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Edition: Paperback
Format: 8-page color section, b&w illustrations and photographs, appendices, resources, index
Pages: 7 x 10, 132 pages
ISBN: 978-0-967984-67-4
Publisher: Hand Print Press
Release Date: 2007-09-01

Online Information: Book Overview; (Table of Contents); Preface; Introduction

Other Books By This Author: Dig Your Hands in the Dirt (Paperback)

Related Books: Cob Builders Handbook; The Hand-Sculpted House; The Bread Builders

Build Your Own Earth Oven

Kiko Denzer; with Hannah Field, Foreword by Alan Scott

Preface	2
Introduction Why a wood-fired, earthen oven? Earthen Building, or what is "cob," anyway?	5
Chapter One: build a basic mud oven How big an oven should I make? Getting organized Materials and tools Beauty and sculpture On "waterproofing" A roof for your oven Eight steps to a simple oven	11
Chapter Two: firing and baking in your oven Building and managing a fire Assembling a set of traditional baking tools	43
Chapter Three: simple sourdough bread! Introduction and a note on ingredients A quick outline of a ten-step sourdough process On yeast, flour, and bread How it works--the ten step process in detail	51
Chapter Four: materials and making do Floor materials Straw and other fibers Gravel and Sand Subsoil, clay, and what to do if you can't find it Clay facts Refractory Cement	68
Chapter Five: other mixtures, other ovens Single layer, all-clay, "rammed earth" ovens Simpler foundations Sculpting and finishing Lime plasters and other water resistant, breathable plasters, and a warning Brick or metal doorways Chimneys and doors Firing doors Cob doors Insulating a mud oven Experiments and things to try	73
Chapter Six: pyro-dynamics, or, playing with fire Mechanics of fire Some related principles Metaphysics of fire	93
Chapter Seven: troubleshooting My sand form won't hold its shape I have no sand--how else can I make a form? I can't find straw My fire won't burn The bottoms of my loaves always burn My oven is cracking Can I quick dry my oven? Can I keep an all-clay oven from shrinking? The doorway is crumbling and falling apart I can't find clay subsoil anywhere What about fuels other than wood?	99
Afterword Art, earth, ovens	105
Appendix: Questions, Answers, and Resources About efficiency, design, etc Using the oven Materials and construction Resources: Books on bread and building	112
Index	121

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Build Your Own Earth Oven

Table of Contents