Give us this day our daily bread

August 1, 2005 11:45 AM

Build your own brick oven.
posted by 김치 (16 comments total)

This is cool. Thanks for helping add it to my personal store of knowledge I will probably never use but should have, just in case.

(By the way, is your name really supposed to be "??")
posted by majick at 11:52 AM on August 1, 2005

I have wanted to build one of these for some time. Now it looks too complicated and I'm lazy. Thanks for spoiling my dream.

I kid, thanks for the sites!
posted by Pollomacho at 11:53 AM on August 1, 2005

Majick, his name is Kim Chee in Korean. See MeTa thread for more info.
posted by Pollomacho at 11:54 AM on August 1, 2005

Thanks to the book Build Your Own Earth Oven, I already have. And it was well worth it!
posted by ewagoner at 12:00 PM on August 1, 2005

This is even more fun than reading and collecting recipes I know I will never make (but could, someday).

I save a lot more work reading this.
posted by StickyCarpet at 12:06 PM on August 1, 2005

One of my neighbors did this.

Except he didn't build it right.

Every time he fires the thing up, it smells like burning plastic. I am certain the carcinogens enhance the flavor of whatever he cooks.
posted by wakko at 12:14 PM on August 1, 2005

This is an awesome post! Awesome. Although it's far too hot right now, I love to bake sourdough bread, and although I make do in my home oven with a bunch of tiles and stuff to retain heat, I really want a brick oven as I think it's the only way to get really good bread. I've read quite a bit about sourdough biology and the science of bread baking, and I would recommend The Bread Builders as a great book about the science of sourdough and the science of brick oven building.

I've got a sourdough starter I'm really proud of for its flavor, robustness and raising power. I'd love to share some with anyone who emails me.

KimChi-can you post a cache of the first link, it seems to have run out of bandwidth.

Great great post. Incidentally, one of the reasons I like kimchi is because it's a fermented food, like sourdough and beer and wine. I think fermentation is totally fucking cool.
posted by OmieWise at 12:28 PM on August 1, 2005

That is a seriously cool post .. err.... whoever you are *cough*. Just the right balance of quirky and informative and not too many links. (the first link works ok now OmieWise) I would love to have a tandoori oven - piping hot garlic naans everyday! Thank you.
posted by peacay at 5:57 PM on August 1, 2005

Thanks for this. I've been planning to build an oven for a while now, since my current (tiny) electric one can only accommodate four bagels at a time. Yet another project to make the missus sigh and shake her head.

Cheers!
posted by Absit Invidia at 7:06 PM on August 1, 2005

This Guyver [.mpg with noise] suit building guy built an oven too but didn't fully document it because he didn't want to give away any "top secret furnace building techniques."
posted by tellurian at 7:09 PM on August 1, 2005

I want to build a brick glass firing oven. Natural gas. Not at all sure where to even start...
posted by five fresh fish at 7:23 PM on August 1, 2005

Wood burning, or did you want to make your own charcoal to go with that oven?
posted by caddis at 8:25 PM on August 1, 2005

I'm gonna build one of these suckers in my back yard. I've been wanting to for a long time now, and now I have the inspiration. THANKS
posted by Eekacat at 10:19 PM on August 1, 2005

I would never ever build my own, as I am only good at things like typing, but my wife helped Albie Barden, the best guy in the U.S. at it, build us a brick masonry heater, including a five-foot-deep oven that's been the sole source of heat in our northern Maine home for the last dozen years. It took two guys who knew what they were doing five or six weeks to build, so labor costs were high (and my wife chose the most expensive bricks she could find), but it's safe, burns cleanly and efficiently, and works great.

More examples of Albie's work, both inside and outside. This slide show of his Saratoga Revolutionary War Battle Re-enactment Oven from a few years ago, built in two days, is particularly interesting.
posted by LeLiLo at 1:54 AM on August 2, 2005

very nice links. my dad has gone nuts for the idea of a out door brick oven, for bread.

i'd email him these links , but he doesn't have a computer, or email. :) i guess i'll just show them to him.

he better hurry up and get started, i'm liking the idea of fresh bread some Kasserie and summer sausage, wash that down with the home made beer . hey wait a minute, he never did brew any beer like he said he would. loafer.
posted by nola at 5:30 AM on August 2, 2005

This is pretty cool. I have an unused fireplace in my kitchen. Currently the dogs sleep in the fireplace, because it is cooler in there. I'd love to make a brick oven out of it, but I'd probably just pay someone else to do the work...

Omiewise, I shot you some email about that sourdough. It's making my mouth water just thinking about it.
posted by feersum endjinn at 1:18 PM on August 2, 2005