Adobe oven plans Other Oven Types Discuss Adobe oven plans in the Pizza Oven Design and Installation forums; I ran across an nice article in Sunset Magazine that shows a fast easy adobe oven and how to build ...

[brokencookie]

I ran across an nice article in Sunset Magazine that shows a fast easy adobe oven and how to build it for those that are interested.

Project: Sunset's classic adobe oven - Sunset.com

Have fun

[Archena]

Thanks, BC! Another one for my collection!

Grit did one last year w/o the cement. Honestly, I've never seen anyone incorporate cement in cob or adobe. I have read one builder who says don't use cement as the outer finish (it is permeable and water gets between it and the oven - or in his case, house!) but nothing about incorporating it into the mixture. Hmmm...

Anyway, here's Grit's version: Backyard Bread Oven

And another: Backyard Earthen Oven | DigginFood

None of the above seem to be genuine cob and they definitely aren't adobe. It probably doesn't matter but both adobe and cob incorporate straw in the mixture. Adobe is dried prior to construction; cob is not.

Here's the classic book on earthen ovens: Amazon.com: Build Your Own Earth Oven, 3rd Edition: A Low-Cost Wood-Fired Mud Oven; Simple Sourdough Bread; Perfect Loaves (9780967984674): Kiko Denzer, Hannah Field: Books

[shuboyje]

I read up on adobe a bit researching what type of oven I was going to build, and found that a small percentage of portland cement is one method of making stabilized adobe.

from Welcome To Home Energy Magazine Online

Semistabilized Adobe

Semistabilized adobe brick was developed in New Mexico. Previously, throughout the Southwest, sap from agave or prickly pear, straw, and manure were among the additives used to stabilize adobe. Today, stabilized adobe is made of plain earth mixed with a stabilizer that classifies the brick as water resistant.

Liquid asphalt emulsion stabilizer, 3%-5 % by weight, is the most popular additive because it is easy and inexpensive to use (it is a byproduct of the road building industry). Portland cement, 5%-10% by weight, is also an excellent additive, one that can be added to the dry earth and mixed in the same way as concrete. The Portland cement augments the structural integrity of the brick, so that the finished product is less crumbly than traditional adobe.

Fully Stabilized Adobe

Fully stabilized adobe contains enough asphalt emulsion or Portland cement to limit the brick's seven-day water absorption to less than 4% of its dry weight. This amounts to about twice as much stabilizer as is used in semistabilized adobe--6 to 12% by weight of the dry mixture. Because they are so well protected, these bricks will last longer under exposure to the elements (although they should also be sealed).

In 1994, 79% of the adobe bricks manufactured in New Mexico were semistabilized; 21% were the traditional untreated adobes. Fully stabilized bricks accounted for roughly 1% of the state's adobe production and were available only on special order. Fully stabilized adobe is more expensive than the other types and looks much more like concrete than like adobe

[Archena]

Ok, cool. Thanks!

[pacoast]

The adobe ovens are great to get your feet wet or to construct a temporary oven. I was just a kid when Sunset Magazine originally published that article. I suppose they've probably reprinted it any number of times since then.

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