Inspirations

Today is wet and cold so we are not doing anything on the oven, apart from admiring it through the window of my office! I have received inspiration from a wide range of sources and have always intended to list them so now is a good opportunity.

The site I was working with is restricted in space and I was constrained in the size of oven I could build. I had a number of requirements for the build, including use of as many recycled materials as possible, need to locate the oven adjacent to our outdoor entertaining area (yet away from our fence line), and the desire to adapt the existing brick barbecue structure as a base for the oven. I therefore did not build to any of the designs I encountered elsewhere.

I have listed some significant web-based information sources on the links and resources section at the bottom of the page. I gained a lot of information and inspiration from the very comprehensive Traditional Oven web page http://www.traditionaloven.com/ and a link from this page led me to the Ozark Dreams page. This page contains a wonderful step-by-step account of building an oven. Its URL is www.ozarkdreams.com/BrickOven.htm

The first useful site I found when doing a web search was the Australian site of a couple building a sustainable home. Their basic oven information, including oven height, door height etc was really useful. This site is Newton House. The URL for their brick oven is www.newtonhouse.info/oven.htm

I also obtained invaluable information from Russell Jeavons' wonderful Australian book Your Brick Oven Building It and Baking In It. The author runs his own restaurant and builds ovens. He has a background as a builder so he makes a few assumptions about construction techniques but I found his the most comprehensive and accessible account of brick oven building and use. AND the measurements are metric!!!! I purchased my copy online.

Anyway I hope this helps others who are travelling down this road.