h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Building and Using a Mudbrick Oven - A1170974
Author: Frenchbean - U236943

I think this is an interesting alternative to 'conventional' ovens and is something that can be attained by anyone with a bit of land. I've made one and it really does work.

Let me know what you think. As ever, I'm keen to be Peered at


F/b

Good to see you've put this in F/b.

I've never heard of a formwork - do you mean a 'framework'?

For links, the format is like this:

Name and then the link becomes clickable.

You will also need to check that the links work, F/b. The first one I tried didn't and the second works better as:

http://www.regia.org/ovens.htm

Interestingly, this one mentions an oven built on a wickerwork frame - I remember saying the one I did some work on was build on such a frame.

Hi ZFS,

Yes, the wickerwork frame oven looks great, but I decided to restrict myself to one method - or the entry would have been even longer. I hadn't forgotten your comment about it, honest! What do you reckon to adding a short section on alternative methods of building mud ovens?

Thanks for the hints on links. I hadn't even thought about them being links: just references in the bibliography, but it's a good idea and I'll sort it out later today.

Formwork is the name for a wooden frame within which concrete is poured. In Australia at least. I'll change it I think: in case folk don't understand.

Thanks for all your comments: really appreciated.


F/b

OK, I've added the links. For some reason the link to the Horno on networkearth won't work properly, so I've had to link to networkearth's home page. Any ideas anybody?

I have to go to bed now - too long in front of this machine.


F/b

I like this entry a lot, and I have a few comments to help improve it and get it ready for recommendation by a Scout

I would say that the mudbrick ovens, the remains of which were found in the places you mention, were outside precisely *because* those are hot climates, rather than to avoid the risk of fire. To have the oven inside would make the dwelling even more unbearably hot than they no doubt already were.

Sorry - hit the POst Message button by mistake there

To continue:

I think that the 'Two Key Facts' paragraph could probably go in the introduction rather than the construction section, and you you might want to use a bulleted list tag for it as well </>GuideML-UL</.>

"Roll out a damp mortar on the base."
Can you be a bit more precise about that? Do you mean 'spread out'? And do you mean over the whole of the base (which would obscure the marks you made in the concrete), or only within the marks you made in the concrete?

"...each course becomes smaller"
'becomes smaller in diameter'


Scout

Dagnammit

<./>GuideML-UL</.>

The '*we* may not have any power' sentence reads comically to me. Not that I am asserting anything about the quantity of resources remaining in the earth; only that if the modern sources of cooking heat fail, there are too many humans on the earth to heat their food by wood or coal without instant desertification. Was it intentional?

You mention a very good reason for building an oven very late in the article, that is, it makes certain foods rather tasty. You might like to add this in the beginning part of 'why build one'.

Thanks for comments Gosho and Sea Change. I'm glad you like the entry.

Gosho: you're right about the hot climate issue, although fire risk must have been on their minds too.

I want the 2 key facts to stand out, because they sort out some misconceptions about mudbrick ovens. I'll play around with the layout and see what they look like as bullet points. They were late additions, and perhaps that shows.

I'll clarify the damp mortar bit. I'd rather lost the will to live at some point in the middle of the more technical bit and got very tied up with whether there was too much or not enough detail.

Sea Change (love the name by the way): You're right! I hadn't thought that point through properly, and should probably recommend that people construct sun ovens, rather than mudbrick ones in that situation (the topic of another entry me-thinks). I'll amend.

Since the great attraction of mudbrick ovens for me is the fantastic taste of the food, I shall indeed move that to the Intro.

I'll do some editing.


F/b

Looks much better


Scout

The building a Horno link still doesn't work. What was the original web address? I'll see if I can help find a solution, F/b.

This address works:

http://www.networkearth.org/naturalbuilding/oven.html

As most people will be familar with a tandoor (the Indian clay oven), maybe it is worth mentioning it in the introduction. I know some households have tandoors build into their gardens. As a veggie, I wouldn't eat tandoori chicken, however I would eat the naan bread!

Interesting entry one or two points:

Footnotes 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6 need to be up against the word they refer to- they are currently outside full stops.

Any chance of indicating what a 'safe distance from any buildings is',roughly speaking, six feet, four feet, what?

Can I suggest not using the word 'slurry', unless it really is a specific term- slurry to me is liquid cow dung... How about paste, or something similar?

Apart from that, it looks pretty much done to me, although I don't know a Hell of a lot about mudbrick ovens

For me, the word slurry was quite clear,

Here's a dictionary definition:

http://www.wordreference.com/english/definition.asp?en=slurry

http://dict.die.net/slurry/

For me, the word slurry was quite clear,

Here's a dictionary definition:

http://www.wordreference.com/english/definition.asp?en=slurry

http://dict.die.net/slurry/

Ah. I must have spent too long in farm yards then As you were chaps.

Hi KerrAvon,

Thanks for the comments. I'll attend to the footnotes.

As for defining a 'safe distance from any buildings' - that's rather more difficult. I think a large element of judgement has to be used, because there are so many different factors. Prevailing wind direction. Type of house (bamboo is a lot more likely to go up in flames than stone). Climate (dry and hot, you're likely to have it further away than in damp and cool). Actually, ours was about 5ft away from our back door, in the tropics, and we were confident that we were safe with that. Sorry: I'm going to duck that one and leave it up to individual's common sense!

I'll bet you know a lot more about mudbrick ovens now!

ZFS: thank you for sorting out the slurry issue! I was happy with the word too.

I'll check those links when I get home, which is where all my notes are, and try to sort that lot out. I thought that the Horno one was working now?


F/b

Yippee: I got the Horno link to work! I knew it would all along of course

Thanks ZSF


F/b