 17printable pages, US Letter
  • 5quiz questions, with a full answer key
  • 3hand-picked videos, each with a QR code
  • 10glossary terms in plain language
  • 2workbook pages you fill in yourself
For anyone with a big pot in mind

Borrow a tradition built for scale.

An onggi is not made to be admired. It is made to ferment food for decades, outdoors, and the method behind it is one of the fastest honest ways people have found to raise a very large wall by hand.

The guide walks through that method in order: the slab floor, thick ropes and wide slats, the paddle against an anvil, and the steady rhythm that keeps a wall even. Then it turns to what a jar is for, and why every curve on it is there.

It also gives you what a web page cannot: a one page reference to keep at the bench, and a log for every big pot you try, so you can see what your own hands and your own clay do with scale.

Look inside

Real pages, for beside the bench

These are actual pages from the guide, shown here with the sample watermark.

  • Page 3 of the “Onggi: Korea’s Giant Fermentation Jars” printable guide: before you begin, shown with the sample watermark
    Before you beginOne page before anything else: what you will learn, what you need, what is worth knowing, the common pitfalls, and what a good result looks like.
  • Page 6 of the “Onggi: Korea’s Giant Fermentation Jars” printable guide: a jar’s working life, shown with the sample watermark
    A jar’s working lifeHow an onggi lives outdoors for decades, why each ferment gets its own jar, and how to read a jar by its belly, mouth, rim and wall.
  • Page 8 of the “Onggi: Korea’s Giant Fermentation Jars” printable guide: three films, shown with the sample watermark
    Three filmsThree films worth an evening, each with a short note and a code that takes you straight to it.
  • Page 11 of the “Onggi: Korea’s Giant Fermentation Jars” printable guide: every big pot i tried, shown with the sample watermark
    Every big pot I triedA log to write in: the clay, how you built it, how long it took to dry and how it came out.
Flip through the free sampleTen pages, free, no email required.
Why this one belongs on paper

A reference for the bench, not the screen

You have clay on your hands. Paper suits that.

  • The method on one sheet

    The build, the shape of the jar, what to borrow and what to ask before you build large sit on a single page you can pin above the bench.

  • A reason for every step

    Each step comes with its reason: why the base is a thick slab, why ropes beat slender coils at this size and why you tap rather than hit.

  • A log for your own big pots

    Columns for the clay, how you built it, how long it took to dry and how it came out. A few pots of notes show you what scale does to your work.

  • It does not mind a dusty bench

    A page stays where you put it. It does not lock its screen, and you can wipe it down with the rest of the bench.

How this one is built

Rebuilt for paper, not printed from a web page

Every guide in the series is set from scratch for print. Here is what that meant for this one.

  • Read against our other lessons

    We checked the lesson against the studio’s own rules and our lessons on coil blending, giant pots and clay bodies. Where they differed, the guide now says what those pages say.

  • Paddling with the joins in mind

    The guide says to tap rather than hit while the clay is firm, and to score and slip every join, as in any coil work, instead of promising that the paddle welds everything.

  • Size, drying and the kiln

    A big jar has to fit a kiln, thick walls dry slowly, and a cookie goes under every piece. The guide says so, and says to ask the team how big you can go.

  • Video notes that say what the video shows

    Each of the three films has a note checked against its description and chapter list, so the guide promises only what a film covers.

  • A quiz that explains itself

    A short quiz, and an answer key that gives the reason behind every answer rather than only the letter.

  • Codes that keep working

    Every link is a short Clay Hole address. If a page moves, we repoint the address and your printed copy still goes to the right place.

Why the University is free

The lesson is free. It always will be.

All of the teaching in this guide comes from the free “Onggi: Korea’s Giant Fermentation Jars” lesson, and that lesson is not going anywhere.

Big pots are better with people around.

Ask us how big you can go, and come tell us when the first jar comes out.

Dan Pearce, founder of The Clay Hole
The series

Build a little pottery library

Every printable guide in The Clay Hole University series takes one free lesson and rebuilds it for paper, with workbook pages, a glossary and a quiz with a worked answer key. Each one keeps its number for good, so a guide you buy today is the same guide in the same place next year.

Put any five printable guides in your cart and the cheapest one is on us. Put in nine and the two cheapest are on us. It happens automatically at checkout, no code to remember.

See every printable guide

  • 5guides in your cart1 on us
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Sits next to

Three lessons that pick up where this one leaves off

Each one is free to read online, and the codes in the guide take you straight there.

Questions

Good to know

How is this different from the free lesson?
The teaching is the same, and the free lesson is not going anywhere. The guide is that teaching rebuilt for paper: a learning dashboard at the front, a log to write in, a one page reference, a glossary and a quiz with an answer key that explains every answer.
Can I make a real onggi at the studio?
You can make an onggi-method jar in studio stoneware. The full tradition, with its regional clays, ash glazes and long wood firings, belongs to Korea, and the guide says so plainly. Where something is only our rule, such as staff loading every kiln, it says that too.
Will it tell me how big I can go?
It tells you to ask the team before you build, because a jar has to fit the kiln. It also explains why thick walls dry slowly and why big pots take more kiln space.
Can I ferment food in a jar I make?
The guide covers it briefly: a fully vitrified stoneware jar can work as a modern fermentation vessel, with a loose lid or a water seal and a liner glaze you have checked. It does not promise anyone that their pickles are safe, and it points you to our Food Safe Lookup.
Is this too advanced for me?
It is marked Advanced because big paddled work asks for patience. Nothing in it needs a special kiln, and the five things to borrow work on a medium jar.
Do I need a fancy printer?
No. It is set for an ordinary home or office printer on regular US Letter paper, with nothing important near the edges, so normal printer margins cut nothing off.
Does it print in black and white?
Yes. The text, the tick boxes and the tables are black on white, and color is used for headings and small labels.
Can I print just part of it?
Yes, and most people do. The one page reference and the log are the two worth having at the bench. They are numbered pages like any other, so you can print those and leave the rest on a screen.
Do the films work on paper?
Each film has a short note and a code that takes you straight to it, so you can scan it from the page.
How does delivery work?
It is a digital download. The link arrives by email and on the order confirmation page right after checkout, so you can have it printed the same evening.
What happens if the guide is updated?
Every edition carries its version number on the last page. When we correct or improve one, the new edition replaces the old one in the shop, and we can send the updated link to anybody who already bought it.
Can I share it?
It is licensed for your own use. Print as many copies for yourself as you like, on as many of your own devices as you like. Please do not pass the file on, upload it or use it with a class or a group without asking us first.

Take a tradition to your next big pot

Learn the method, borrow what works and keep it all at the bench. The guide holds it on paper.

Get the guide · $16.00

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