Tandoori oven ideas?

[Grasshopp3r]

I am thinking about building a tandoori oven, which will essentially be a clay pot that is inside of a 55 gallon steel drum. I am taking much of my inspiration from this other site Oil Drum Tandoor . I live in Denver and there is a ceramics supplier here that I will consult for the type of clay for the pot.

My questions include the following:

1. What should I use for insulation around the exterior of the pot? Do I need to use FB Blanket insulation or can I use something like crushed glass, tile or something else?

2. Do I need to install firebrick on the bottom of the pot, both inside and out, in order to use charcoal due to the heat?

3. Should I just line the steel drum with fire brick and put a tapered clay cap on the top? I have about 200 fire bricks available so that I could just line them up vertically and mortar them in place, with a thermal blanket between the bricks and the steel wall. I calculate that I would need about 120 bricks to do 4 courses, plus a bottom layer.

4. Would I be able to cook a pizza on the bottom of the oven or would it not cook the pizza efficiently due to the conical design?

Any other comments would be helpful.

[dmun]

Re: Tandoori oven ideas?

Your tandoor should be fully insulated, just like a brick oven. You should have proper refractory insulation all around the clay pot. And I would make your lower firebox out of firebrick to avoid cracking and spalling.

Pizza in a tandoor? You going to slap it on the side like a naan? This I gotta see!

[Mitchamus]

Re: Tandoori oven ideas?

here is a site which should answer all of your questions - It contain a complete build log.

VillaGok tandoor oven

[Grasshopp3r]

Re: Tandoori oven ideas?

My Turkish neighbor waxes poetic about his homeland and the kebabs. From what he says, he is describing something that is similar to the tandoori. I told him that I would build him one if he brought the kebabs and he agreed. I don't know if he was serious, but I have the initiative to get it done.

No, I was going to slide mini-pizzas through the vent hole onto the bottom. Either that or calzones that were suspended from a skewer. This oven would be well suited for breadsticks.

Thank you for that reference. That is a big tandoor. I am trying to balance cost with functionality and use.

I found a 55 gallon drum from a natural foods distributor for $10 on craigslist. It held palm oil. I will clean it up with some Dawn.

Is the crushed glass proper refractory insulation or do I need the ceramic FB Blanket stuff?

[dmun]

Re: Tandoori oven ideas?

Is the crushed glass proper refractory insulation

No. Crushed glass (and sand, and gravel) conduct heat beautifully.
Either go with a refractory mineral wool blanket, or use vermiculite or perlite. You can mix it with portland to make a self supporting cork like material, or if your drum seals tightly, you can fill the area around the clay oven with loose vermiculite.

That tandoor link is an interesting one. It points to a new possibility for insulation: LECA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LECA

[dmun]

Re: Tandoori oven ideas?

Here's a youtube I found a while back when I was researching the subject. Note how the tandoor is mounted on a 45 degree angle, which among other things allows for a proper vent, and an oven door that isn't raging hot from venting combustion gasses.

[Mitchamus]

Re: Tandoori oven ideas?

lecca is also know as "hydroton" hydroton is usually cheaper then lecca, although it's the same - arrgh just saw your wikipedia link....


I wonder how the 45 degree opening would work with skewers?

You couldn't get a lot of them in there, as they would all gravitate/slide to the bottom of the opening... *shrug*

[Mitchamus]

Re: Tandoori oven ideas?

My Turkish neighbor waxes poetic about his homeland and the kebabs. From what he says, he is describing something that is similar to the tandoori.

he could be talking about something like this:

[Grasshopp3r]

Re: Tandoori oven ideas?

No, he is not talking about a gyros spit roaster. He was talking about a tandoori oven or roaster like the VillaGok linky, but in a pit instead of freestanding. He knows about masonry as he says that construction in Turkey is predominantly reinforced masonry due to the earthquake risk. I will post construction pictures as I go, but I need to do some planning first. Thank you for the ideas and links.

[Mitchamus]

Re: Tandoori oven ideas?

that would be great - I'd love to see what you come up with!