Why An Oven?

I built an oven two years ago in my backyard. I built it out of clay and sand, some water and straw. I made it because I loved the idea - to be able to bake bread in a wood fired oven.

Inspiration
Years ago I read an article in the Chronicle about baker Fran Gage. It said she was up in Sonoma, baking bread in an outdoor, wood fired oven. What fun I thought. But an outdoor oven can cost thousands of dollars and that was definitely not in my budget. Lamenting my disappointment to an architect friend, produced an alternative. She said, "Why not build a cob oven?" and sent me a class announcement. Keiko Denzer had a two day workshop up in Oregon to teach people how to build their own earth oven.

My Oven
It took about 4 weekends to complete and the labor of a group of friends.
It cost between $300 and $500, most of which was spent on food to feed my crew of volunteers.
Items I paid for:

• Sand
• Firebrick
• Chimney Brick
• Clay Pigments
• A kid to haul some clay from a neighbor's yard

Items I found, scavenged, got, or otherwise obtained:

• Clay
• Urbanite
• Perlite
• Rice Straw