Question to the survivalist

In making emergency preparations there are numerous considerations. One I have not paid much attention to is the mode of getting a meal hot, charcoal wont always be there. A few days ago I was on a 7 hour drive home listening to talk radio I was flipping through the stations when I heard a gentlemen detailing te costruction of making a Oven out of the elements. I started listening part way through the descitption, I have a good feeling I can get the amswers here. What I know so far is, get sand or dirt and make a mound the size of the oven chamber you will be using ( he recommends starting with a small one to get the feel of it) then you make mud, he said you can use straw or grass find something that brings the binding of the mud, put the mud over the mound let it dry then remove the mound, use wood and heat the oven. at this point I lost the station so here are my two questions, Did I miss any details in the making of the oven, and do I first heat the oven to set the mud adobe into place or do I just start using it? Thanks for the help peace.

Cob Oven... Cob building is a project I want to take up myself... Im going to start with an oven...

Heres a decent starter vid from youtube



I want to eventually build a cob house as well

reply to post by lbndhr


Here ya go, Im planning to make one too

clayoven.wordpress.com...

this is a great resource: www.fornobravo.com...

Thanks I knew I could get help here.

You can also build a Kyoto Solar Oven.
Kyoto Solar Oven

The Kyoto solar oven design won its developer, Jon Bohmer, the Financial Times Climate Change Challenge.
The simple design combines use of direct and reflected sunlight along with insulating methods to heat a chamber to cooking temperatures.
This design is simple to repeat with common household and items easily available from the local hardware store. The resulting oven cooks in a method similar to crock pots or slow-cookers and is well suited to cooking rice, beans or stews.

Eco Challange Oven

reply to post by lbndhr


1) Dig a hole.
2) Heat some rocks in a fire.
3) Add some of the rocks to the hole.
4) Add the thing you're trying to cook.
5) Add the rest of the rocks, back-fill the hole and wait.

Simple as that. No need to waste time building a clay oven... Unless you get need to eat pizza after the SHTF.

Originally posted by FanarFanar
reply to post by lbndhr

 

1) Dig a hole.
2) Heat some rocks in a fire.
3) Add some of the rocks to the hole.
4) Add the thing you're trying to cook.
5) Add the rest of the rocks, back-fill the hole and wait.

Simple as that. No need to waste time building a clay oven... Unless you get need to eat pizza after the SHTF.

Actually I want to learn this skill for when the SHTF. digging a whole is easy and works however a small mud-clay oven is a good skill to learn if your in a place or situation you cant be directly outside...its just a good skill to have under your belt.

Here s another question I shoulda put in OP. Water, what skills can you survivalist share regarding filtering water with earthy type materials.

reply to post by lbndhr


Depends on whether the water source is above or below ground,are there any humans living near etc....water can be run thru 24 inches of clean sand and its pretty much good to go for .5 microns.....virus' require more...bleach 16 drops to the gallon,and layer the sand filter with 4 inches of charcoal....kill all the bugs and removes the chemicals...any chemicals....better safe than sorry...so..sand,charcoal,and bleach(unscented)..I ALWAYS run my water thru a coffee filter before i treat it in any fashion,even a mechanical filter or purifier...gets the big stuff out

Originally posted by Homedawg
reply to post by lbndhr

 

Depends on whether the water source is above or below ground,are there any humans living near etc....water can be run thru 24 inches of clean sand and its pretty much good to go for .5 microns.....virus' require more...bleach 16 drops to the gallon,and layer the sand filter with 4 inches of charcoal....kill all the bugs and removes the chemicals...any chemicals....better safe than sorry...so..sand,charcoal,and bleach(unscented)..I ALWAYS run my water thru a coffee filter before i treat it in any fashion,even a mechanical filter or purifier...gets the big stuff out

edit on 7/23/2011 by Homedawg because: sp

This is what I`m talking about learning the back to nature skills. Thanks you so very muchly peace

reply to post by lbndhr


In general when doing that sort of thing the way to do it is to make sure you layer the materials in a way that puts the courser stuff on the top and the finer stuff on the bottom. That ensures that you have the most effeciency. For gathering water in an extended situation you should rig up the gutters so that you can collect water that runs off when it rains. Water collected in this manner should be filtered before drinking because it will be contaminated by the gutter and the roof, but it is a relatively easy way to aquire relatively clean water in a long term senario (as long as you don't have a drought).

reply to post by Homedawg

The charcoal needs to be activated charcoal. Can be bought at aquarium supply stores in large containers, usually marked as active carbon or active charcoal.

two words

Dutch Oven

Click here for prices and modles
youtu.be...

youtu.be...

youtu.be...


So ya don't need a earthen oven... just need to buy ya a good old fashion Dutch Oven..

reply to post by barkingdogamato


Thanks...I use Garden charcoal,for bedding plants...same thing as aquarium charcoal...however you can also make your own in emergencies or "survival" situations by burning hardwood,not softwood,like evergreen or sweet gum or aspen...white oak is my choice....

Correct, I'd forgotten about that source.

Thanks.

we have a lot of mesquite and Southern Live Oak - both good hardwood for bows if you can find a straight stick, and hard wood for cooking - lots of heat and long lasting coals.

Good for smoking, although smoking in an inefficient preserver and only keeps meat a short time without a cool place to store it. Two weeks max in the icebox, if I remember correctly.

Originally posted by MagoSA
we have a lot of mesquite and Southern Live Oak - both good hardwood for bows if you can find a straight stick, and hard wood for cooking - lots of heat and long lasting coals.

Good for smoking, although smoking in an inefficient preserver and only keeps meat a short time without a cool place to store it. Two weeks max in the icebox, if I remember correctly.

edit on 25/7/11 by MagoSA because: (no reason given)

On your member info in the location you have San Anton if this is where I think you live (TX?) I live about 150 miles south of you. In the hill country.

reply to post by lbndhr


properly smoked meat lasts a longer time than 2 weeks in the frig....bacon and such lasts a long time...

reply to post by lbndhr


Yep... I live near Helotes, but inside the San Antonio city limits.

reply to post by Homedawg


I believe store-bought smoked meats also have some kind of preservative to extend the time it can stand in the fridge without spoiling.

Two weeks in the fridge is what my grandfather taught me, and this is what i use as a general rule of thumb as he was a grilling and smoking guru. generally I cook out and my live oak and mesquite fuel comes from what I harvest out of my own back yard (my yard is about 1/3 of an acre with huge live oaks and two dead mesquites Im still carving out of the ground and up into firewood - each log is like 24" in diameter) I usually put a fire to coals then take a mesquite split that had been soaked for like an hour in water and put them on, then close up my little smoker and let it go to town.

And when it smokes, it smokes up and you can smell it for days - strong enough to eat it and smell the smoke scent an hour later when you are working outside and start sweating. LOL