Pyewackette

If the clay is too wet then just arch it - make an arch and poke some holes into it with your fingers and let it sit that way for however long it takes to dry out "enough".  Then wedge it.
As for reclaim, over the past year I have discovered for certain sure that there is no need whatsoever to let the clay dry out before you reclaim it.  I have been taking all my scraps (of a particular type of clay, I work with 3 currently) and my slop water and keeping them in a bucket until I have "enough" to moosh it all together with my hands until I have a slurry-like lumpy mass.  Then I slap it onto the tiny (about 12x18) plaster block we have to suck excess water out.  I turn it about once an hour (pretty dry here in Tejas so ymmv) until it's "dry enough", then I wire wedge it.  I'm generally working with about 18-20 lbs of clay at a time, that's about all that will reasonably fit on the slab at the studio.  I can easily wire wedge this amount.  I could NEVER ram's head wedge that much at once.
Wire wedging doesn't care about lumps.  Wire wedging doesn't care about varying moisture.  Wire wedging doesn't care how much or little clay you are throwing at the table.  Wire wedging, in fact, doesn't care about much of anything except that you slam it into the table a lot.  My shoulders thank me for returning to my wire wedging ways.  I was taught to wire wedge 50 years ago and didn't know there was any other way until pretty recently, when I took classes in NC when we were living there.  Nobody there had ever heard of wire wedging and since they were all "experts" and I was still struggling to even have a place to work regularly, I bought in to the whole "rams head all the way" mentality and my shoulders and back have hated me ever since.
I slap clay by the handful onto the table, aiming the next handful to land as near to the last blob as possible, if its still pretty wet.  If its really wet I either return it to the slab or I arch it as above.  When its "dry enough" I form the mass up into a roughly box shaped blob, drop-slap it onto the table, turn it over, drop-slap it again, cut it, drop slap one half onto the table, drop slap the other half on top of that (I usually end up with a thinner edge and a thicker center so I match thin-to-thick when I slap the second half down), turn it and drop-slap the whole mass twice, then cut and repeat.  I'll reform the edges into a box shape if it starts to flatten out too much. I do this until I don't see any air bubbles.  Actually I go 4 times more to be sure the air bubbles are really all gone.  It really doesn't take all that long even for a decrepit broken down 5'2" old lady like me.  You don't even really have to throw the clay at the table, if there's enough mass just lifting it and dropping it will do the job - just takes a few more drops.
Then I form it up into a cone or balls or whatever floats my boat at the moment.  Usually I can throw with it immediately but sometimes its still to soft/wet for good throwing and I have to wait 3 or 4 days for it to sort of set up.  Again - dry here - ymmv. I keep wedged stuff in the plastic bags commercial clay comes in.
It may be important to note - I am a dry thrower so saving my slop water for reclaim is easy. I NEVER throw my clay scraps in my working water (where my sponge et al are). I keep a separate scrap bucket for that.  Eventually my working water (usually about 2 or 3 cups at start of day in a small bucket) gets goopy anyway (and cut in volume by about half as I add water to the clay I'm working), which so far always coincides with "I'm done for the day" anyway.  So I set that bucket aside and let it settle overnight, then pour off the clear water the next day.  I usually end up adding working water to this 2 or 3 days running before dumping it into my scraps (which I keep wet and never let dry out). If I feel it gets too much water to clay, I just leave it uncovered (a screen over top is a good idea to keep bugs out) to evaporate for a few days.  Haven't had to do that but - dry thrower.  If you have a lot of slop water at the end of the day, maybe more evaporation is in your future.  Currently I'm still pretty low output, maybe 6 or 8 pieces (sometimes a few more if they're all small) before I'm a goner for the day. I AM old so ... but I am getting faster and when I "use up" that 2 or 3 cups I started with I just set the goopy aside and start with a new bucket of working water.  SMALL bucket, 2 or 3 cups of water at a time.  Pour it all together at days end and pour off the clear the next day.
The only thing I'm planning to change about all this is I'm going to take to wrapping my wet reclaim in a pillowcase, in 2 pieces, to make it easier to turn it on the slab and cut down on how much time I have to spend cleaning the slab.  So 2 rectangular pieces about 9x12 (slab is roughly 12x18) wrapped in pillowcases. Just unwrap and wedge when its "dry enough".
I generate so much less dust this way its not even funny.  Also use a lot less "fresh" water, which is good practice for when I get my studio finally set up.  It won't have running water (unless you count me running water in in a bucket or dragging in a hose LOL!)
And my shoulders and back don't hate me any more.  If I had to ram's head wedge all my reclaim I would probably spend half again as much time having to recover.  Eventually I'd probably irritate one shoulder or the other into freezing up - I've had frozen shoulder twice on one side and once on the other.  Rather not irritate them.  Wire wedging all the way!
There is a Michael Wendt video where he demonstrates a way more complicated version of this than I am using (he calls it "stack and slam"), but its basically the same without all the counting and the making-sure-you-are-slapping-the-clay-down in a particular orientation.  Google it if you're not sure how this is working.
Currently I DON'T have a wire mounted but I use a stiff cheap cutting wire that I can lay down on the table and it'll lay flat and straight (my mudwire won't lay out straight easily but a stiff wire will) and its easy enough to just set the clay lump on top of that about midway and then just pull the wire up.
I swear, now that I've overcome my conditioning about ram's head wedging, I don't know why wire wedging ever fell out of favor.  Its so much easier, and easier on the body.  And at least for me, a LOT faster.

Wow this is all pretty awful.
For folks looking for similar tools, Hsin Chuen Lin is making a few now.  Not sure if they're the right shapes but he's for sure still alive and in control of his own affairs.

Hi and welcome!
I would venture that if you’re getting the same cracking in different climates and with different clay bodies/batches, it’s not the material. 
I think your observation about the join being too thick is a possibility, but I’d have to see the thickness difference to confirm.
What I think is more likely is that you’re adding water back into the pot at the wrong times, possibly at multiple points from your description, and that’s causing a little readsorbtion, which is what happens when clay starts to reclaim. The good news is, the solution involves working less than you are.
-Start by not sponging. Sponging pots for cleanup is make-work. If you aim to handle pots at the stage where you’re not leaving fingerprints and keep your hands clean so you’re not adding crumbs, you eliminate the need to sponge and save yourself a bunch of time that you could use to do something much more fun.
-Damp box use: If you need to increase the humidity inside your damp box you can put a damp sponge in next to but not touching them, or add a little water to the plaster (if you’re using plaster). Don’t spray the pots. Another possibility is that if your damp box is getting condensation that drips back down onto the pots, that’s reapplying water in your absence, causing that readsorbtion. You also might try opening the damp box gradually over a period of 3-4 days rather than doing a fully covered/no covered method. Think even circulation and drying, not slow. Slow done wrong doesn’t mean even. I think drying mugs that need no further work for 30 days is unnecessary.
-When you’re doing the handle attaching, rather than adding a coil, beef up the cut end of the handle by tapping it so that it flares a bit. This will leave extra clay for smoothing and increase the surface area of the join itself, making it stronger. It’s my opinion that magic water shouldn’t be necessary in most mugs, but if you do choose to use it, use it sparingly to make a small amount of slip on the site as you score. Regular water works this way too.  
-Remember to wiggle!  If you push and wiggle until it stops sliding around, the handle may break on either side of the join, but the handle won’t separate from the body. If you’re generously applying vinegar slip, again you’re adding water. When you remove the ooze from the edges of the attachment points, think about wiping the piece dry, not cleaning it up like you’re wiping a countertop. Remove extra moisture/slip with a well wrung out sponge or a clean, damp watercolour paintbrush.
Things I think you’re doing right:
I don’t think you need to use stiffer clay to start with: save your wrists.
Drying pots upside down! If you’ve got a thicker attachment point on the outside of the pot, trapping humidity inside the thinner walled mug body slows down the drying of the thinner bits, and gives the handle a chance to catch up.
Everything you’re doing on day one. 10/10, no notes.  

I think this has been discussed before. I had a similar prob and it is the shrinkage and moisture difference thingie  @neilestrick advised on it which worked for me.
I ended up making handles, covering tthem with plastic, trimming pots at quite a soft leatherhard and attaching straight after, water with a bit of vinegar, or throwing water  scratched onto mug with a tooth brush works for me. I sometimes spray handles with water if I have been a but slow and day hot.  Handle end smishwd and scratched with tbrush. Squiggle handle onto cup scratthed area, add any coil at this point, smooth aka Callie and leave to dry how you normally dry.
Neil wrote re softer pot, harder handle helped cope with the shrinkage problems, I Think! Worked for me.
Hope he confirms..But if handle tooo dry it may crack in firing...

There it is! That makes more sense. Buying bulk is definitely the way to go. If you don't need that much yourself, see if a clay buddy can go in on it with you. Even at $77/box, that's less than $3 in clay to make a mug. It's expensive when you have to pay for all that clay, but when you break it down it's not too bad, especially if you can sell a few to pay for the hobby. Still cheaper than owning a horse or going on a ski trip!

Hi ‘y’all!
I’m now living in LA and have just completed porting my changes into Jason Bruce’s current code. I think it’s working properly from my testing but have yet to finish the circuitry and attach to a live kiln.
My features over and above Jason’s include:
1) a scheduler to easily schedule a future firing;
2) a simple password requirement to avoid accidental starts and stops by prying eyes; and
3) coding to be able to run background functions from the gui (like shutdown or reboot).
Let me know if there’s interest, and if so I’ll clean up and upload my repository.
// Mark 

@Mark C. Yes and that is why we were taught to wire wedge 50 years ago.  The wire would catch the odd twig or stone or other debris that might still be in the clay.
But to find a literal TON of clay full of feldspar chunks and things that you can't just pull out, things that change the character of the clay, in "modern times" as it were, is kind of disconcerting. I had no idea this sort of things was much of a problem any more.
I get why sponge bits end up in reclaim but I was surprised to find them in new clay LOL!

I've been finding bits of sponge in my porcelain, and I thought that was annoying. Now I'm afraid to buy clay ... 

i have given this recipe to members of this forum.  there is a very easy to use red clay made of only 2 ingredients so everyone was  positive it was not good.  someone did the chemistry and discovered it has all it needs.     it is really very plastic, no grog, strong stoneware, pretty red.
try it  50 pounds redart, 50 pounds XX saggar.   water.   makes a lot of great clay.   i no longer use colored clay,  just white.

Thank you for the thoughtful responses! 
I’m using a brown body clay, so I think it may be beneficial to cook off some of the extra organics. I will look at the Duncan thread (thank you @neilestrick !!) I plan to get a pyrometer and start using a cone pack to track my kilns temp throughout a firing more closely.
 
@Hulk  Thank you for the link to the bisque info! 

@Byrd Don't use the search engine on the site.  For some bizarre reason it limits your results to stuff less than 2 years old.  Use google and limit the search to ceramicartsdaily.  Something like
 

Hi  folks, this last week @Pyewackette posted a question in the pool. Even though I think we have covered this sometime this year, it never hurts to approach from a different angle.
@Pyewackette posted:
QoW: What clay body or bodies do you work with and what do you like about it/them? What is the impetus for working with one or multiple clay bodies?  Corollary:  do you make your own clay, and why
My thoughts on this are pretty simple. I use two clays for the last several years, a white clay SC630 that is quite nice to throw and takes my glazes that have used for years quite well. I also use a SC Hazelnut Brown to give me a different set of colors when working. No change in glazes as they look different but darker on the Hazelnut. As far as mixing my own clay. . . not enough space, too much dust, too much mess, more equipment, and too much work! i'll order mine premixed and ready to go!
 
best,
Pres
 

PM me if you want a printable copy of the Mason reference guide. ( I converted it to a pdf for my glaze chem class notebook)

@PyewacketteAll of the oxides in Mason stains are regarded as safe if used in a stable glaze, no different than if said oxides were used as colorants in the typical amounts in a "normal" glaze. The reds and oranges contain cadmium and selenium which would be toxic by themselves, but Mason encapsulates them in zirconium so that they do not leach out of the stain particle. The advantage of using stains to color your glazes is the variety of colors that can be easily achieved without knowing oxide combinations and amounts to add to your base glaze. The disadvantage is cost. As with so many things, you can figure it out yourself the hard way, or you can buy your way out with the gentle application of some folding green.

@ByrdIf the cone bent, then it reached that cone. The potential problem is that it didn't spend enough time at high heat to adequately burn out all the organic matter, which could cause issues with your glazes. If you're using a white clay body, then it'll probably be fine. If you're using a brown body then it's more likely to be an issue.
HERE is a thread with a lot of good information about firing Duncan kilns and how to slow them down. If you use the search bar you'll find several other Duncan threads that may be of use to you.

Do you have a pyrometer to log your kiln progress through firing? 1 cone is not usual practice. A bank of 3 cones one below target cone , target cone and one above the target. A bank of cones on each shelf to see how the inside of  your kiln is behaving.
Good luck.

Hi Byrd,
Welcome to the Forum!
Good question.
Making it through a fast bisque with no damage, that's a win - if the ware went in damp, a quick ramp up past 212°F could be problematic (pro BOOM atic)!
From there, thinner ware should be happier with a short bisque than thicker ware, same for "cleaner" clay, for one of the objectives is to burn out organics/combustibles, which takes longer for thicker ware, and can take longer for "dirtier" clay.
If the wares are thick, if you're using red, brown, or black clay, a more thorough bisque might help - testing will tell, hard to say...
My typical bisque runs about eight hours, however, I'm ramping up to about 200°F the night before, then skipping the initial warm up (to drive off moisture) the next day. I hold at about 1500°F for at least half an hour, which I've found helps burn out stubborn gassy bits, direct kiln vent running throughout - ample oxygen for the burn out.
See second paragraph:
Bisque (digitalfire.com)

@Olivia Try disconnecting two switches at a time and see if it only trips with one of them. A meter won't find the short. You have to isolate it to figure out where it is. However having a meter is good for future repairs.

@Min Wow, ask and ye shall receive!  Thanks for that.  Now all I have to do is figure out which ones are unacceptably (to me) toxic in a liner glaze LOL! Turns out not EVERYTHING can be found on Digital Fire.  Just NEARLY everything.
I've also learned what turned a bowl I glazed a weird mixture of purply-brown and gray. A glaze defect known as Boron Blue.  Some people actually use that glaze on purpose to make that.  I think its hideous.  Now if I could only remember which glaze that was ... Probably I can identify it by the list of ingredients on the outside of the bucket.  Now all I have to do is enter the entire list of glazes into the glaze calculator LOL!

Mason puts out a Reference Chart that lists all the ingredients in each of their stains. 
https://www.masoncolor.com/reference-guide

Hi Pye,
The marking inside the bowl is red slip, added shortly after trimming - whilst the ware is still damp*.
I'd blunged up some red stoneware clay (with the Studio blender, a thrift shop special!) with water, then ran the slurry through the 80 mesh sieve to remove the sand and other bits. A few cups goes a long way.
I've brushed the slip on the outside of wares, using the wheel, then carved design/pattern after the slip had dried some.
On the inside, I've done some stippling, like the one depicted above, dabbing the slip brush as the ware turns on the wheel. After bisque, any lumpy/rough parts sand away easily. Some of the slip "disappears" in the glaze - the effect is muted, somewhat, by the glaze and glaze firing...
Liner glaze, I'd decided, early on, to stay away from metallic colorants, even though there are stable/safe/tested recipes "out there" from trusted sources. For design underneath liner glaze, I believe the slip is ok, and underglaze should be fine as well, also some small droplets of (stable) colored glaze underneath or on top. 
Commitment to utility! Tough, easy to clean, doesn't mark, un-crazed, well behaved (applies well) glaze as a liner.
My liner is clear-ish. Over red, black, or dark brown clay, the Zircopax - at 2%, a translucent white - shows up.
Over white clay, it appears to be clear (but it ain't!).
The Zircopax to lower COE a bit, add some toughness, and reduce bubbles.
Zircopax (digitalfire.com)
Liner Glaze (digitalfire.com)
*but stiff enough to take on some more moisture - from the slip.

@Hulk Just wondering - did you chatter the inside of that bowl?
Also I've been doing a lot of thinking about liner glazes.  I don't want to use any toxic substances AT ALL inside something people are going to be eating out of.  At first I thought I could use Mason stains instead of things like cobalt and chromium and copper, but turns out there's no way to be sure of what they used to make the stains.
But now I'm thinking, after seeing these bowls, maybe in at least some cases (where the clay body is pretty, unlike the old studio clay that turned out the color of zombie skin at anything above bisque) I could just use a clear.  Otherwise I'm good with being limited to white or brown ("safe" colorants) for liner glazes.
Is there any reason a clear glaze couldn't work as a liner glaze?  Do colorants add anything towards cutlery marking and durability?  Anti-crazing?

I fire a top-loader at home and a front-loader at the community centre.  Taking any other factors our of the conversation, for me there are positives and negatives for each.  And all are to do with the shelves.
The top-loader means lowering each shelf down with not much finger space, good posture is needed, straight spread out legs, back bent at the hips.  And it's harder to see that the shelf posts are tall enough.  With the front-loader you have to hold your arms out in front of you with the weight of the shelf trying to do what gravity intends, and you feel like the whole weight is on your fingertips.  Particularly tricky with a full shelf below when you'r trying to maximise the load, and everything is the same height.
I like that with the front-loader I can see into each shelf - even if can't see all the way to the back, so it's easier to move something to gain a little space on a lower shelf at the last minute,  You cannot do that with a top-loader.  I feel the round shelves are more stable on three posts, than the rectangular shelves.  Having one post at the front makes me feel it is less stable. (I don't think it is, it just plays with my head.)
In summary, for me, when loading lots of pots the same height, the front-loader is harder to place the shelf.  If you have a weak back the top-loader is harder.
If you asked me, while loading shelves,  which do I prefer - I'd probably say the other one!
 

About all I fired was tiles. I a 6.5CF square top loader, and a 15.5CF front loader. The easiest method is to calculate your current tile size (in setters?), to come up with the width x length x height. You mentioned upright? ( see below). My top loader has 3” brick, with 1” insulation: extremely energy efficient. Front loaders are the easiest ergonomically, but have more hot and cold spots. When the temp gets into the 1800F plus range: static pressure likes to push the bottom of the door open ever so slightly, which allows cool air into the bottom front of the chamber. Easy to rectify with insulation. The upper rear of the chamber tends to fire hot, which I remedied by drilling a hole from the top; into the rear corner of the chamber. If you fire speciality glaze that is fickle to temperature variations; then a kiln vent would be advisable for a front loader. If the pic I posted resembles what you are doing: then it a simple matter of calculating how many setters wide, by how many setters deep, by how many setters tall: to arrive at a chamber size. Allow 2” of free space around the edges, and calculate space required for shelves and legs. 
Tom

Thought this was a good time (seeing it is American Thanksgiving), to put out a thank you to the potters on this forum who give selflessly of their knowledge and time to help other potters.  Together you have built a great resource and you are very much appreciated.