- 1). Place the fire bricks side by side on the ground to cover the area where you want to make the clay oven. Align the bricks in the shape of a 4 x 4 foot square.
- 2). Add water to the sand and mix. Add enough water so that the sand is evenly moist and packs in the hand but does not drip. If sand dries out while you are working to make the clay oven, add more water as necessary. The water helps hold the sand together so it can be used to make a mold to create the shape of the oven.
- 3). Pour the wet sand onto the square made from the bricks and mold it into a dome-shaped mound using your hands. Start by dumping a large pile of sand onto the square of bricks so that the sand piles naturally in a cone and spreads nearly to the bricks' edges. Pack the sand firmly by hand and form into a 3-foot high dome. Leave a 1-foot space of bare bricks around the edge of the sand dome.
- 4). Place the chimney pipe onto the sand dome. Stick the pipe vertically into the sand 6 inches down the side of the dome from the very top and just deep enough into the sand so that it stands in place.
- 5). Add water to the clay to create a pasty consistency that is somewhat runny but that can be shaped into a sloppy ball. The clay needs to be watery enough to mold by hand to shape the walls of the oven but firm enough to hold to shape by itself while it dries.
- 6). Apply the watery clay mixture on top of the sand. Slather the clay to cover the entire sand dome. Apply enough clay to create an even 6-inch thick layer over the entire sand dome. Add more clay if the slurry mix is too watery and runs down the side of the dome, or add more water if it is too firm to spread over the sand. Leave a 2 x 2 foot square area free of clay to serve as the opening on the oven front. Leave a 1 x 1 foot clay-free square opposite the oven front, which allow access to the fire in the oven.
- 7). Allow clay to dry for one week. Remove all sand through access holes. Build small wood fire in the back of the oven and allow to burn for three hours. Oven is ready for use after this first three-hour bake.
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