Dacha fashion brought a new object of adoration to the catwalk, and many owners of dacha plots began to build a tandoor with their own hands, making mistakes and getting burned.
What are the secrets of building a tandoor, how to choose correct view and what to consider in order to get not black coals of meat, but a delicious flatbread and tender kebab.
What is tandoor
The homeland of tandoor is most regions of Central Asia. In Tajikistan it is called tanur, in Uzbekistan tandoor, and in Turkmenistan it is called tonur. Tandoors in India and tonirs in Armenia are built using the same principle. However, no matter what this universal oven-roaster is called, you won’t see any big differences in the design.
It is a ceramic container of various sizes, with a hole on the top or side. Fuel (coal, firewood, brushwood) is placed inside a kind of clay jug and heats it up so much that the thick walls of the oven keep the desired temperature for a long time.
Types of tandoor
Since the appearance of the first tandoor, it has not undergone any significant changes. Still, kaolin clay, camel or sheep's wool, sand and bricks. It is these materials that are necessary for the construction of a real Central Asian tandoor. However, there is a division of the furnace into types based on the location of its installation.
Ground tandoor installed in the yard, on a clay platform. For bread, samsa, shish kebab, the tandoor is installed vertically, horizontal installation Suitable for baking bread only.
Pit or earthen tandoor placed in a hole dug in the ground. Clay and fireclay are used in its construction. In ancient times, this type was often used for heating rooms.
Portable tandoor- This modern look stove, which has iron handles for carrying. Small size, in the shape of a barrel with a lid, it successfully replaces the grill we are used to.
Principle of operation
Uzbek clay tandoor- This classic version oven, similar to a clay cauldron, which was turned upside down and the bottom and neck were swapped. Using his example, we will look at the features of the device and the principle of operation of the tandoor.
There is a hole (blowing) in the lower part of the tandoor. The clay base is lined with brick on the outside. Sand or salt is poured between the brick and the walls of the tandoor. Fuel (coal, firewood) is placed on the bottom of the boiler through the upper hole, and ash is removed through it. A grill is installed inside for cooking meat, fish or vegetables.
Clay base for tandoor with a special hole - inlet
All materials from which the tandoor is made have a high ability to accumulate (accumulate) heat. When heated, the furnace walls maintain a high temperature for a long time (from 250 to 400 degrees). After the tandoor reaches the required temperature, the walls are thoroughly wiped to remove soot and ash, and the famous Uzbek flatbreads are placed on them.
Important! Having heated the tandoor once, you can cook food in it for 6 hours.
How to build a tandoor
Making a tandoor oven with your own hands is not a quick and labor-intensive process. If you are determined to build just such a stove on your site, then you should carry out a thorough preparatory work. By the way, the masters of Central Asia are masters of tandoor construction techniques, but often keep their own secret technologies in the strictest confidence.
We have prepared for you step by step instructions on the construction of a clay tandoor in the form in which it still faithfully serves many residents of these regions.
- The classic size of a tandoor is a height of 1-1.5 m, the diameter of the boiler body is 1 m, the diameter of the upper hole is 50-60 cm. To form a clay jug, kaolin clay is taken, which experienced craftsmen called "alive". Brick is used to line the stove. Therefore, you need to stock up on clay, bricks and some sheep or camel hair.
- Wool fibers are cut into pieces 10-15 mm long and mixed with clay. After kneading, the clay should acquire the consistency of sour cream.
- The resulting mixture is placed in dark place for a week to let it settle.
Attention! The finished solution must be periodically checked and removed excess water, but make sure the mixture remains moist. If you overdry it, the tandoor will crack.
- Usually, clay sheets with a thickness of 5 to 15 cm are molded from the settled mixture. It is difficult to form a tandoor from such sheets without a well-developed skill, so you will need a barrel.
- To make a tandoor from a barrel with your own hands, loosen its hoops a little, fill it with water, and leave it to swell for 5 days. Then drain the water, let the barrel dry, and treat the walls from the inside sunflower oil. Give it 12 hours to soak, and the tandoor mold is ready.
Please note that both the clay and the barrel must begin to be prepared for construction at the same time.
- Now we roll sausages from the finished clay about 50 cm long and 6 cm in diameter. Roll each of them to a thickness of 2 cm, cut into ribbons and begin to lay out the inside of the barrel.
- Tightly compact the tapes along the walls of the barrel. In the upper part, we achieve a narrowing of the hole to 1/2 of the diameter of the barrel. We do not cover the bottom with clay.
Grill or barbecue – traditional way preparing barbecue and other dishes fresh air. A tandoor will be an excellent alternative to a regular barbecue. With its help you can prepare not only barbecue, flatbreads, pilaf, aromatic soups, but also other oriental dishes. Using a tandoor allows you to forget about burnt kebab or boiled pilaf. Cooking on such a device brings maximum pleasure, and makes it possible for even novice cooks to prepare delicious oriental dishes.
A traditional tandoor is made from clay, then dried and fired in a certain way. However, an inexperienced master will not be able to make such a product the first time. A good alternative is a do-it-yourself brick tandoor, which takes less time to make, and the food in it is also prepared with high quality and quickly.
Before making a tandoor from brick, you should understand the principle of its operation. It is a special vessel designed for preparing various meat dishes, pilaf, soups and flatbreads. Its features include:
1. The lower part has a blower, which provides traction. Top part The structure has a hole through which firewood is placed. In addition, it is through the upper hole that dishes for cooking are placed into the tandoor.
2. When making a tandoor from brick, it is necessary to additionally treat the internal surface of the structure with clay. To ensure long-term heat retention between clay and brick, it is necessary to put a layer thermal insulation material. Sand or salt can be used as such material.
3. After burning the wood in the tandoor, the temperature rises to 250-400 degrees. This allows you to cook food quickly. In addition, a feature of this oven is uniform cooking.
4. Heat after fuel combustion, it remains in the structure for up to four hours. If the product is built correctly, the heat will be retained inside and not escape outside. Therefore, a high-quality design guarantees a high level of economy and efficiency.
5. One more unique feature brick oven is the uniform distribution of heat. This ensures even browning of meat and bread, as well as the ability to prepare unique taste qualities pilaf.
Therefore, for those who dream of cooking the most delicious pilaf and shish kebab, you need to know how to make a tandoor from brick with your own hands.
Materials and tools
Tandoor is universal design for preparing various dishes, so its production will require the use of a large number of materials and tools. To build a brick oven yourself, you will need:
1. Fireproof fireclay brick. It is used to make the walls of the structure. The number of bricks depends on the size finished design and wall thickness. For construction you will need 300-1200 pieces.
2. Solution. When building a tandoor, it is better to make the masonry mortar yourself. To do this you need to mix clay, sifted sand and water. You can also buy a special heat-resistant composition based on fireclay. However, when purchasing, you should clarify that it will be used to construct a tandoor in order to purchase a solution that can long time withstand significant temperatures.
3. Clay solution. Required for coating the outside of the structure. If you bake lavash, flatbreads and samsa in the tandoor, you should additionally coat the inside of the structure.
4. Concrete and reinforced rod. Components for the tandoor foundation.
5. A piece of pipe with a diameter greater than 10 cm. Must be used to make a blower. If there is no pipe cutting, the ash pit can also be made from brick.
6. Boards or timber. Boards are needed to make a template according to which the masonry will be carried out. Without using a template, folding a circle into an even shape will be problematic.
Additionally, you can use natural stone or other decorative elements flat shape for finishing the tandoor outside.
Do-it-yourself brick tandoor manufacturing technology
The process of building a stove with your own hands from fire bricks takes several weeks. It's better to do the work in the summer. This will speed up the hardening process of the clay solution. In addition, work with masonry mortar It is possible only at dry and above-zero temperatures. In order for the finished stove to perform its functions, it is necessary to strictly follow the technology for its installation.
Details of making a brick tandoor can be found in the video:
Construction of the foundation
One of the most important stages The construction of a brick tandoor is the construction of a strong and durable foundation. It is necessary to ensure that the brickwork does not collapse during seasonal soil movements. Great option the foundation will become ready concrete slab. But if it is not there, you can build a base of concrete and reinforced mesh. The area of the foundation must correspond to the size of the future tandoor.
Stages of pouring a foundation with your own hands:
1. Site preparation. At this stage, marking and cleaning of the area is carried out. Then you should remove the turf from the designated area. If the soil is clayey, then after removing it the trench must be filled with sand. All that remains is to fill the prepared area with water and compact it.
2. If the site is dry, then the base can be built flush with the ground. But if the area is wet, and in rainy weather, water stagnation is possible. Therefore, it is better to raise the foundation by 15 cm. To do this, it is necessary to make formwork around the perimeter of the base.
3. Reinforcement should be used to strengthen the foundation. This can be reinforcing mesh or rods. If rods are used, they must be connected to each other with wire.
4. Pouring the foundation with concrete and leveling the surface with a board. To give the base moisture-resistant qualities, pure cement must be sprinkled on top.
5. In the center of the base you need to make a recess into which the template will be installed.
6. The foundation should be covered with film while it hardens. If construction takes place during a hot period, the base surface requires periodic moistening.
The foundation hardening time is at least two weeks. During this period, it must gain the necessary strength. After which you can begin building the tandoor.
Making a template
While the foundation is drying, you can start making a template yourself. It is this that will be used for laying the tandoor. Without using the correct template, it will not be possible to make an even circle and arch.
When building a tandoor, the brick is placed on a short edge. In this case, the height of the row should be 26 cm. This indicator also includes the thickness of the solution. Optimal height the straight part of the structure should be two bricks or 52 cm. After which it is necessary to gradually narrow the stove. The height of the tapering part of the tandoor should also be two bricks or 52 cm.
To make a template, it is advisable to use boards, bars or a sheet of plywood. Using a template allows you to ensure perfectly smooth walls of the tandoor, which guarantees not only a presentable appearance, but also strength, durability, reliability of the design.
Features of masonry
Laying a furnace takes on average 1-2 days. Behind short time masonry of the structure is possible only with preparation for construction in advance. The brick for laying the vault must first be trimmed. To do this, it is most convenient to use a grinder and special stone circles. Also for construction you need to prepare a building level, trowels of various sizes, as well as a special rubber hammer. Before starting construction, it is necessary to prepare a masonry mortar based on clay, sand and water. Bricks must be soaked in water before laying, so you also need to place a container with water.
When mixing the solution, it is recommended to add salt to it - at the rate of 1 tbsp. l. on a bucket. The amount of clay in the solution should be moderate, otherwise the masonry joints may crack during the use of the tandoor. If there is any doubt about high quality prepared masonry mortar, it is better to purchase a ready-made heat-resistant mixture at a hardware store.
First you need to place the bricks of the first row according to the template without using mortar. The bricks are laid out on a narrow edge so that the furnace wall is half a brick long. In this case, the inner radius should have a minimum gap, and the outer radius should be wide enough.
After placing the first row of bricks without mortar, you can begin laying them. To do this, you need to remove the bricks one at a time, place them in water for a while, and then apply the mortar to the brick. Ready brick returns to its place in the row, after which all the bricks of the first row are subjected to these manipulations.
After applying the mortar to all bricks in a row, you should carefully check the masonry. The hardening time of such a solution is quite long, so there is time to check the quality of the masonry. WITH outside The masonry seams should be filled with mortar in order to improve the quality of adhesion of the mortar to the wall of the tandoor during further finishing.
The second row is laid similarly to the first. However, in order to increase the strength of the structure, it is recommended to do the second row with a bandage, while moving the brick halfway. Also in the second row a blower is installed, which is made from a piece of pipe large diameter or made of brick. To install the blower, two bricks must be cut in half, and then insert this window under the pipe. All that remains is to secure all the elements with a solution.
The third row differs from the previous two in that with its help the tandoor arch begins to be created. To give the wall a slope, you should cut the bricks a little with a grinder. If you calculate the angle correctly, then the next row can be installed on the third without the need to saw the bricks. If the work is done correctly, the tandoor will narrow closer to the top, which ensures it special properties heat preservation. To do this, the shift of the fourth row relative to the third must be done by a third of the brick.
After completing the brick laying, the tandoor must be completely dried. The drying process must occur at optimal temperatures. In hot weather, the masonry must be periodically moistened, and during the rainy season it must be covered with film.
Final finishing and tandoor firing
The finished brick tandoor has good indicator thermal insulation. However, to increase its heat resistance, it is recommended to additionally coat the structure with a special clay solution. In this case, the tandoor is always coated with the solution on the outside, and on the inside only when using it for baking samsa and pita bread. In this case, the same solution is used as for laying bricks, but mixed more thickly, and with the addition of salt for plasticity.
The brickwork should be well moistened, and then a layer of mortar should be applied to it. The layer of clay solution should be no more than 10 mm, otherwise it may crack during the firing process. Special attention should be given to the neck of the tandoor. When coated with the solution, it must be carefully rounded to give the structure an aesthetic appearance.
To give the structure a presentable appearance, you can additionally cover it with stone, fire-resistant mosaic or other decorative elements.
After finishing, drying will take at least two weeks. Next, you will need to properly heat the product. To do this, you need to heat the tandoor with paper, small wood chips and shavings. The walls should heat up, but not overheat. This procedure should be carried out every day for two weeks.
And only after this you can proceed to tandoor firing. To do this, you need to use firewood from fruit or other deciduous trees. The firewood must be laid out at a quarter of the height of the structure, after which it is set on fire and burns until coals are formed. After this, a new batch of firewood is poured. This procedure should be carried out until the coals fill the tandoor to two-thirds of its volume. After this, the structure is closed and slowly cools. The next day, the tandoor is completely ready for use.
Dishes prepared in the tandoor are distinguished by their rich taste, uniform roasting and appetizing crust. The advantage of this design is the ability to cook several dishes at once. With its help you can cook pilaf, flatbreads, samsa, stews, soups, shish kebab and other oriental dishes. Most often, such a stove is built from clay. However, a clay tandoor is quite difficult to build. To facilitate the construction process with your own hands, it can also be made from brick.
Photo gallery of brick tandoors:
(17
ratings, average: 4,41
out of 5)
Those who prefer to relax in nature cannot help but love barbecue. Meat grilled over charcoal, poured with a fragrant sauce and flavored with a pinch of oriental spices on the grill - what could be tastier? Only meat baked in a brick tandoor.
What is tandoor
The brick tandoor is a Turkish oven in which incredible food is prepared. delicious kebabs. The secret of this is that the meat in this design is baked as evenly as possible. This effect is achieved thanks to balanced distribution of heat. In the tandoor you can not only bake pork, veal and lamb, but also make delicious oriental flatbreads and pita bread. Let's take a closer look at how to make a tandoor with your own hands.
The traditional tandoor oven comes from Central Asia. It was made from refractory clay, dried in the sun and fired on saxaul wood. In mid-latitude conditions, it is almost impossible to reproduce such a technology, because drying clay requires special conditions:
- low humidity;
- a certain light spectrum.
The desert climate easily creates such a regime: the hot sun promotes the evaporation of moisture and heats the clay to 70 degrees, and the dust contained in the air acts as a kind of filter for UV rays. This allows the furnace to dry without internal stress, and during annealing it remains intact even when large thickness walls
On clay that is dried under normal conditions, a crust quickly forms, but the inside remains moist. When they try to burn it, the internal moisture begins to escape sharply and cracks appear. Therefore, in our latitudes it will not be possible to make a ceramic tandoor, even if good fireclay clay is used.
Therefore, having decided to create such a structure at the dacha, craftsmen take as a basis his closest relative - Armenian tandoor. It is made of fireclay bricks, and its walls are much thicker, which allows it to retain heat for a long time.
The appearance of the oven resembles clay jug. The fuel is placed directly inside and set on fire. When only coals remain from the tree, kebabs are placed inside the oven. They should be placed with the sharp end on the foundation or hung by a hook on a perch that is prepared in advance.
The undeniable advantage of tandoor is long-term heat retention. Thanks to this, you can prepare more than one batch of baked meat.
How does a tandoor oven work? At the bottom of this design there is a special hole called an inlet. The clay base is covered with bricks. Between the base and the brick there is a small air gap, which is filled with sand or salt. Coal is placed inside through the top hole. There are also designs with a side hole, but in traditional version This design is practically never used.
To make it more convenient to prepare barbecue, a special grill is provided. It is also used for fish and vegetables. Good heat-saving characteristics are due to the materials used to create the structure. All of them have phenomenal heat storage properties. Maximum temperature, to which a brick oven can heat up is 400 degrees Celsius. If flat cakes are cooked in the oven, and not meat, then its walls are cleaned of ash and soot in advance.
Furnace manufacturing technology
The construction of this furnace takes several weeks. This design, like the barbecue, is placed outside, so installation should be carried out in the summer months, because work with masonry mortar is carried out only at above-zero temperatures.
Foundation
The construction of a tandoor for flatbreads begins with the construction of a solid foundation. A foundation is needed to ensure that the masonry does not collapse during seasonal soil movement. Many people make it from a ready-made concrete slab, but much more often they pour a foundation in the ground according to the size of the future furnace.
First of all, markings are carried out in the selected area: the contours of the furnace are indicated, as well as the areas for approaching it. The turf is removed from the designated area. If the soil is sandy, you just need to level it. If it is clayey or loamy, then about 10 cm of soil is removed and the resulting trench is filled with sand, then watered and compacted.
Begin to lay the reinforcement from a rod having a diameter of 10-12 mm, in the form of a lattice at a distance of 15-20 cm from each other. The rods are tied together with annealed wire.
The formwork is poured with concrete, the surface is leveled using a level and a board, and the top is covered thin layer cement. This makes it more water resistant. A recess is made directly in the center of the base for the stove, into which the template will be installed during laying. The foundation gains strength within two weeks, and then the construction of the furnace begins.
Preparing the template
While the foundation of the furnace dries and gains strength, they begin to prepare a template that will be used for masonry. Since the brick is laid out in a circle, it is quite difficult to maintain the same angle without a template. To make it, calculations and drawings are made, because the convenience of masonry depends on the correct execution of the template. The main thing is that the distance between the levels of the template corresponds to the height of the brick row.
Masonry
The part of the brick that will be used to create the vault is trimmed, so you will need a grinder with a stone circle. You will also need:
- level;
- hammer with rubber head;
- Master OK.
Two containers will be needed: one is needed for mixing the clay mortar, and the second is needed for the water in which the bricks will be dipped.
Begin to mix a solution of sand, clay and water, adding salt - tablespoon per bucket. The ratio of sand and clay depends on its fat content. The finished solution is rolled into a ball, which, when dropped from a height of 30-40 cm, hard surface flattens with the formation of small cracks, but does not crumble. If the solution contains too much clay, then during heating the masonry joints begin to crack.
They begin to place the bricks of the first row according to the pattern. They should be placed on a narrow edge with the end facing the center so that the result is a half-brick wall. To create a rounding, the outer radius must have a wide gap and the inner radius must have a much smaller gap.
When all the bricks are aligned and leveled, they need to be removed one at a time from the row and briefly dipped in cold water. clean water so that the active release of bubbles stops. Then the mortar is applied to the brick on three sides and placed back in a row. This is done gradually with all the bricks in the row. Seams on the outside should be fill with mortar and embroider, thanks to which the solution will hold up much better when finishing.
The second row is laid out similarly to the first, but for greater strength it is tied, moving the bricks halfway. In the second row there is a blower, which is made from a piece of pipe. To do this, you need to cut two bricks in a row in half, leaving a hole for the pipe. Install the blower and secure it with a solution.
The third row begins with the formation of the furnace roof. To give an inclination, the lower part of all bricks is slightly sawed at an angle using a grinder. If the angle is calculated correctly, then the next row will not have to be cut.
The number of bricks in the third and fourth rows is reduced as the diameter decreases. In this case, the dressing in them will be incomplete, and the bricks are shifted relative to the previous row by 1/3. After completing the masonry, the stove should be dried until the masonry mortar is completely dry. If the weather is hot, then the masonry should be moistened to dry evenly.
Finishing and firing
To improve the heat capacity of the furnace, it is additionally coated on the outside clay mortar, and if you plan to bake flatbreads, then from the inside. For this, masonry mortar is usually used, but it should be kneaded until thick so that the consistency resembles plasticine. For plasticity, it is recommended to add regular salt to it.
Before coating, the masonry is moistened with a spray bottle and the solution is applied in a layer of no more than 1 cm, since a thicker layer may crack during firing. The neck should also be coated, making roundings. To make the stove look more decorative, you can lay mosaic or natural stone on the outside.
Drying finished oven lasts two weeks. After the initial drying, the tandoor begins drown. For these purposes, use paper, wood chips or shavings, adding fuel in small portions so that the walls heat up moderately. The stove should be cooled after each fire. and heat it again the next day. The oven should be dried for two weeks.
The kiln is fired after the initial firing. For this purpose, hardwood firewood is used, after burning which remains a large number of coals. It could be:
- Apple tree;
- cherry;
- other fruit trees.
First batch of firewood lay it at a quarter of the height of the stove, then set it on fire and wait until coals form. Then add the next batch, thus filling the tandoor 2/3 full. When the flames disappear and a large number of smoldering coals are formed, close the oven with a lid and leave until it cools completely. After this, all the ash is removed, the inner walls are brushed with a soft brush - and the tandoor oven is ready for use as a bread oven or barbecue.
The tandoor oven is a multifunctional device. And most importantly, not only specialists can build it. Self-construction of the furnace is also possible.
What is tandoor
- A tandoor is a large clay cauldron, turned upside down, with a small hole in the bottom.
- The clay part of the oven is lined with brick on the outside, and the space between the brick and the edge of the vessel is filled with clay, sand or salt. They help retain heat in.
- The design of this one is such that there should be a hole in its lower part for blowing.
How it works
For such a stove, a small amount of fuel is enough - firewood or branches. In Asia, saxaul is most often used for kindling. It is placed at the bottom, set on fire and allowed to burn down to coals. After the wood has burned out, you can start baking bread or cooking.
During kindling, all the heat is absorbed by the walls - both of the clay cauldron, and of the peculiar layer, and brick wall. Once heated, the oven begins to give off heat. This ensures long-lasting, uniform temperatures for excellent cooking, both baking and simmering.
What is needed for construction
In order to make such a stove, you will need:
- bricks – refractory and facing;
- sand;
- clay;
- cement;
- grate.
A real tandoor is made from slightly different materials, but modern conditions The listed components are best suited for this.
Assembly technology
Initially, the type of tandoor is selected - ordinary (ground) or earthen, horizontal or vertical. The most common ovens are vertical.
The technology for ground or earth type assembly is different.
The ground structure is built as follows:
Construction of a vertical tandoor photo:
Video
Another option for building a tandoor is presented in the video:
The earthen tandoor is assembled as follows:
- It is necessary to prepare a pit for the furnace, based on the fact that the height will be 1.2 m plus the foundation. The bottom, or foundation, is laid out of brick in one layer. An asbestos-cement pipe is connected to the prepared foundation, which is a kind of blower. The edge of the pipe should be located among the bricks of the first row.
- The top of the masonry must be covered with clay. The tandoor is assembled in a similar way, except external cladding brick. The soil will act here as a facing.
The walls of the furnace itself must be laid out of refractory bricks, with the bricks shifted inward to form an upper cone-shaped dome. The outside of the masonry should be coated with clay, and after it dries, the space between the soil and the walls should be carefully filled with clay and sand. The oven must also be hardened by fire.
Construction of an earthen tandoor photo:
Tandoor is one of the oldest designs for a hearth used for cooking. It has a proven history of existence of more than five thousand years. In traditional regions of distribution - from Mesopotamia in ancient times, to the vast regions of Asia Minor and Central Asia, Transcaucasia, right up to Japan, it is still used today as a universal oven suitable for baking bread (flat cakes), samsa, cooking meat dishes on skewers and lattice, traditional soups. Despite the extreme simplicity of the design, building a tandoor takes quite a lot of time and requires some skills.
What is this article about?
The principle of the tandoor
There are several options for tandoor:
- Vertical - representing a truncated cone, tapering upward, in which the central axis is oriented vertically;
- Horizontal - in which the wide hole is located on the side, and the axis is oriented parallel to the surface of the earth.
- Buried in the ground.
Depending on the design, the use of tandoor varies. Vertical ones are more versatile. They are convenient for cooking barbecue, roasting poultry or game, and cooking soups and stews. Horizontal tandoors are used exclusively for baking local varieties of bread - flatbreads.
In regions of traditional use, the tandoor is made from local clay and is a fired, thick-walled clay vessel, shaped like a wide pot with a tapering neck.
In conditions middle zone It is difficult for Russia to make such a tandoor due to the climate. Clay dries unevenly; the upper layers dry faster than the inner layers. When fired, the vessel cracks. Therefore, the most widespread among lovers of Central Asian and Caucasian food are tandoors made of local stone or brick.
Tandoor lined with bricks
The simplest way is to use finished product, purchased in a store or brought from a Central Asian republic. But the disadvantage of such a tandoor is its mobility and fragility.
A tandoor can simply be stolen or broken at a country house or garden plot in the absence of the owners. Therefore, it makes sense to cover the tandoor with bricks, turning it into a stationary structure that is not subject to vandalism.
For lining there are ready-made tandoors, which look simpler and of course cheaper.
The principle of constructing such a tandoor is extremely simple. Does not require curved masonry. It is enough to lay out a rectangular brick box. Place the finished tandoor inside, and the spaces between the outer wall of the tandoor and the inner surface brickwork cover with salt or sand. Salt is preferable due to its higher heat capacity.
To protect the filler from moisture, the masonry is covered with a stone (granite, tuff, marble) slab with a hole for the neck of the grill.
Brick tandoor
Brick tandoors are typical for the republics of Transcaucasia (Armenia), where they are called tanyrs. The technology of their construction differs from lining a finished tandoor with bricks.
Base – reinforced concrete slab or separately built foundation. The principle of foundation construction is common to all types of furnaces and presented in a separate article.
To make the tandoor perfectly round, a template must be made. This is a stick (a piece of pipe) 1–1.5 meters long with a figured “petal” cut out of plywood attached to it. Before laying begins, the template is installed vertically into the base of the tandoor. After this, it rotates around its axis and bricks are laid along it. The image below shows what this template looks like.
Features of masonry
The foundation is covered with a layer of waterproofing. A circle is drawn on it with chalk equal in diameter to the outer diameter of the tandoor. To lay out the base (hearth), heat-resistant fireclay bricks and fireclay clay are used. To give the foundation round shape The bricks are cut with a grinder using a stone disc.
Lay out two rows under. The bricks of the second row should overlap the bricks of the first row by half a brick.
After this, a hole is drilled in the center into which the template is installed.
Bricks for walls are first laid out “dry”. The bricks are installed on a short edge so that the thickness of the tandoor walls is equal to ½ brick.
The first 2 rows of bricks are installed strictly vertically.
After laying out dry. Let's start with the actual laying.
To do this, sequentially remove one brick from the masonry. Soak it in a bath of water until no more air bubbles are released. After this, they are coated with clay mortar on three sides and installed in place. And so on all around the circle. The template is periodically rotated around its axis so as not to disturb the geometry of the masonry. The second row is laid out in the same way, with an offset of ½ brick relative to the first row.
After this, the wide spaces between the outer ends of the bricks are rubbed with masonry mortar and left for 1-2 weeks until completely dry. In rainy weather, cover with film.
A classic tandoor has no holes in the walls. But, for ease of maintenance - adding firewood, cleaning coals and ash, many people arrange a “blower” in the first row of the masonry. It may be arched shape or simply a piece of steel (cast iron) pipe with a diameter of at least 150 mm.
The third and fourth rows have a slope, due to which the upper opening of the tandoor narrows relative to the diameter of the base to 2/3.
For ease of laying, the bricks are pre-cut with a grinder at one end.
The laying is carried out similarly to the first 2 rows, only a template must be used when laying each brick, otherwise the geometry of the tandoor may be disrupted.
Due to the reduction in diameter, the bricks of the 4th row are shifted when laying relative to the bricks of the 3rd row by 1/3.
4-row standard grill ceramic bricks has a height of 125–130 cm.
Upon completion of the masonry, it is left to dry for 1–2 weeks.
Tandoor coating
For coating, prepare a solution from fatty clay with a small addition of sand and salt at the rate of 1 glass per bucket of solution. The solution should have the consistency of softened plasticine.
When building “classic” tandoors in Central Asia and the Caucasus, chopped goat hair or cropped horse hair is added to the solution. After the start of use, the wool burns out, and the surface of the coating acquires a finely porous structure. The tandoor “breathes”. Its heat-insulating properties increase.
In the conditions of central Russia, wool can be replaced with finely chopped straw, but the quality of the inner surface of the tandoor will be worse.
A rounded roller is placed along the upper edge of the clay masonry. It protects against injury from the sharp edges of the brick when cleaning and placing cakes on the walls of the tandoor.
The thickness of the internal coating should not exceed 10 mm. Otherwise, when fired, it may crack and crumble.
The outer surface of the oven is coated with the same solution. It can be decorated natural stone, ceramic tiles, tiles.
Tandoor firing
After the coating has dried naturally (at least 2 weeks) begin firing.
Start by placing a small amount of paper or wood chips on the bottom of the tandoor. After the end of open burning, cover the tandoor with a lid and allow it to cool completely.
The refill of firewood is doubled.
At least 3–4 firings are carried out. The final firing is carried out with the addition of such a quantity of firewood (coal) that after the cessation of open burning, the smoldering coals fill the internal volume of the tandoor by 2/3.
After this, the tandoor is suitable for use.
Optional equipment
For a tandoor, a lid must be made from thick sheet metal 4–5 mm, the diameter of the cover should be 25–40 mm larger than the outer diameter of the roller.
To use the tandoor as an oven for preparing first courses and kebabs, a circle equal to the diameter of the lid is made from the same sheet metal. A hole is cut in the center equal to the diameter of the bottom of the cauldron or pan that will be used for cooking. Radially from the central hole, a metal disk is used to cut slots to a depth of 70–100 mm. You can insert skewers with kebabs into them. Barbecue lovers can place a removable stainless steel grate on the surface of the tandoor.
For simmering dishes, the tandoor is equipped with a hanging platform on steel chains. Dishes with food are placed on the platform and lowered inside the tandoor. After this, close the lid.
Despite the simplicity of the design, building a tandoor takes a long time. Its construction on the site should begin with the onset of the first warm days so that by mid-summer the tandoor can be used fully functional.