Do-it-yourself oven for cauldron

Dishes of Asian cuisine cooked in a cauldron are unlikely to leave anyone indifferent. Many connoisseurs of culinary cooking care about the question: is it possible to make a furnace for a cauldron with your own hands? It turns out that this is not a very laborious and not too expensive work. See for yourself by reading the information in this article.

to contents ↑

Caspian cooking - features

As a rule, a cauldron is used for cooking pilaf - Uzbek, Kazakh or Ferghana. The cooking feature is that the heat is supplied from all sides, from the sides - even to a greater extent.

There is a Turkic word “thinking” meaning such a technology of cooking. Translation of this word into Russian means “languishing”, “stewing”, “steaming”. Strictly speaking, this is not entirely true. Caspian cooking is a mixture of steaming and stewing. Products in contact with the walls of the boiler are extinguished. The same ingredients that are located in the back of the boiler are prepared using steam.

To prepare mantle, the boiler can be replaced with a mantle. The oven for a cauldron can be used also as a tandoor, for east pastries (flat cakes, samsa).

Important! Wonderfully obtained in the cauldron and dishes "with smoke" (not to be confused with smoking!). The trick is to smoke, circling the cauldron, “overwhelmed” the cooking dish. In this way you can cook a real “camping” ear, soup, conder or kulesh.

to contents ↑

Requirements for a cauldron

Many mistakenly believe that a cauldron is the same as a cast-iron gooseneck or a bowler hat. The correct cauldron is a thick-walled boiler.

Important! The wall thickness is 5-20 mm, depending on the size. A constant accessory is a well-closing lid.

As for the dimensions (depth to diameter ratio), this parameter is different for different dishes, and you have to choose based on personal preferences:

• For cooking Asian cuisine in a stone oven - 1: 1
• When using a factory-made metal furnace - 1: 3.
• A cauldron of almost cylindrical shape with a rounded bottom - for cooking “with a smoke”.
• A small container with a flat section at the bottom and sloping walls - for cooking, boiling.

Important! The best option is to use a boiler with four ears. Due to the additional support points, there is no risk that it will tip over.

As for the size of the boiler, it all depends on the desire of the owner. There are no clear recommendations. A completely different matter is the material of manufacture:

• Cast iron is an ideal option. It is massive, has a high heat capacity. Due to this, the products warm up evenly. During operation, there is a “self-healing” of pores on the walls due to the fat layer. Products in a cauldron, due to a layer of fat, do not burn. In the East, they say that in an old family cauldron, taste and aroma are transferred from one dish to another.
• The only alternative to cast iron is thick-walled aluminum.
• Copper, stainless steel, modern non-stick products are not suitable. A traditional oriental dish in such a cauldron is unlikely to succeed.

Now consider the manufacturing options for furnaces for cauldrons from different materials.

to contents ↑

DIY oven under a cauldron - brick

Such a stove is not suitable for heating. If only because it is most often placed on the street:

• Outwardly, the brick stove resembles a bedside table 800-900 mm high.
• The side of the furnace is between 3.5 and 5.0 bricks.
• Like a heating furnace, the design has a firebox, a blower and a grate; the openings are equipped with doors.
• The chimney is made of metal or stone and is connected to the rear wall.
• For traction control there is a gate valve.
• The outer part is formed by an ordinary stove brick.
• At the top of the furnace, 1-2 openings are left to remove smoke.
• The place for the installation of the boiler is usually cut out of brick.

Important! An option with a cast iron stove under the boiler is also possible. The thickness of cast iron is 1.5-2.0 cm. The size of the nest is selected so that the depth of immersion of the boiler in the furnace is not less than ⅔ depth. The ideal option is to immerse the boiler almost over the ears (not completely!).

The main trick is a fire chamber under the cauldron with your own hands. It is collected from refractory bricks using chamotte mortar. At the same time, dressing with a casing is not done. The furnace has a cylindrical shape. Masonry is carried out in halves of bricks or the brick is placed vertically. Pulling is possible to give the structure a cylindrical shape.

Important! To restrain thermal expansion, the hearth for the cauldron is reinforced with a metal corner on the outside.

to contents ↑

How to make a furnace for a cauldron with your own hands made of metal?

There is a great temptation to acquire a relatively inexpensive factory design. At the same time, you can easily build a metal stand under the cauldron with your own hands, without even using welding in most cases. As a source material, home masters can use:

• Barrels.
• Outdated your discharges.
• Wheels welded together.
• Rolled metal sheets.
• Gas cylinders.
• Pipes with a large cross section.

Important! The dimensions of the stand are chosen according to the dimensions of the boiler. Thus, in order for the boiler to penetrate about a third to a fourth part, the optimal length of the workpiece should be 1.5-2.0 times greater than the diameter.

The main point in the work is cutting the furnace opening:

1. Doors and ashpit are not equipped with such a design.
2. As a furnace hearth, you can use a specially prepared site or soil.
3. The chimney is rarely equipped, only if there is a desire to cook dishes in the mode of languishing, as in a brick stove.
4. In order to equip the landing socket for the boiler, in the upper part the metal is cut, bending the resulting petals outward.
5. To exit the smoke, cut-outs of a rectangular shape - “burnouts” are used.

Important! Two-in-one designs combining a barbecue with an oven are also popular.

to contents ↑

Stock footage

As you can see, to make a furnace for a cauldron with your own hands, you can use various objects at hand. And having stood all the necessary parameters, you will get an excellent firebox for cooking delicious food.