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Post by oblertone on Jun 7, 2019 8:12:38 GMT
Looking good; but say goodbye to the hairs on the back of your hands !
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Post by truckcab79 on Jun 7, 2019 16:57:21 GMT
Rain stopped play for most of today or at least kept me away from getting the stone slabs on. However I did manage some indoor work. Started with an offcut of 5mm steel plate from making my pizza oven door and a bit of ali bar that I had in the workshop. Cut and grind and a quick bit of lathe work and I had one of these. It’s a lid for the tandoor. Ideally I’d have made it quite a bit bigger but in the interest of a budget build the size was set by the largest diameter I could get out of that offcut. It’s about 20mm larger diameter than the tandoor opening. The handle isn’t particularly practical and should probably be replaced by a wooden one though even that would probably be too hot to hold without protection. Needed a door for the flue / vent. Not sure it’s necessary but presumably will help with temp control. Was going to just plug with a lump of stone as required but had enough 5mm steel left to knock this up. It’s currently painted and drying. Will post a finished pic in due course. Paint was ‘free’ also as it’s VHT paint left over from an engine build I’m doing. Bought the stone yesterday. Way off my £56 initial estimate. Both sizes were discounted at wickes and with a bit of cutting I can get all I need from one 600x600 and one 600x300. Total £18. Ideally I’d have liked less joints but this will be fine and by chance the ends of the cut slab can be aligned to just touch the pot. This will also allow me to use the offcut of pot to help layout the slabs and it can then be used as a lid instead of or in addition to the steel one.
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Post by truckcab79 on Jun 8, 2019 9:16:11 GMT
Can’t imagine I’ll get much done in today’s weather but here’s a couple of shots of the finished ironmongery in the meantime.
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Post by truckcab79 on Jun 8, 2019 16:05:17 GMT
Top stone on. Obviously will look less like a George Cross or a crucifix once it’s pointed up! Glad I went with the proper stone and it didn’t cost much in the end. Just some pointing, fix in the vent door and it’s Tandoor Time !!
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Post by truckcab79 on Jun 8, 2019 16:13:02 GMT
Keep thinking the opening looks tiny when I photograph it!
It obviously flares out in the middle where the meat will cook on the centre of a skewer. Dependent on what I put on them it can comfortably fit 6 skewers. As I currently own only 4 it shouldn’t be an issue!
Found some good ones on eBay incidentally . Stainless steel. Nice and thick. Flat, so the meat stays put and 700mm long which is perfect. Only £12 delivered for 4. Was going to make my own but not worth it at that price. I’ll order another set once it’s all up and running.
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Post by truckcab79 on Jun 9, 2019 14:59:44 GMT
I will point up the stone at some point but need to wait until my daughter has a free day as she wants to help. That aside it’s essentially finished. Pointed the top slabs today and fitted the door. All screws are stainless and all were in stock so cost was nil. Total cost shown below. Admittedly having stock and leftovers of quite a bit of stuff helped as did having a lathe, welding gear and plenty of tools, but none of that was strictly required. Plenty of cheap ways around it if I didn’t have them. I reckon you could do this for £50 if you scavenged the building materials and used a cheaper top and insulation, rockwool or even earth maybe? Plenty of mud / clay tandoors on eBay seem to work fine using that. Base concrete £6 Stone - Free Sand for mortar - £5 Cement - Free Brick hammer - £9 Steel for door and lid - Free Door hinge - Free Screws and fixings - Free Handles - made from aluminium in stock Pots x2 - £9 Fire cement - Free Wire mesh - Free Vermiculite - £25 Slabs - 18 Total build cost £72 !!!
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Post by albacore on Jun 9, 2019 20:55:55 GMT
What a great project! Well done. Could you do naans in it?
Lance
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Post by truckcab79 on Jun 10, 2019 6:43:41 GMT
Can’t see any reason why not. I need to have a read up as I think you have to season the clay with salt water to stop them sticking.
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Post by truckcab79 on Jun 12, 2019 13:58:10 GMT
Had a little drying fire today. Kept it going for 3 hours with the clay pot getting to approx 200c.
Vent works brilliantly as I suppose you’d expect for what is it effectively just a big chimney. Open the little hinged door and it’s like a rocket stove. You can actually hear the air roar through. Close the door and it’s like switching off the gas. Should be very effective at helping to control the temp.
Then it started to pour with rain so closed it up and left the fire to burn out.
I think given that the pot itself is only a flowerpot at the end of the day I’ll be inclined to always build the fire gradually when I start to use it for real.
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Post by truckcab79 on Jun 12, 2019 14:38:28 GMT
.......especially as I’m currently watching it steam as the rain comes down and water drips in. Think I need a bigger lid!
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Post by truckcab79 on Jun 12, 2019 16:51:04 GMT
5 hours later and the walls are still over 100c
No cracks, but wouldn’t expect any yet at such relatively low temps.
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sean
valid member
Posts: 63
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Post by sean on Jun 12, 2019 19:28:20 GMT
Top build there quality of brick work is great.
I built the TV plant pop in the metal dust bin worked great for a short time but it did suffer from lack of air, ended up placing a small fan at the air intake to help it along
Our fav chicken thighs tandoori spiced mix lemon natural yogurt salt mix all together and leave 24hrs
then cook, i used half a potato on the end of the skewers to prevent burning of the lower piece. Nan breads where a hit and miss most of the time
lovely
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Post by truckcab79 on Jun 12, 2019 20:50:51 GMT
Many thanks. I enjoy the brickwork. Got plenty of practice on the pizza oven behind it! Particularly pleased with the fact that it was free and it was fun to make use of whatever shapes and sizes I had rather than work with uniform blocks.
I’ll use that recipe and the potato tip. I’d already decided to do chicken thighs as my first cook as it happens. Seems only right for the tandoor christening. Will probably also do some lamb cutlets without any marinade on the basis that they’re delicious and if they’re undercooked its no issue. Quite the opposite.
I’ll give naans a go at some point I’m sure but I’ve really only built it for meat.
Definitely no issue with the vent on mine! In fact I read various opinions of whether the vent should be open or closed for the first burn but closed it as it was roaring away like a furnace and I didn’t want it to get too hot too quick.
Just checked on it and it’s still very warm 9 hours after lighting. Might have overdone the insulation!
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Post by truckcab79 on Jun 24, 2019 7:24:54 GMT
Used for the first time yesterday. Forgot to take any pictures I’m afraid but it looked and tasted fantastic. Did tandoori chicken thighs using the recipe below. Maybe not the simplest version but really tasty. Also did some lamb cutlets just rubbed with garlic, salt and oil. Superb. www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/tandoori_chicken/
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Post by simonh on Jun 24, 2019 11:10:10 GMT
you could build a lid with a hose to your WFO and turn it into a cold smoker without to much issue I would have thought.
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