Outdoor Living ideas and tips by Outdoor Living Expert Paul Sayer

Brick Oven
Originally uploaded by Caomai.

Brick and clay ovens are most often thought about for bread and pizza. However, they will also add great flavor to roast meat, vegetables, biscuits or lasagna.

There are 2 main types of oven that you can build in your backyard:

• Brick oven.
• Clay or adobe oven (also called a horno).

These ovens are traditionally fired with wood or charcoal, although you can have a modern brick oven installed that uses electricity or gas.

Traditional ovens are designed to store several hours worth of heat, allowing several dishes to be cooked in succession. Pizzas could be followed by bread, roasts and stews, each cooked at the appropriate temperatures.

You can build your own brick or adobe oven, although it is an daunting thought. These are some great resources that will make the job easier:

• Ovencrafters provide DIY plans for brick ovens. The site includes a great list of links.
• The Brick Oven Page has a great selection of links and photos of different kinds of clay and brick oven.
• Sunset’s step-by-step guide to building an adobe oven. Also includes recipes for bread, ratatouille, roasted salsa and roasted meat and vegetables.
• Adobe Oven Page - about the experience of building and using an adobe oven.

Also of interest is this article about a community oven in Albury, Australia: Breaking bread in the park.

Finally, the video below gives a fascinating insight into the use of a horno, which is traditionally used for cooking bread and corn. This horno was built in Taos, New Mexico to provide some of the food for a Grantmakers in the Arts conference.

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