German Red Pitch is preferred by many silversmiths because it is less brittle than black pitch and has much greater plasticity at lower temperatures (even at room temperature). It is far less toxic and easier to use than black pitch and yields better results. Since Red Pitch melts at around 110° F, all you need is a hot air gun to melt the small pieces. Or, you may place the small pieces in your pitch bowl and place the bowl in an oven at 300°F, being careful to avoid boiling the pitch. When handling molten pitch, wearing eye protection and a long sleeve shirt are an absolute must. Molten pitch can cause nasty burns. Made in Germany.Red Pitch is provided in a 2 Kg (4.4 lbs.) aluminum foil tub. (Pitch may come in broken pieces in tub or in plastic bag this is totally normal since it needs to be broken anyway to melt). Picture is a sample of what it looks like solid in a tub. One loaf of pitch will not fill this pitch bowl full. It will be shy a 1/4 inch or so. The 8 inch (inside measurement) cast iron pitch bowl, the proper sized rubber pitch bowl pad Bowls can be titled to extreme angles. This kit contains the 8" x 2-1/4" shallow cast iron pitch bowl, a proper sized rubber pitch bowl pad, and a 2-kilo bar of the finest quality German pitch. Kit contains: Pitch Bowl 8" wide by 2-1/4" deep (shallow 8" bowl) Pad for Pitch Bowl 4.4 lbs (2 kilos) tub of German Red/Brown Pitch