Can I use mix gold powder used in baking and a clear glaze to make a gold appearance?

[wavesofwoodenlegs 0]

Hey! I really want to give my clay pot a gold rim. How can I go about doing that where the dish is still food safe? Can I mix gold food glitter with a clear glaze? Thanks for any advice!!!

[Min 2,278]

Hi wavesofwoodenlegs and welcome to the forum. I wouldn't expect this to work. From the FDA re edible glitter ingredients: "Common ingredients in edible glitter or dust include sugar, acacia (gum arabic), maltodextrin, cornstarch, and color additives specifically approved for food use, including mica-based pearlescent pigments and FD&C colors such as FD&C Blue No. 1." The only thing that wouldn't melt out (at low temperatures) would be the mica. Mica is used to get a sparkly effect in some lowfire claybodies.  Would be an expensive way to get that effect and the particles of mica in the edible glitter are going to be tiny. That being said it's always fun to try out different off the wall things, results are not always what you expect but can be interesting. 

edit: gold lustre from Duncan. 

Edited March 16 by Min

[Bill Kielb 580]

Often folks China paint the gold on. It’s real gold and fired to about cone 018 over a glazed surface. Generally China paint is not used directly in an active food area. Rims are common on bowls and plates. Gold rim sounds like perfect China paint wheelhouse.

[Gabby 274]

I think Amaco Potters Choice has a gold glaze that is food safe. 

[liambesaw 1,567]

22 minutes ago, Gabby said:

I think Amaco Potters Choice has a gold glaze that is food safe. 

"Food safe" it's a manganese saturated metallic glaze that I don't think any reasonable person would call food safe.  But it conforms to the acceptible limits of lead and cadmium. 

[Bill Kielb 580]

Hey look, some gold China paint my wife recently decorated with. If this is the gold, this is a sure fire way to get it. These are closed form trinket boxes that we make to help with:  planning,  shrinkage practice, fabrication, and decorating. They are thrown to match the hinge size after all shrinkage. Students hate this until they have a finished product in hand.

they sell like hot cakes too.

[Rae Reich 401]

The gold lustre may look expensive, but its mixed with oil to brush on neatly and a little goes a long way. Fire to 1800F, very low.

[hitchmss 264]

gold lustre also cant go in microwave or dishwasher, so while it may be "food safe" it may not be easy to use.

Also, very stinky when applied; lots of ventilation and breathing protection. Also very expensive too.

[Bill Kielb 580]

3 hours ago, hitchmss said:

gold lustre also cant go in microwave or dishwasher, so while it may be "food safe" it may not be easy to use.

Also, very stinky when applied; lots of ventilation and breathing protection. Also very expensive too.

My wife uses clove oil as her favorite medium. Hard to miss that smell even with a pretty strong local exhaust. The cllove oil just permeates the place from her drying rack.

[Mark C. 3,720]

As a potter you aint been there unless you expereice a luster headache .

Either from working with them or firing them.

If you wear the right mask you are fine until the kiln fumes get you later.

The best use of luster is to keep the bottle closed 

I remember the smell from 35 years ago still to this day. I did many kilns fulls at one time-

As a side note I'm cleaning out a desceased potters friends shop about one truck load every 6 days.

Today it was low fire glazes and 25 years of magazines and a large box of lusters mostly gold as well as another truck full of chemicals

The low fire stuff is heading to a high school low fire program as a donation. I'm buying the whole and spreading it around where the need is great as a donation.

It came into shop today out tomorrow.