oven option?

[caymancooker]

we dont have fire brick or any clay bricks on island
but i do have a 36" round x26 deep unglazed fired clay pot(new)
could i add mass and insulate it to form an oven??

[PsychDoc]

Re: oven option?

Good question!
I have tried a "rocket stove" under a terra cotta pot and easily obtained 600 degrees, this was my proof of concept. I started, today, a larger version. It will be large enough to place a 13" pizza stone and test the durability of a large clay pot. My hunch is that ovens get to be much hotter and could crack a pot. However if the thing doesn't explode it may provide an inexpensive and time/labor saving alternative.
I shall post my progress

[david s]

Re: oven option?

You could easily cut a door in that pot with an angle grinder fitted with a diamond blade. Make the door height about 63% of the interior dome height.
On rocket stoves, check this out, it's a clever piece of kit.

BioLite - BioLite Stove

[PsychDoc]

Re: oven option?

You don't need the diamond blade. I used a $2 masonry cut/grind blade in tha angle grinder and sliced a pot with no problems.
So... cayman, get a move on. I want to learn from your success!

Get the diamond blade. It is sooooo much faster for straight cuts

[Gulf]

Re: oven option?

we dont have fire brick or any clay bricks on island
but i do have a 36" round x26 deep unglazed fired clay pot(new)
could i add mass and insulate it to form an oven??

What are you going to use for extra thermal mass? Is there any natural clay on the island. I think that I saw some masonry construction on Grande Caymon. At least a couple dozen banks per block if my memory serves me .

Seriously, I would love to see this concept attempted. I think that a terra-cotta pot would be, at least, a great form for some type of refractory mass should the pot fail, and it probably will eventually. A clay/portland/hydrated lime shell should add a long life to the oven.

Like David S. and Wotavidone suggest, keep the door to dome height as close to the 63% as possible. Insulate underneath the floor and around the shell as much as possible.

I would love to see pics and posts of your progress.