South Devon

[grainoftruth]

Hello,

I have started a heritage grain growing co-op and am working at the Almond Thief bakery. I rent a field of 3.4 acres and am just about to build a wood fired bread oven using natural materials.

I would like to solicit opinions on how best to build it. Im particularly interested in the ratios of oven versus chimney. I am using the following materials:

For oven

> Clay
> Straw
> Soil
> Sand

For shelter
> Wood
> Roof?? 

All help, physical and academic, is welcome. 

[downunderdave]

Do a search on cob ovens, there are plenty on this site.. some kind of shelter over it would be advisable.

[oblertone]

Given your list of oven materials then a cover of some type is a must, otherwise your oven will revert to its constituent parts very rapidly. Are you intending to use the oven to produce commercial quantities of bread ? I ask because small cob ovens are just that, small. Perfect for family gatherings, maybe not so perfect for full on production.
As Dave has pointed out, there are any number of clay/cob builds on here so get searching and do let us know how your plans develop.