December 31, 2016 - 8:21am
Newbie needs help with terminology
Hi all! New here from Ohio. I have a crazy idea and have no idea what search terms to use to find more info: I'm interested in building some type of oven by partially excavating into a hillside and maybe building a roof of sheet steel with brick on top. Bonus if I could figure out a way for it to double as a pottery kiln. Any ideas what such a thing might be called? I'm sure someone has conceived of this before but can't find sources myself. Thanks for any ideas!
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...though the method of construction is very different. You would need a chimney and some kind of door, but it might be do-able depending on what the hillside is actually formed out of. Or you could just make a more typical earth oven. Could be done on a sort of terrace or little cave in the hillside?
From an earlier TFL post: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/29113/oven-experiment
Pottery kilns and bread ovens have very different requirements, so you are apt to build each separately.
Have fun!
Paul
Kiko Denzer's Earth Oven book has a picture of an oven made by putting a wooden barrel in a bank and then burning the barrel out to make an oven.
My earth oven is built on a slope so I did not have to make the base so high. I used the soil taken out on the down hill side for the oven.
I imagine if you had a steep stable cut you could build an oven into a hill side. You want your cook surface tall enough so you do not have to bend over to build the fire and bake.
Insulation is important if you want to bake bread.
Thanks for the replies and sorry for the delayed response from me! I lost my way back here and in the mean time dug out some of my old pottery references and realize now that the temperature ranges are incompatible. Still very interested in partially earthen ovens tho!
Currently baking loaves from Ken Forkish's book in the kitchen and grilling naan ala serious eats on charcoal.