Earthen Oven

The earthen oven has been used for centuries throughout many countries.  Though age-old, it is still relied on today in many professions such as your local pizzeria. The earthen oven, that you can easily make, makes professional food using only natural resources.   The oven is so sufficient that the heat last for over twenty –four hours giving you time to cook many meals.  This not only saves on the power bill, but saves me time I would have spent in the kitchen.  In little time, I have food made for a whole week.

Scott has been itching to build an earthen oven, so over the Thanksgiving holiday our family finally built one.

We had a blast making the oven. The materials for the project were simple: firebrick, clay, sand, newspaper, and straw.

The construction, though simple, will create an oven that will last for many years.  The younger kids had a blast “building a sand castle” when making the form

and “playing in the mud” when mixing the sand and clay.

The older ones readily help, anticipating the loaves of crisp bread that it will soon bring forth.

For centuries the earthen oven has fed our relatives.  The town bakers of the early colonies depended on these ovens for their profession.  Cooks also put them to use.  At the end of a long day of baking, cooks put a large kettle of beans in the cooling oven and baked them overnight to have the next day.   The birth of the “baked bean” started from there.

On Christmas Eve I plan on taking advantage of this efficient feature.  I will first bake my breads, then my pecan pie, then boeuf bourguignon, and end it with shepherd’s pie.  All wings of my family will not know what hit then on Christmas day.

Aside from the amazing food the oven throws out, the oven also serves survival advantages.  The oven requires no electricity.  There are no gadgets on it; if the “furnace” cracks you can simply patch it with a little mud.  If the power goes out or thieves rob everything but the kitchen sink, you have something you can easily make delicious food from.

In part two of earthen ovens, I will post a video of how to make the earthen oven in more detail.  And later, I will show how to cook in it.

For part II click here and for the video click here! If you want to see how to make the bread and how to cook it in the earthen oven click here.