Breadhunter's New Brick Oven

Today I smoothed out the crushed rock and positioned the concrete block. Tomorrow I'll level the block and add two more courses.

Breadhunter's New Brick Oven

No, it's not done, but I have started, and what you see is indeed a soupy mess. On top of all the rubble and gravel, I'll be placing a layer of crushed stone to support the concrete block base. My idea is to build an oven without mud or mortar, that can easily be disassembled and moved to another location. To complete the project, few carpentry or masonry will be required. If everything goes as Breadhunter hopes, a manual detailing the project will be published. In the meantime, photos will document the daily process.

Chuck's Oven Door

Here are a few photos of Chuck's oven door. He had the sheet metal bent by a friend who has a metal brake. Chuck screwed through a thin piece of plywood into the metal and then filled the shallow cavity with fiberglass. He says he has a much easier way of doing it next time.

Check out previous posts concerning Chuck's movable oven.

A Foolish Consistency

Ralph Waldo Emerson said "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."
How right he was. My favorite breads to bake are sourdough breads and probably they always will be, but they take time, lots of time. What if you're struck with the desire to bake some bread and all you do is sourdough, then you're stymied unless you planned a day in advance. Recently I've overcome my sourdough fixation, and when no one is looking (just joking) I'll sneak a teaspoon of dehydrated yeast into my bread mix, and...well you know what that does. Or, I'll make some tortillas (yes, they're bread) with just flour and water. There's always a way. Rigidity is a dead end.

The Bread That Disappeared

Straight From The Oven

Long ago I read about a Buddhist meditation where one visualizes one's body after death and imagines its deterioration as it goes back to its source. That is a very serious meditation, but in a lighter vein, I thought we could look at the transformation of a loaf of bread. I had wanted to leave the bread in one place and that was on the stair by the front door. However, there was quite soon, a discernible lack of visitors, and this was easily attributable to the horrendous smell and the presence of very nasty looking flies. So the bread was moved.
To watch a slide show of the disappearing bread, go here: www.breadhunter.com

Then click on Disappearing Bread

Movable Oven (potential problem)

The interior baking height of Chuck's oven is only 9". Normally, an oven height of 15"-16" is about standard. Chuck and I discussed this potential problem, but he felt that since the oven could easily be dismantled (no mortar used), then if there were a problem, it could quickly be corrected.
I was concerned at first that we might even have trouble starting a fire because of the low oven height, but our first fire started right up.
I don't see a problem making flat breads and pizzas, but a raised loaf might be a different story.
We will see.

Movable Oven Costs

The cost of materials for the the movable oven was $348.29, and this includes $17.64 spent on crushed rock.

This is in reference to the post on Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Movable Oven

So often people are reluctant to build earth or masonry ovens because they're afraid that once constructed, the oven will have to reside on its given location for eternity or even longer. Their fear is well-founded.
This oven, built and designed by Chuck Lakin, has an oven base made from wood and held together by screws. The oven proper is firebrick with a roof supported by angle iron. No cement or mortar has been used. The idea was to build a masonry oven that could easily be dismantled, moved to another place in the yard, or be fired up in a distant location.

Chuck assembles the wooden base

The base sits on a crushed stone bed that facilitates good drainage in a wet area

Chuck assembles the angle iron that will support the interior oven roof

Perlite insulation is spread across the top of the oven

The completed oven with a metal roof and shelves to hold baking supplies and oven tools.

Note the shelf under the oven for firewood storage.

Much more about this oven in future posts

Break the Paradigm

After establishing basic bread baking or oven making procedures, we tend to settle in and get comfortable. That's okay, but real learning and surprises take place when we break the paradigm.

A long, long time ago I was an avid fly fisherman. Not having caught anything and anxious to get home, I reeled my fly in as fast as possible just to get done for the day. The fly skimmed along the surface of the water, and bango, a very acceptable salmon struck. Inadvertently, I had learned a new fly fishing technique.




Talking to a baker friend today, he told me that last week he had rushed all his sourdough procedures, being quite haphazard, and he made the best loaves he had ever made.
Don't be afraid to take chances. Take big ones.

One Wheel Oven

picasaweb.google.com/.../kUaSpf37179iJn-Hj-eAFg

Certainly a novel use for a wheelbarrow. This installation definitely looks permanent, and to me, it is heartening that so many people break all the rules and follow their own paths. Just when you think you've seen it all, something new comes around the bend.