Build Your Own Barrel Oven – There’s a promising outdoor oven: The wood-fired barrel oven promises some pretty compelling advantages over a cob or factory oven, and it’s the subject of the latest book Build Your Own Barrel Oven by Max and Eva Edleson. It’s the first I’ve heard of this particular design, and I must say it definitely caught my attention, and the Edlesons’ book does a fantastic job of describing the blueprints and construction process for these relatively simple and efficient pizzas and breads. wonders
Have you been thinking about building your own outdoor oven or are you intrigued by the idea of cooking pizza with wood? Read on for my book review and a better understanding of the advantages of building your own barrel kiln.
Build Your Own Barrel Oven
The barrel oven is, well, exactly that. It is an ingenious oven built around a horizontal metal drum, wood-fired and relatively simple to build, with few specialized materials; in fact, it can be built largely from recycled and readily available items. Think barrel, bricks, chimney, mud and sand, stone or cinder blocks and a few other materials. It’s still a somewhat unusual design, especially compared to the very popular cob ovens, but as the book describes, the barrel oven offers very distinct advantages over its relatives.
Bonwick Bodges Upcycle Blog
The main advantage, obviously, is that you can cook in about 15-20 minutes after lighting the fire. Now, if you’re familiar with cob or clay ovens, you’ll know that they usually need at least 2 hours of cooking time before you can use them.
How does it work? Well, this is not a massive kiln: the fire is built under the barrel, in a separate fire chamber, and the heat wraps around the outside, in a gap between the barrel and a brick arch. Therefore, the barrel quickly heats up to cooking temperatures. A cob oven, on the other hand, cooks directly, and the solid dome heats up slowly, and after the fire is removed, the food is cooked with the stored heat of the dome and hearth.
Again, the speed and ease of use of a barrel oven is a major attraction. No more baking in an oven for three hours to cook! The excellent fuel efficiency that comes with it is a big draw, and the cleanliness of the kitchen environment is also key. And as you can imagine, the barrel oven is spacious. Max and Eva report that they have not heard of barrel burns in any of the rigs they or anyone else has built, suggesting that the furnaces have a long life, with adequate protection from the rain.
Sounds good! The downside may be that pizza lovers who want to cook in a warm hearth won’t be able to achieve the same effect with a barrel oven – a pizza stone will be necessary here. And, with the fire out of the barrel, you can find that wood-burning flavor. But these may be minor shortcomings, considering all the other positive aspects.
How To Build A Pizza Oven
In any case, heck, you can always have a cob oven and a barrel oven at your disposal, if you have the space. As the authors say, it becomes more efficient to operate a mass oven (like a cob or factory oven) if you are baking regularly (every day), that’s when they excel. When they are not allowed to cool completely, high heat becomes much easier to achieve and maintain, and fuel efficiency is greatly improved. Ultimately, a barrel oven can be more practical with its greater fuel efficiency and ease of use.
Max and Eva have done a great job with this book, clearly presenting the steps needed to build your own barrel oven. The book is presented in full color, with many excellent photographs illustrating the whole process. Beautiful.
Complete with blueprints, diagrams, bill of materials, and even barrel oven bakers’ recipes and reports. It’s all there, nice and concise, in 96 pages. I am very excited about this book, and very anxious to get started on my own barrel kiln, and the book has been a great inspiration. Because I cook almost exclusively with wood heat year-round, and because I love to bake, I can see that the barrel oven will fill an important gap in my kitchen arsenal.
Be sure to check out the Build Your Own Barrel Oven book here. Max and Eva also offer barrel kiln kits for aspiring builders! Our latest excitement at home is no different…it started with dreams of a fire pit being built in the backyard – getting an oven ready to cook our food outdoors. I’m still surprised it’s even built.
Ways To Build A Pizza Oven (with Videos)
Our good friend Will has inspired me in many ways related to food. He taught me how to bake my beloved sourdough (learn here), from his own magical experience working in a bakery in Greece. Our idea for the oven came when he was talking about his desire to build an outdoor bread oven. We even talked about building one in our backyard a year ago. When his plans changed and he left the area – we were very sad to see him go – and so did we
I had seen too many wonderful videos of my dear Gennaro and Antonio sliding fabulous meals into ovens all over Italy, eating and preparing food… OUT.
You can find the episodes of ‘Two Greedy Italains’ on youtube; we keep seeing them over and over to inspire you.
Really – preparing an entire meal outdoors, cooking it over a fire, and eating it out sounded like my idea of heaven.
Oven Builder Follows Ecological Principles / Baking Bread Seen As Basis Of Earth Friendly Lifestyle
So I came across a new design that sparked an idea: build an outdoor oven made from an old 55 liter drum (on the website I found it was called a barrel oven). The reason I was attracted to this idea was because it was made from very simple materials that can be found in many places around the world. Since we wanted to try things here at home that could be replicated in Haiti (where my cousin lives and works), I thought this would be perfect. It seemed like you could build one as simple or as complex as you wanted.
I had also recently made a new friend whose husband was a welder. When I commented “Oh, I’d love to learn how to weld” – his remark stuck with me – “Scott is a great teacher.”
When I read the options for building this barrel oven, you could either 1. Order the pre-welded oven kit or 2. Solder the parts yourself… I immediately thought of Scott.
It felt a little risky when I emailed the link asking if (this man I had never met) would be willing to share his skills with us. I wanted to learn how to… you know… just put together a working oven out of an old barrel.
Blazebox Wood Fired Outdoor Pizza Oven
What I didn’t realize was that, in that step of reaching out, I ended up making some very dear new friends.
Max & Eva Edelson wrote this simple book that has basic plans and provides an outline of how to build a barrel kiln. CLICK HERE to order yours.
I invited my new welder friend Scott over and showed him the design. After a few minutes, he called a friend and asked him to set aside a barrel they had. I was dizzy. We were already on our way.
As with many things I assume: I am the eternal optimist. “We can TOTALLY do it!” I say… and indeed we can. It usually involves a little more work than I initially expect.
Best Outdoor Pizza Ovens Of 2023
Scott gave us an estimate on the cost of the brazing materials and generously offered his time to teach us and help us complete the furnace. Once we saved up enough for the materials (about $200), we were ready to go.
The girls and I got out the sledgehammer and knocked down the old fire “ring” that used to be in our backyard. We needed to get rid of it so we could pour our new cement pad and get ready to build our furnace!
I soon found out that I had NO IDEA what I was talking about when I made that comment about wanting to learn how to weld. I had the idea that you used a small torch-like thing to heat the metal and bend it into the shape you wanted, or fuse pieces together, and voila! magic When the girls and I walked into Scott’s shop and saw all these huge hacksaws, tanks full of argon gas, and cranes on the ceiling to lift, I realized what a BIG gift it was to be there. I love giving my girls hands-on experiences like this for them to learn, but I was in love and in awe of the whole process.
We start with the ash grid. Two pieces of angle iron and a bunch of cut pieces of welded rebar. He was
Portable Wood Fired Brick Pizza Oven
Build Your Own Barrel Oven
READ
Author by : Max Edleson
Languange Used : en
Release Date : 2012
Publisher by : Green Books
ISBN :
Description : Offers a comprehensive guide for planning and building a practical, efficient and affordable wood-fired oven. The Barrel Oven offers surprising convenience because it is hot and ready to bake in within 15-20 minutes and is easy to maintain at a constant temperature. Follow this step-by-step guide to transform local, low-cost materials and the sun's energy into good food....
The Ultimate Wood Fired Oven Cookbook
READ
Author by : Genevieve Taylor
Languange Used : en
Release Date : 2018-05-31
Publisher by : Hardie Grant Publishing
ISBN :
Description : The Ultimate Wood-Fired Oven Cookbook tells you everything you need to know about your oven, from initial setting up to choice of woods, plus tips and tricks for perfecting cooking times, and of course, over 70 amazing recipes. Most people start with authentic pizza and flatbreads cooked at high temperature, and Genevieve Taylor talks you step-by-step through the foolproof way to achieve the world's best-tasting wood-fired pizza. But these ovens are infinitely more versatile, and she goes on to show how you can roast and grill (everything from Portuguese clams with white wine, garlic and coriander to Kebabs and Cheese toasties), then bake as the oven starts to cool (Beetroot focaccia with goat's cheese and sage, and even Fig, honey and brandy clafoutis), and ultimately use the dying embers to slow-roast (Lamb shoulder with fennel) or simply leave to cook overnight (dishes like Barbecoa beef brisket and Overnight porridge). With The Ultimate Wood-Fired Oven Cookbook, you'll master both the equipment and your cooking, getting the best out of your oven and your fuel, and enjoying the most delectable, memorable food you've ever eaten....
Build Your Own Earth Oven
READ
Author by : Kiko Denzer
Languange Used : en
Release Date : 2007
Publisher by :
ISBN :
Description : Earth ovens combine the utility of a wood-fired, retained-heat oven with the ease and timeless beauty of earthen construction. Building one will appeal to bakers, builders, and beginners of all kinds, from: - the serious or aspiring baker who wants the best low-cost bread oven, to - gardeners who want a centerpiece for a beautiful outdoor kitchen, to - outdoor chefs, to - creative people interested in low-cost materials and simple technology, to - teachers who want a multi-faceted, experiential project for students of all ages (the book has been successful with everyone from third-graders to adults). Build Your Own Earth Oven is fully illustrated with step-by-step directions, including how to tend the fire, and how to make perfect sourdough hearth loaves in the artisan tradition. The average do-it-yourselfer with a few tools and a scrap pile can build an oven for free, or close to it. Otherwise, $30 should cover all your materials--less than the price of a fancy "baking stone." Good building soil is often right in your back yard, under your feet. Build the simplest oven in a day! With a bit more time and imagination, you can make a permanent foundation and a fire-breathing dragon-oven or any other shape you can dream up. Earth ovens are familiar to many that have seen a southwestern "horno" or a European "bee-hive" oven. The idea, pioneered by Egyptian bakers in the second millennium BCE, is simplicity itself: fill the oven with wood, light a fire, and let it burn down to ashes. The dense, 3- to 12-inch-thick earthen walls hold and store the heat of the fire, the baker sweeps the floor clean, and the hot oven walls radiate steady, intense heat for hours. Home bakers who can't afford a fancy, steam-injected bread oven will be delighted to find that a simple earth oven can produce loaves to equal the fanciest "artisan" bakery. It also makes delicious roast meats, cakes, pies, pizzas, and other creations. Pizza cooks to perfection in three minutes or less. Vegetables, herbs, and potatoes drizzled with olive oil roast up in minutes for a simple, elegant, and delicious meal. Efficient cooks will find the residual heat useful for slow-baked dishes, and even for drying surplus produce, or incubating homemade yogurt....
Build Your Own Wood Fired Oven
READ
Author by : Alan Watt
Languange Used : en
Release Date : 2011
Publisher by : Rosenberg Publishing
ISBN :
Description : How to build your own wood fired oven...
The Bread Builders
READ
Author by : Alan Scott
Languange Used : en
Release Date : 1999-07-01
Publisher by : Chelsea Green Publishing
ISBN :
Description : Creating the perfect loaf of bread--a challenge that has captivated bakers for centuries--is now the rage in the hippest places, from Waitsfield, Vermont, to Point Reyes Station, California. Like the new generation of beer drinkers who consciously seek out distinctive craft-brewed beers, many people find that their palates have been reawakened and re-educated by the taste of locally baked, whole-grain breads. Today's village bakers are finding an important new role--linking tradition with a sophisticated new understanding of natural levens, baking science and oven construction. Daniel Wing, a lover of all things artisanal, had long enjoyed baking his own sourdough bread. His quest for the perfect loaf began with serious study of the history and chemistry of bread baking, and eventually led to an apprenticeship with Alan Scott, the most influential builder of masonry ovens in America. Alan and Daniel have teamed up to write this thoughtful, entertaining, and authoritative book that shows you how to bake superb healthful bread and build your own masonry oven. The authors profile more than a dozen small-scale bakers around the U.S. whose practices embody the holistic principles of community-oriented baking based on whole grains and natural leavens. The Bread Builders will appeal to a broad range of readers, including: Connoisseurs of good bread and good food. Home bakers interested in taking their bread and pizza to the next level of excellence. Passionate bakers who fantasize about making a living by starting their own small bakery. Do-it-yourselfers looking for the next small construction project. Small-scale commercial bakers seeking inspiration, the most up-to-date knowledge about the entire bread-baking process, and a marketing edge....
From The Wood Fired Oven
READ
Author by : Richard Miscovich
Languange Used : en
Release Date : 2013
Publisher by : Chelsea Green Publishing
ISBN :
Description : In the past twenty years, interest in wood-fired ovens has increased dramatically in the United States and abroad, but most books focus on how to bake bread or pizza in an oven. From the Wood-Fired Oven offers many more techniques for home and artisan bakers--from baking bread and making pizza to recipes on how to get as much use as possible out of a single oven firing, from the first live-fire roasting to drying wood for the next fire. From the Wood-Fired Oven offers a new take on traditional techniques for professional bakers, but is simple enough to inspire any nonprofessional baking enthusiast. Leading baker and instructor Richard Miscovich wants people to use their ovens to fulfill the goal of maximum heat utilization. Readers will find methods and techniques for cooking and baking in a wood-fired oven in the order of the appropriate temperature window. What comes first--pizza, or pastry? Roasted vegetables or a braised pork loin? Clarified butter or beef jerky? In addition to an extensive section of delicious formulas for many types of bread, readers will find chapters on: - Making pizza and other live-fire flatbreads; - Roasting fish and meats; - Grilling, steaming, braising, and frying; - Baking pastry and other recipes beyond breads; - Rendering animal fats and clarifying butter; - Food dehydration and infusing oils; - And myriad other ways to use the oven's residual heat. Appendices include oven-design recommendations, a sample oven temperature log, Richard's baker's percentages, proper care of a sourdough starter, and more. . . . From the Wood Fired Oven is more than a cookbook; it reminds the reader of how a wood-fired oven (and fire, by extension) draws people together and bestows a sense of comfort and fellowship, very real human needs, especially in uncertain times. Indeed, cooking and baking from a wood-fired oven is a basic part of a resilient lifestyle, and a perfect example of valuable traditional skills being put to use in modern times....
Meathead
READ
Author by : Meathead Goldwyn
Languange Used : en
Release Date : 2016-05-17
Publisher by : HarperCollins
ISBN :
Description : New York Times Bestseller Named "22 Essential Cookbooks for Every Kitchen" by SeriousEats.com Named "25 Favorite Cookbooks of All Time" by Christopher Kimball Named "Best Cookbooks Of 2016" by Chicago Tribune, BBC, Wired, Epicurious, Leite's Culinaria Named "100 Best Cookbooks of All Time" by Southern Living Magazine For succulent results every time, nothing is more crucial than understanding the science behind the interaction of food, fire, heat, and smoke. This is the definitive guide to the concepts, methods, equipment, and accessories of barbecue and grilling. The founder and editor of the world's most popular BBQ and grilling website, AmazingRibs.com, “Meathead” Goldwyn applies the latest research to backyard cooking and 118 thoroughly tested recipes. He explains why dry brining is better than wet brining; how marinades really work; why rubs shouldn't have salt in them; how heat and temperature differ; the importance of digital thermometers; why searing doesn't seal in juices; how salt penetrates but spices don't; when charcoal beats gas and when gas beats charcoal; how to calibrate and tune a grill or smoker; how to keep fish from sticking; cooking with logs; the strengths and weaknesses of the new pellet cookers; tricks for rotisserie cooking; why cooking whole animals is a bad idea, which grill grates are best;and why beer-can chicken is a waste of good beer and nowhere close to the best way to cook a bird. He shatters the myths that stand in the way of perfection. Busted misconceptions include: • Myth: Bring meat to room temperature before cooking. Busted! Cold meat attracts smoke better. • Myth: Soak wood before using it. Busted! Soaking produces smoke that doesn't taste as good as dry fast-burning wood. • Myth: Bone-in steaks taste better. Busted! The calcium walls of bone have no taste and they just slow cooking. • Myth: You should sear first, then cook. Busted! Actually, that overcooks the meat. Cooking at a low temperature first and searing at the end produces evenly cooked meat. Lavishly designed with hundreds of illustrations and full-color photos by the author, this book contains all the sure-fire recipes for traditional American favorites and many more outside-the-box creations. You'll get recipes for all the great regional barbecue sauces; rubs for meats and vegetables; Last Meal Ribs, Simon & Garfunkel Chicken; Schmancy Smoked Salmon; The Ultimate Turkey; Texas Brisket; Perfect Pulled Pork; Sweet & Sour Pork with Mumbo Sauce; Whole Hog; Steakhouse Steaks; Diner Burgers; Prime Rib; Brazilian Short Ribs; Rack Of Lamb Lollipops; Huli-Huli Chicken; Smoked Trout Florida Mullet –Style; Baja Fish Tacos; Lobster, and many more....
