ISBN: 9780967984674 Year Added to Catalog: 2001 Book Format: Paperback Book Art: 8-page color section, b&w illustrations and photographs, appendices, resources, index Dimensions: 7 x 10 Number of Pages: 132 Book Publisher: Hand Print Press Release Date: September 15, 2007 Web Product ID: 298
Also in Food & Health
Build Your Own Earth Oven
A Low-Cost Wood-Fired Mud Oven; Simple Sourdough Bread; Perfect Loaves
Introduction
Why a wood-fired, earthen oven?
Earthen Building, or what is "cob," anyway?
5
Chapter One: build a basic mud oven
How big an oven should I make?
Getting organized
Materials and tools
Beauty and sculpture
On "waterproofing"
A roof for your oven
Eight steps to a simple oven
11
Chapter Two: firing and baking in your
oven
Building and managing a fire
Assembling a set of traditional baking tools
43
Chapter Three: simple sourdough bread!
Introduction and a note on ingredients
A quick outline of a ten-step sourdough process
On yeast, flour, and bread
How it works--the ten step process in detail
51
Chapter Four: materials and making
do
Floor materials
Straw and other fibers
Gravel and Sand
Subsoil, clay, and what to do if you can't find it
Clay facts
Refractory Cement
68
Chapter Five: other mixtures,
other ovens
Single layer, all-clay, "rammed earth" ovens
Simpler foundations
Sculpting and finishing
Lime plasters and other water resistant, breathable plasters, and a warning
Brick or metal doorways
Chimneys and doors
Firing doors
Cob doors
Insulating a mud oven
Experiments and things to try
73
Chapter Six: pyro-dynamics, or, playing
with fire
Mechanics of fire
Some related principles
Metaphysics of fire
93
Chapter Seven: troubleshooting
My sand form won't hold its shape
I have no sand--how else can I make a form?
I can't find straw
My fire won't burn
The bottoms of my loaves always burn
My oven is cracking
Can I quick dry my oven?
Can I keep an all-clay oven from shrinking?
The doorway is crumbling and falling apart
I can't find clay subsoil anywhere
What about fuels other than wood?
99
Afterword
Art, earth, ovens
105
Appendix: Questions, Answers, and Resources
About efficiency, design, etc
Using the oven
Materials and construction
Resources: Books on bread and building
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