oregon-update: Adobe Backyard Oven

THIS is what I am after.....yum, yum, yum...

I am checking out the ins and outs for making a backyard oven in order to make crispy, chewy and flavorful bread at home.

Cool fact is that there is a sculptor in Oregon who has written a book about these ovens.

His name is Kiko Denzer.

Kiko Denzer oven

Apparently, it is not too hard to make these things. You make the foundation, so that it is raised off the ground and you are not breaking your back. In the KD oven, you see granite blocks, but you could use cement blocks. The blocks are filled with rubble and topped with sand. In the sand, you place firebricks. This will be the bottom of your oven.

To make the clay/mud top, you first make a mound of sand. On top of the sand, you apply mud. Then you apply mud that is mixed with chopped straw.

After that has dried, you top it with another layer of mud and straw, but the straw is chopped even more finely. This last layer can be made with colored clay for flair, since this is the layer that everyone will see.

Colorful outer layer makes attractive outdoor accessory

Now comes the fun part: you cut out the door and take out the sand!!!

The oven has to dry, maybe a few weeks even. But then, you put in your wood and fire it up.

You are heating the bricks and everything to a very high temperature. It's perfect for making that crispy crust through the triple action of this kind of oven:
-convection
-conduction
-radiation

These actions give it the crust, suck out the moisture from inside to outside, and heat the bread evenly.

The results are delicious bread with a fluffy center.

Of course the oven is still hot after you have baked the bread, so it is advised that you put in stew pots and pies as a follow up to the bread and pizza.

oregon-update

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Adobe Backyard Oven

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