Tag Archives: Mud Oven

Progress

Hauled home 4 buckets of clay (thank you T.) this afternoon. It was enough to finish the lower insulation layer on the oven. Weather permitting I should be able to start of the body of the oven next weekend.

I am really noticing a difference in comfort levels when mixing the mud with my bare feet in July as compared with Nov. My tootsies were pretty numb by the time I got done. brrrr

I planted a couple of small fig trees in the ground on the south side of the house this spring. Since the figs still in the containers have started dropping leaves I decided to check on the in ground figs today. I actually found a ripe fig on one. A ripe fig in Ky on Nov 1. That has to be a record for me. Once the inground trees go dormant I will build a little cage (they are only about 18″ tall) of chicken wire and fill it with leaves to help insulate them for the winter. I’ve never tried overwintering them outside before so I am not sure it will work.

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Oven: Bottom Insulation

It has been a long time coming but the bottom layer of insulation is just about complete. Between school, not having enough beer bottles and the weather I hadn’t touched the oven in a number of weeks.

After finishing the foundation, I layed a 2×4 & 4×4 frame across the open foundation about 2/3 of the way up from the bottom. I had layed an extra row of bricks on each side to accept the wood frame. This left an open 15″ deep box. On top of this platform I placed a 1″ layer of the clay/wood shavings mix and starting laying the bottles so that they almost touch. I wasn’t able to get all of the bottles set as I ran out of clay. Everything I have read said that as long as I have enough insulation there shouldn’t be a problem with burn through. I’ve also seen a number of very old ovens built on wood platforms.

Once I get the rest of the clay/wood mix applied and the bottles in place I will let it dry before building the clay/sand pad that will accept the firebricks.