Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Quick and Dirty Clay Oven Tutorial


I thought I would post the clay oven I made last spring as a lead up to this years clay oven. This one was made from bricks I found around the neighbourhood, some that were given to me by a friend and clay I had dug up from a near by construction site.
This oven was meant to be a test oven, for the learning experience. The real one i want to start in the next few weeks. We're going to do it on limited budget that any one with a bit of space can afford.

Make the base: This base was meant to be temporary, made of 2X4's, ply wood and able to support over 1000lbs, If any one is interested in this one, it's yours come and get it.

Mix the clay: The clay was mixed with 3 parts sand. Just dump it all out on a tarp and start walking on it to mix it in.

Thermal base: Use some of the raw clay and make a slurry by adding some water. Then throw in some mulch, saw dust or wood chips. This is going to work as insulation. Use this to cover the base, about 2" thick.

Cooking surface: You can use normal bricks but they will crack at high heat. I used fire place bricks given to me by a friend, Matt (thanks again Matt). But any bricks with a smooth surface will do the job.

Making the form: Using builders sand make a dome in the center of the cooking surface. Remember that your going to want the sides to not curve in right away. You want about 3" of height before you start to curve. That way you will have the height needed to cook larger items. Cover the dome with wet news paper.

Making the dome: Take brick size clumps of clay and start to cover the sand form. You want it to be at least 5" thick. Once the dome is complete cut out your entrance. Make sure its wide enough to fit the pan your going to cook with or a pizza peal. Allow to dry for a few days then dig out the sand till you come to the newspaper. After this point anything you add is up to you, your done. Let dry for at least 2 weeks before you first fire it or its going to crack.

Bake fresh bread, leg of lamb, pizzas, the Sky's the limit. Make's for some great parties.














Monday, March 29, 2010

Project Backyard Chicken Day #1



The coop is 3' X 3' with a 3' X 7' run underneath. Total cost looks to be just under $100 but we won't know til it's all done. I had origanally planned to build the coop out of all reused materials I was able to find on my runs and bikes to work but with limited time I was unable too. I also plan to replace the shingles with a living roof.

The plan is to get 3 laying hens this Wednesday for fresh eggs for my family and neighbours. Turns out taking care of chickens really doesn't sound like much work at all. Each chicken should lay 1 egg a day leaving me with more eggs than I'm going to be able to handle after a few weeks. I'm hoping this project is going to get my neighbours involved as well. If they can see how easy and fun having chickens can be maybe they might get their own.