Comments on: Earth Oven Update

By: Anna

Anna — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:06:52 +0000

Hi, Susan,

This is a good looking oven!
Is it still in use? I am thinking about building one and would appriciate your input.

Best regards,
Anna

By: rose

rose — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 17:31:37 +0000

Somehow I missed these blogs! This is amazing!!!!!!!!!!!! Congratulations on such a huge undertaking! I can’t wait to build one I don’t think my landlord would let me, but I may start pestering friends and neighbors

By: shimpiphany

shimpiphany — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 23:09:30 +0000

don’t worry about it not holding heat. once i got the insulation layer on mine, it held heat MUCH better, but if you want to cook pizzas in it, you really need to work a live fire and not just coals. the oven itself just doesn’t have enough real estate inside to allow enough coals to make a difference.

last week i did a cook of 4 rounds of pizzas, 2 in each round, with a small live fire. the oven stayed at about 650 the whole time (according to my IR thermometer) and the last pizzas cooked in less than 5 minutes.

yours looks a lot better constructed than mine, but mine also dried within two days – with huge cracks. but it still cooks great and holds 450 like a champ – i can cook three rounds of bread in it before it hits 400.

my advice would be to burn small drying fires every day possible, then put on your insulation layer and do the same. it shouldn’t damage the oven any.

By: Gena Lora

Gena Lora — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 14:57:48 +0000

Have you ever heard of earth stone, a company that sells wood burning ovens?

By: Rory Perry

Rory Perry — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 18:52:16 +0000

Great site! We finished an earth oven using Kiko Denzer’s design in early August, and the insulating layer now apparently dry. I’m married to a potter, so I was able to use a lot of recycled clay for the slip, along with a mix of sawdust and straw. There are pictures of the construction process and other updates at The Pondering Potter blog. It turns out that we plan to cook pizza tonight, and I’m going to use a pyrometer to check the temperature. We’ve been using small-split oak to fire it, and it’s been quite hot and dry here recently. Hopefully the results will be good.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:50:18 +0000

Susan -

I feel your pain. We finished our oven last August (07!), and it is STILL wet. You have the advantage of not having your insulation layer on yet, so at least the thermal layer will dry out quickly. We have 4″ of insulation on ours.

We haven’t had time to use it often enough, but it is clear that the only shortcut to a dry oven is to use it often. With each burn we get higher temperatures that stay high longer.

Oh, and I heard from Kiko that he is no longer recommending that bottles be placed horizontally in the bottom insulation layer, precisely because they hold moisture for so long. (Upright is okay.)

By: grace

grace — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 18:50:56 +0000

what a cool tool! i’ll just go ahead and add it to my list of things i’d like to own one day.

By: David Aplin

David Aplin — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 17:39:39 +0000

Riders On The Storm!

By: David Aplin

David Aplin — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 17:38:15 +0000

Susan, It’s very exciting to see the pictures of your new oven, I hope it cures evenly and that you have many years of excellent home baking. I think everyone should have an oven in their backyard. I’m looking forward to seeing you apply your creative energies to the products that will emerge from the oven beast.
Best regards, David Aplin

By: Laura

Laura — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 16:46:21 +0000

That is gorgeous! And I would be so impatient also.