“I’ve already written a bit about my enthusiasm for ensuring we have something other than a camp stove and an open fire to cook on during the build of our house. I’ve done that before for large groups of people and I’m not keen to repeat the experience over longer than a weekend. It also seems fairly obvious that the key to ensuring we have willing and happy helpers is to keep them well fed (the whole build will go smoother with full bellies). So I don’t think it’s unreasonable to spend quite a bit of time and effort ensuring this is taken care of – I consider it good project management. One of our strategies is a barrel oven.
I’ve seen a number of accounts on various blogs from people who’ve built their own ovens, including making the metal parts themselves, but they’re all a bit light on detail about how they did the metal bits. Others simply purchased the metal parts from Firespeaking and just built the oven around them. Since the latter isn’t an option for us (even if Firespeaking shipped to Australia I think the postage on something as heavy as this would be beyond what we’d consider worth it) we’ll build the whole thing ourselves from scratch and keep an account of it here for anyone else who wants to do the same.”
More at the source: (Probably) An Exercise in Hoop-Jumping blog
Well, this would definitely make for the ultimate summer kitchen! I was thinking about doing one of Sigi Koko’s cob oven workshops and this looks like it would be the perfect hybridization between smoker grill and cob oven. My only question is where would you source a non-contaminated steel drum?
Any suggestions…Or if I find a means I will share:)
-Sarah
This oven is much like a cob oven except the internal parts are steel. So most people don’t need both. Smokers are completely different.
Countless products come in steel drums. I’m sure you can track down something nontoxic, although I can’t give you the specifics. Search ‘food grade’ steel drums.
Owen, you are correct. Barrel ovens are relatively simple . . . and I’m currently revising my version to suit a greater variety of skill levels. Using easy to obtain parts will make this a favorite for the DIY project enthusiast.
I’ve recently added a simple hinge to the door, that has never been used on a barrel oven I’ve seen. But the secret is the Rocket-Stove fire technology used to bring the oven to a temperature favored by PIZZA lovers.
With my added convection …pizzas are baked at 700 deg. in 2 minutes!
. . .enjoy the attached photos.https://flic.kr/p/pemn8g
I think you’re on to something big. Many people would rather buy the parts or the complete stove rather than make it from scratch, especially if you have an improved design. Keep us posted on the price, ordering info, etc.
It would be great if someone documented their barrel oven and published the instructions on Instructables.com.
http://www.instructables.com/
Barrel ovens are relatively simple, but they do require a certain amount of know-how that’s not readily available on the Internet at this time.