from Bread Earth and Fire (The Earth Oven)

 searching for the perfect oven spot

Chapter 1

THE EARTH OVEN

Building the earth oven has been adapted from my book “Earth Oven Adventure.” It is the story about Abbott and Nancy Meader who built an oven in their backyard. Although they had some assistance from friends and me, Abbott and Nancy really did the bulk of the work. And there was a lot of work involved. If you can’t or don’t like moving heavy materials around, then you shouldn’t be building this type of oven. Of course you could always have someone build it for you or help you with it, but if you personally get involved in the physical part of the process, I believe you'll have a greater appreciation for your earth oven. You don’t have to be a mason or someone with special skills. All it takes is desire and not minding the mud you’ll have on your hands. You can use this section of Bread Earth and Fire as a template for constructing your own earth oven. All the information you’ll need will be right here for a 22 1/2 inch hearth diameter oven. I’ve chosen this size because I’ve already made some ovens with this hearth diameter, and they’ve worked out really well. If you want to change the dimensions, then your material quantities will change accordingly, but the basic principals remain the same. Consider reading Build Your Own Earth Oven by Kiko Denzer. He more than anyone else made this low-cost method of oven construction available to everyone.
to be continued