Cob Oven Video - Parts Three & Four

Here are our final two videos explaining how to build a cob oven.
For more information on cob ovens, I recommend Kiko Denzer's book "Build Your Own Earth Oven"...it's a complete "how to" including how-to sketches, list of tools, inspiring photos, and much more.

Part Three shows how to carve the door, remove the sand, fire up the oven, and bake a pizza! This oven is 36" interior diameter, so the height of the interior is 75% of that, or 27" tall. The thermal mass layer is 4" thick, plus a 6" thick insulating layer over that, so the whole oven is 10" bigger than the fire cavity all the way around.

Part Four shows how to apply a lime plaster to your cob oven. Lime plaster is made with 3 parts mason's sand and one part lime putty. I use Mississippi vertical hydrate lime, purchased as a powder, and I let it soak in water for a minimum of 6 weeks, until it is the consistency of sour cream. The longer it sits in water, the creamier and nicer to work with it becomes. LIME IS CAUSTIC! So be sure to wear protective clothing and gloves. Never touch it directly! My lime plaster bible is the book "Building with Lime" by Stafford Holmes and Michael Wingate.