In this episode of For Flux Sake, I dig into a deceptively simple question: why the last ~200°F of a firing can matter more than everything that came before it. People love to ask whether they should fire fast or slow, and my answer is basically: it depends what you’re trying to finish. That final stretch is where a lot of bodies and glazes actually complete the work—glaze melt tightens up, bubbles have a last chance to heal, and the clay body pushes toward vitrification (or doesn’t, if you miss it). Temperature isn’t just a number; it’s a window of reactions, and the end of the firing is where the window is narrowest. We also talk through how firing rate intersects with glaze melt and maturity—why two firings that “hit the same cone” can still look different, and why the last part of the climb can be the difference between underfired dry surfaces and properly developed gloss, color, and fit. And I bring up a class of UK clays that vitrify at surprisingly low temperatures, which is a great reminder that not all clay bodies play by the same rules. The takeaway: if your work is inconsistent, stop blaming the whole firing and start interrogating the finish—those last degrees are where you either lock in the good stuff, or lock in the problems.