PSA: I still prefer a coal-fired glory hole over electric ones
Everyone swears by the control of new electric models, but the raw heat from coal gave each piece its own character. Now things are too consistent, if you ask me.
My old pottery teacher used to say about 30% of her wood-fired pieces were just for the scrap bucket. You can love the process but still hate losing a week's work to a random ash glaze flaw. Modern kilns cut that loss down to almost nothing, which lets you actually plan a series instead of just hoping.
My uncle ran a coal kiln for forty years and his stuff still cracked all the time. That "character" was mostly just flaws you had to work around. The control now means way less waste, which seems like a good trade.