Building an earth oven

For cooking off the grid I have a two-burner propane camp stove, plus the wood

stove during winter and the fire ring outside for big meals when company comes. More than anything, though, I missed having an oven. I missed baking breads and casseroles, so this year I finally got down to it and built an earth oven. I followed Kiko Denzer’s instructions in Mother Earth News. But first, I built a mound starting with a few cement blocks for filler, all covered with hard packed earth and then carved down to four reasonably straight sides. I did that to raise it up so that working the fire isn’t hard on my back

Fire bricks on 3" of sand in the base.

I won’t repeat Denzer’s words here but I’ll add a few comments and illustrations of the steps as I did them. First, I know some people get on their blogs and rave about how they built their oven and had it fired up within a few days. Uh huh. It took me almost three months from the time I started hauling materials. Of course if I were younger I could have cut that time at least by half. And with a helper I could have cut the time in half again. But it was easy to add on daily or even weekly until I got to the top. And one good thing about taking it slow is that I repaired it as needed while it dried slowly under a plastic tarp. No matter how perfect the mix seems, it will form a few hairline cracks as it dries. I easily “healed” those cracks as I shaped the oven over time by sponging on some water and pounding the clay back together. Again and again throughout the days of drying. This baby is solid!

A perfect test drop for the clay!

I wondered how difficult it would be to get a good fire going in the stove since it doesn’t have a flue. But since I really wanted to do this rounded, flue-less earth oven method that has been used by different cultures since ancient times, I decided to give the authentic version a try before giving in to modern improvements. Ok, yes, I did add a floor of fire bricks, as per Denzer. Not sure how ancient that is but at least the outside looks authentic and the baking will be the true to that of authentic cultures

throughout the world and throughout the ages. Anyway, it turns out that it’s not difficult at all to start a fire and keep it going in this oven. So the modern flue is moot.

My daughter helped out with the mixing of clay and sand.

I am looking forward to baking serious artisan breads in my primitive oven but first I will test it with my tried and true way of making bread that has worked for me at least 40 years. I like whole grains and I don’t measure much; it’s more of a feeling when you get it right. The artisan bread books I have been reading insist on the precise measuring of ingredients. One of the books I’m reading also insists on using a variety of specific flours—flours that are not available at the local supermarkets. Well that book certainly isn’t helping with the simplicity direction I’m aiming for. It’s a good book to read, though. It belongs to a chef friend as part of his reference library. Highbrow bread baking. Say that three times, lol

My finished oven!