OT Anybody ever made one of these?

H

hollowdweller

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Sep 22, 2003
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http://www.geocities.com/mosesrocket/

They have always fascinated me because our kitchen is so hot and faces west so in the evening when we would normally do a lot of cooking it is too hot.

I would be interested to hear anyone's experiences with them cause I am giving building one serious consideration. :thumbup:
 
That looks like a neat idea :thumbup:
Although, it kind of looks like one of smurf's houses set ablaze :rolleyes:
I'd like to see one of you guys pull it off:)

Jake
 
Old 55 gallon drums scare me, actually any 55 gallon drum that has held most anything except vegetable oil scares me.
There was a fellow who took a clean 55 gallon drum and scrubbed it numerous times because it had once held some kind of chemical although the drum appeared to be spotlessly clean.
The helluvit was that the very first time he fired it up and cooked hamburgers on it he killed himself and his whole family.:(
Fortunately he hadn't invited friends over or they would've been killed as well.
The chemical had wicked into the seams of the drum and was where no amount of scrubbing with soap and water would remove it.
When he built his fire in it to cook the hamburgers the seams in the drum swelled and the chemical wicked out and got into the food. Deadly!!!! :eek: :(

If you absolutely must use a 55 or any kind of metal drum be sure that it is absolutely brand new or hasn't ever held anything non-edible!!!!
 
sobering warning, Yvsa...



hollowdweller - gotta love the one in that first link! Cute lil' thang...I really need to get some land...:(
 
I fel your pain. Our last house had a west-facing kitchen. (Not the present one that we built!)

As opposed to standing in the path of radiant heat on an already-hot day, I have one word - awnings.
 
Yvsa said:
Old 55 gallon drums scare me, actually any 55 gallon drum that has held most anything except vegetable oil scares me.
There was a fellow who took a clean 55 gallon drum and scrubbed it numerous times because it had once held some kind of chemical although the drum appeared to be spotlessly clean.
The helluvit was that the very first time he fired it up and cooked hamburgers on it he killed himself and his whole family.:(
Fortunately he hadn't invited friends over or they would've been killed as well.
The chemical had wicked into the seams of the drum and was where no amount of scrubbing with soap and water would remove it.
When he built his fire in it to cook the hamburgers the seams in the drum swelled and the chemical wicked out and got into the food. Deadly!!!! :eek: :(

If you absolutely must use a 55 or any kind of metal drum be sure that it is absolutely brand new or hasn't ever held anything non-edible!!!!
Click to expand...

I totally agree! Having lived in the "Chemical Valley" most of my my life it is VERY important to use only clean drums. My friend works at a bakery, and I think the drum held cooking oil if I'm not wrong.

Speaking of unintended poisioning, I heard about a firefighter that was killed from breathing smoke off of a treated lumber deck on fire, so very important to avoid breathing burning treated lumber.
 
Thomas Linton said:
I fel your pain. Our last house had a west-facing kitchen. (Not the present one that we built!)

As opposed to standing in the path of radiant heat on an already-hot day, I have one word - awnings.
Click to expand...


We planted a tree to help but the plan is to eventually extend the kitchen and maybe put in some air conditioning. I want a kitchen big enough for parties and a wood cookstove. I love wood cookstoves!
 
hollowdweller said:
Speaking of unintended poisioning, I heard about a firefighter that was killed from breathing smoke off of a treated lumber deck on fire, so very important to avoid breathing burning treated lumber.
Click to expand...

Yup. That's why we had to cut up & haul off our deck wreckage. Also, there's enough copper in pier pilings to for the wood to conduct electricity.

Using synthetic wood this time around. Trek® deck, Choice® deck, couple different names. Half recycled plastic & wood pulp. Neat stuff.


Ad Astra
 
That looks neat . The only thing that puzzles me on the first link is the chimney . I don,t think rain would get in . The smoke seems to surround the oven . It would deter mosquitos and me as well .
 
Even if you know where the drum comes from and you know nothing dangerous was in there I would burn a couple of hot fires for an hour or two and don,t breath in the fumes from those . Just because it wasn,t harmful doesn,t mean it is not harmful when burnt . Aside from that a variation on the 55 gallon model is right at my skill level .
 
Why it's a horno.:thumbup: ;) :cool: :D The ndns don't put a cap on 'em and they work fine but then there's not a lot of rain in the Southwest.;) :D

And indeed bread cooked in a horno is just about the best you've ever eaten!!!!:thumbup: :D :cool:

Edit:
Couldn't get into the website earlier so didn't get to check anything out except for the other link.
 
In Saudi Arabia, I experienced local folk using earthen ovens like Yvsa's described to bake a type of flat bread (similar to pita), that was indeed quite tasty. They also had little cause to worry about rain.

In a book written by Boy Scouts founder, Daniel Beard, he describes building an earthen oven using an old wooden barrel and river clay. Apparently, you mold the clay nice and thick around the barrel, and the first "firing" burns the barrel out, leaving an earthen oven ready to go. Problem is, old wooden barrels are a scarce commodity nowadays. :(

Sarge
 
Yvsa said:
Why it's a horno.:thumbup: ;) :cool: :D The ndns don't put a cap on 'em and they work fine but then there's not a lot of rain in the Southwest.;) :D

And indeed bread cooked in a horno is just about the best you've ever eaten!!!!:thumbup: :D :cool:
Click to expand...


"Horno" is Mexican/Spanish for "Oven."
 
"Horno" is Mexican/Spanish for "Oven."

Many old Latin words beginning in F changed to H in Spanish. Filius became hijo. Facienda became hacienda. Fornax was an oven, or furnace ... horno.
 
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