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Earth Ovens Fun to make and even more fun to use, Earth Ovens bake like expensive commercial wood-fired ovens while costing a fraction of the price. Ideal for baking breads and pizzas, earthen ovens use radiant, conductive and convection heat simultaneously - producing crunchy, caramelized crusts while keeping moist goodness on the inside. Built out of clay-rich earth, the ovens can be hand-sculpted into beautiful works of art, making beautiful additions to any backyard or patio. Besides being a creative and cost effective way to build a bread oven, earthen oven construction aheres to the principles behind natural building , using primarily non-toxic, sustainable, local and recycled materials. Going a little further, since earthen ovens are basically made out of straw, sand and unfired subsoil; they embody very little energy- as opposed to fired brick or cast cement. All of this makes earthen ovens a green alternative to conventional masonry ovens. Unlike most commercial brick ovens that constantly burn wood, earthen ovens bake on stored or retained heat. The concept is to build a fire in the oven until it is hot, scoop out all of the coals and close the oven door. After waiting a few minutes, you open the door and start bake your pizza or bread. As the oven temperature drops you can cook other foods that don’t require such high heat, which allows you to cook an entire menu. As far as wood burning ovens go, a well designed and properly insulated earth oven can actually be an efficient way to produce large amounts of baked goods. For those of you who are opposed to burning wood, you can also design the ovens to run on natural gas or propane, although it is hard to beat the heat and flavor of wood. I also enjoy the concept of the community oven. For centuries people have shared communal bread ovens. Not only does this allow multiple users to make their bread, it brings people together. While you can build an earth oven by yourself, most ovens are built by groups of people and it is this community energy carries over into using the oven. Earth Ovens make a great centerpiece to any community space, giving people a reason to come together and rejoice in good food and company. If you are interested in having an earth oven, we would be glad to design and build you a custom oven. If you want to build the oven yourself, we offer consulting services and teach oven building workshops. If you have land to build on, you might want to think about hosting a workshop. Contact Brian for more details.
Sacramento -August 8th & 9th |
Urban Earth Solutions
Brian Baker • 530-848-8088
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