Wedgy is right about the heat and burn risk, except it'd be pretty hard to burn yourself with this annealing process if you exercise normal caution. No one should be reluctant to use the salt bath method. I use it and it's simple & effective. One suggestion - the temp controller built into the Lee melting pot doesn't control the temp very well, it allows temp swings over a pretty wide range, so I left the melting pot thermostat on high. I plugged the pot into a lamp dimmer (rheostat) and made a mark on it when I found just the right temp (I use 500 degrees C), and that holds a pretty consistent temp.