The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Building our own clay oven

Ilse's picture
Ilse

Building our own clay oven

 

My hubby spend hours on the internet searching all the how-to's of clay ovens and this is what I got....

We used the existing fire place because of the chimney.

 

The frame was made from wattle branches.

 

 

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

didn't show up for some reason.

Ilse's picture
Ilse

After taking this photo, we trimmed the hessian so that the clay could bind with the fire bricks.

 

The finished clay oven.  It has to dry slowly which will take 3 to 4 weeks.

Ilse's picture
Ilse

Ilse's picture
Ilse

oh dear, will try again

 

rcbaughn's picture
rcbaughn

Hey that is looking quite nice! Did you and your husband research the dome height in relation to the door opening height? I know that is has to be very specific to get great heat retention and venting, and the door look very high on yours, but I am no expert I just wanted to make sure that everything would go smoothly on your first fire up! I bet the food coming out of there will be amazing! 

Ilse's picture
Ilse

Yes, we made very sure that the dimensions are perfect and it draws wonderfully, even the fire right at the back burns.  You can see from the picture that the height does go up towards the middle/top.

Ilse's picture
Ilse

My oven is working beautifully!!  I start off making pizzas, as it is so hot, then my baguetttes, frnch loaves and then my wholemeal loaves.  After all the loaves are done, i put a roast of lamb or chicken in for the night....'bone soft' the next morning!  What a blessing.:-)

Yerffej's picture
Yerffej

Ilse,

What a beautiful oven and equally beautiful breads.  I love the interior walls of the oven.

Jeff

Sadassa_Ulna's picture
Sadassa_Ulna

I really admire your handiwork. Your photos are very informative. Thank you for sharing your project. Can you tell me how the existing chimney is working in conjunction with the new oven? Is there a hole in the top of the clay or is it the transfer of heat through the clay?

if possible, can you share the sources you used in your research? 

Ilse's picture
Ilse

Hi, No there is no chimney.  The smoke comes out in front.  It only smokes in the beginning when lighting the fire.  Once it starts burning, there is very little smoke.  The link we used for the plans:  

http://leslieland.com/2009/11/giving-thanks-for-the-bread-oven-with-plans-for-building-a-wood-fired-clay-oven-of-your-very-own/ 

Regards

Ilse

Sadassa_Ulna's picture
Sadassa_Ulna

Thank you very much for the link. I know your original post is from a while back.

I forgot to add that your loaves look beautiful! 

jeni_rainbow's picture
jeni_rainbow

Wow, both the oven and the loaves look great! And what a gorgeous view as well! I've been wanting to make one of these for a while - much smaller as there is just me to feed! Your oven is inspirational! I'm going to check  out your link to the how-to site and give it a try!

 

jeni_rainbow's picture
jeni_rainbow

 Somehow I submitted twice and don't know how to delete