[Sca-cooks] A (relatively) cheap oven idea...

[Terry Decker]

Scatter coarse meal on the tile base to reduce scorching of the loaves.

Be sure to plug the hole in the bottom of the flower pot to keep the hot air 
inside the oven from escaping and drawing off the heat.

In my opinion, the tile will likely work better than the fire bricks, unless 
you have them mortared together.

Bear

> So all this oven discussion here on sca-cooks got me thinking... which is 
> sometimes a dangerous thing...
>
> Here's an idea for an easy, and relatively cheap terracota camp oven.
>
> Get a large, heavy-walled terracotta (unglazed!) flower pot, make sure it 
> is not too large to handle easily. Get a large, thick (unglazed!) 
> terracotta tile (or tiles if necessary or fire bricks) big enough to 
> support the pot while it is inverted.
>
> Have your bread dough proofing and nearly ready to bake.
>
> Place the tile(s) or brick base in a fire safe place. Do the same for the 
> pot.
>
> Build a fire atop the tile(s), build another inside the pot. Let them heat 
> for about an hour. Brush the embers and ashes off the tile or brick base, 
> dump the embers and ashes from the pot, place your ready to bake loaf in 
> the center of the tile, place the pot (inverted) over the loaf. Let bake 
> until the bread is done, it should not take too long (though I will have 
> to experiment to get the right timing) and the terracotta ought to retain 
> enough heat to bake the bread fully.
>
> I'm going to look for a suitable pot and tiles and give this a try. A lot 
> easier and lighter than a brick oven and it ought to work well.
>
> Dragon