Welcome Ovenbirds

ovenbird |ˈəvənˌbərd|a migratory brown North American warbler belonging to a diverse family that builds a domed, oven like nest on the ground made of mud.

Thanks for joining!  Bette is close to being ready for the wood oven building workshop.  She and her friend Nick have picked a site on her property and will be picking up materials in Minneapolis soon.

The oven in this photo is Bette's favorite.  She called it her Hobbit Oven.

Below are photos of her site and some materials she has.

 

 

Fiery Oven Workshop Plan

Bette’s Fiery Oven Construction Workshops:

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Workshop day #1.  August 4^th: 

Foundation and Oven Base Construction

·      Dig out and level 5x5’ square 6” deep in the yard where oven will situate and make a surrounding form for adding smooth concrete surface to foundation slab.

·      Dig postholes and make footings using the Sonotubes and ready mix concrete.

·      Add 3” layer of pea rock for under concrete slab.

·      Set 5x5’ concrete slab base, rough side up, & add smooth surface concrete overlay.

·      Center and set 3’x3.5’ concrete culvert tile on slab to support the 5x5’ oven platform concrete slab. Add the top 5x5' slab rough side up.

·      Make a wood form for a 2” wide x 4” high rail on the platform top  that will retain insulation for the oven floor. 

·      Center the wood rail form and mix, fill, level and smooth vermiculite/concrete mix in the form.

·      Once vermicrete has set remove form and  place 2 Duraboard 2x4 foot sections side by side in insulation retainer. 

·      Add sand on top of Duraboard, pack the sand, smooth and level it

·      Using thinned Airset refractory mortar, coat4x4’ firebrick edges and install bricks for the oven floor.

·      Cover the entire base loosely and let it cure for @ 48 hours.

 

Workshop day #2:  Cob Oven construction

Date to be determined – likely 2^nd or 3^rd week of August

 Making the dome oven chamber

·      Make plywood template  for shaping sand dome mold  diagram

·      Create sand dome with damp sand, finishing and smoothing with the plywood template

·      Apply latex/newspaper coating dome

·      From cob recipe mix/apply cob over sand dome

·      Build entry arch form and set in place

·      Mortar and lay bricks for entry side walls

·      Construct entry roof with firebrick set on 2 angle iron bars

·      Overlay entry with cob

·      Cover and cure structure for @ one week

·      Start small fire and begin heating oven for one hour to begin drying process.  Repeat over 4 to 5 days with slightly hotter fires doubling the heat and duration each time. Oven must be protected from rain and dampness with tarp cover.

Workshop Day #3 - Insulating and cladding the oven dome

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·      Cover the oven with loose chicken wire.  Warp the wire shape over the exterior oven so wire is irregular and not flat against the surface.

·      Mix cladding recipe of concrete, vermiculite, sand and lime

·      Apply cladding from bottom up to achieve a four inch thickness.  Cover the entry with cladding also.

·      Allow the coating to set up

·      Complete the surfacing work using the stucco cement by applying a one inch coat of  stucco over a stucco wire blanket . 

Workshop day # 4:  Exterior decoration and cooking utensils

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·      According to Bette’s ideas for using field stone, sort stone for relative size and positioning and lay up with mortar..

·      Have oven basic utensils ready for use;  (peel, shovel, broom, rake, oven door).

Workshop day # 5:  Final drying and firing to cooking temperatures.

·      Over a period of 3 days complete 3 firings, each one progressively hotter (@200, 400, 800 degrees) and of longer duration. 

·      Use the third firing for experimental cooking once 800 degree temperature is reached.

Bette's oven diagrams and details

  Workshop Day 1Oven Base 

Workshop Day 2   Side Cross-section

 

Workshop Day 3 Front Cross-section