My latest finished project

[mure]

This is a Clay oven during its first firing.

More Photos: http://s35.photobucket.com/albums/d194/brotherdevin/KKM Oven/

 

[rifleshooter2]

Now thats a sweet project. Did you bake anything yet?

Andy

 

[MSW]

great looking project- looks just like the ovens the Tiqua indians in El Paso use to bake their bread...

way cool!

 

[PitchyPine]

Cool, I mean hot :thumbsup:

 

[vthompson]

Great looking oven, you did a fantastic job.

 

[mazo kid]

Nice job on the oven. Looked at your photos, and wondered how long it took, what kind of clay you used, how many layers, etc. Thanks.

 

[omarick1948]

That's really neat!...You did a great job! Now what time will the bread or my new pots be ready?

Rick :thumbsup: :hatsoff:

 

[neal b]

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

[mure]

It can be done in a day but you would have to have all of your supplies on hand, but it took me the better part of a 3 mth period to gather the rocks, clay, sand,etc...
We built the oven in 2 weekends with a few friends helping along the way. There are 3 different layers of material in the oven, not counting the base. 4 " of cobb(clay,dirt,sand and fiberfill material) built around sapling frame, then a 5" layer of slip(straw and clay) over the clay, then a 2" layer of clay,sand and fine fibers to make a outer coating. It takes about a month to cure, then you start with a small fire(which you see), then you start baking.

 

[hawk]

at first look i thought you had my wife show you how to cook!! ...the fire was a dead give away!!LOL

nice lookin project

 

[mazo kid]

Thanks for the specifics on your build. Is this on your property or an area where demonstrations will be done, or...?

 

[J.D.]

Now that is a project. I have seen several of those ovens in operation, and eaten bread and other baked goods prepared in them.

IMHO, those baked goods ain't nothing like my wife makes. More like something G Gramma would have made. Good stuff.

Nice job on the oven too. IMHO, too few reenactors even know these things exist/ed, much less how to make them. It's good to see someone keep the old ways alive.

God bless

 

[paulvallandigham]

The next stage to building these ovens is to make a separate fire chamber Below the baking surface, with holes ( small- very small holes-- leading from the fire chamber- where the wood is burned, up to the baking chamber. A chimney is built in the back large enough to draw the smoke out of the fire chamber, so that the smoke does not flavor the baked bread too much! :rotf:

In these ovens, its imperative that very dry wood is burned in the oven, so as to not coat the roof of the oven with Unburned pitch and tars, that is "stuck" to the roof because of the steam( moisture) in the wood. The biggest problem with this design of an earthen oven is its tendency to develop cracks if the clay takes on moisture between uses, and is then overheated. The Thicker the clay dome, the less likely cracks will develop, and the longer the oven lasts.

Nicely done, BTW. :hatsoff:

The heating of the fire brick, and the thick walls of these ovens so that the heat was retained, and dissipated slowly to allow baking of breads, is the "secret" of these ovens.

A Wooden Door was made to fit the opening, and soaked in water when not being used to close of the opening to save heat. Willow, or poplar(cottonwood, aspen) was the wood of choice- not pine. In the east, White Oak( the same wood used to make barrels for whiskey making) was used. :thumbsup:

 

[mure]

This is the 4th or so of this type of oven I have built. This was built at Koh Koh Mah Living history site in Indiana.
As to what is being burned in them, I have used oak, pine, Osage, fir, paper. We used my 7 year old oven on my property today and used pine and oak scraps. Just stay away from anything treated :nono: ! As to the build up of resin or tars, you will burn all that off when you get to temperature and they all "burn off" and the oven goes white inside. Right now we have a big torrine of beans baking . This type of oven can be documented back to the Jewish peoples trek out of Egypt, at least, if not soon after the Garden trouble? :hmm: ?

 

[paulvallandigham]

Yep, but you have to bake in some kind of container, rather than on the firebricks themselves. The food tastes wonderful, however, and more people who can build such an oven should try it. Much better than most outdoor " BBQ" grills. Most baking is done at 325-375 degrees. Bread can be baked at as high as 500 degrees- and this is the temperature of most Pizza ovens. It depends on whether its a yeast bread, or a bread with soda to make it rise, with the later working at the higher temperatures.

 

[mure]

While on pies and cakes, we do use a sheet, but for breads, we bake directly on the fire bricks, since we temper (soak)the oven after we take the fire out. This allows the heat to spread out in the oven and discourages the hot spots.

 

[J.D.]

While on pies and cakes, we do use a sheet, but for breads, we bake directly on the fire bricks, since we temper (soak)the oven after we take the fire out. This allows the heat to spread out in the oven and discourages the hot spots.

Dang, you sound like you know your stuff. I'll bet you know what "cake" is too. :thumbsup:

God bless

 

[Troy Allen Christianson]

Sniff! Man O' Man I can smell that bread from here! What a bunch of talent we have here! :hatsoff:

 

[Extranero]

Nice job. Out here those are called an horno (pronounced ORno). I talked to an old woman about using them up in near Espanola once. She said for baking bread, you test your heat with a chunk of raw wool. If it just browns, you're good. If its scorches black its too hot. Then you rake the coals out and allow the radiant heat of the oven to do the work with a wooden door in the front and a rock in the smoke hole. If you're cooking meat, you leave the coals in, but rake them out to the outside edges. A fine way to cook cabrito, by the way.

Sean

 

[fatboy]

Looks real nice, Our one house we had as a kid had a smoke house and bake shop, mom and dad never used it but often wish they had tried .