It has really come in handy because I've been able to imprison hens inside the tractor when they are chasing other hens away from the place where they like to lay eggs. It is also useful when someone gives me a rooster. I can't keep too many roosters in our yard because they'll fight each other. With the chicken tractor, I can keep one rooster in there until we eat or sell him.
Then, Emily helped me to build a clay oven! I started the process without her, following her instructions. First, I built a base for the oven out of bricks cemented together. (I also put up a "tent" to be able to work in the shade)
Filled the base with gravel.
Then made insulation with the random glass bottles I was able to collect set in a clay/sand mixture.
Mixing the building material "by hand" (feet).
We put a cement slab on top of the insulation - it's the oven floor.
Then came the arch around the oven opening and a mound of sand that holds up the walls of the oven while they dry - it gets removed.
Building the walls.
And the final step - putting on a layer of "cob" - clay/sand mixed with grass. I shaped it into a snail shell.
Our first attempt was pretty disappointing. We were too impatient to wait for the oven to heat up enough, so we got some kind of pitiful, wimpy pita breads.
The second time, we let the oven heat up longer. We easily made pita bread plus two loaves of whole wheat bread. If we had had more things to bake, we could have kept going - the oven was still hot - but we already had too much bread lying around (and the flour was pretty much used up!).
Fascinating! I wonder how you get the heat source. Do you build a wood fire in the oven (per the pic) and let it burn off before baking, with the oven itself retaining the heat? Or do you have to keep feeding a fire in there somehow, and how do you do that along with space for the baked goods? Just curious!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting. I love finding out details like this. When I was in my 20s I often thought it would be neat to live off the land out in the middle of nowhere where I would have to make my own home, raise crops and make most of the items I would need, like an oven like this. So I found the details very interesting.
ReplyDeleteGlad you had the chance to do something that was both interesting and productive. Would have loved to have been there to help. Thanks for sharing.
Bill
That's awesome Sara! Very resourceful. The bread looks amazing!
ReplyDeleteSo the way the oven works is that you build a fire inside and keep it going for 1-3 hours. The fire heats up the clay shell of the oven, so when it's time to bake, you remove all the wood and coals and sweep the floor of the oven and bake directly on the floor of the oven with the door closed to retain heat. The oven itself remains hot for hours after the fire is removed!
ReplyDeleteThat explains why you can use a wooden door!
ReplyDelete