Cob

Wikipedia’s short definition of cob: “Cob is a building material consisting of clay, sand, straw, water, and earth, similar to adobe. Cob is fireproof, resistant to seismic activity, and inexpensive. It can be used to create artistic, sculptural forms and has been revived in recent years by the natural building and sustainability movements.”

 Most cob oven construction takes less than a day and costs less than $100 to build a pretty amazing oven.  You can go with the traditional dome look or be creative and sculpt a masterpiece for your garden that is not only beautiful to look at, but extremely useful as well.  Cob ovens have little impact on the environment and save a ton in energy usage and cost.  Once your oven is built, you start the wood fire in it 2 – 4 hours before the actual cooking.  Once the wood has turned to hot coals you scrape it all out, and start baking!  The heat from the initial fire will last hours and you can actually bake several things throughout the course of the day.  And not just breads and pizzas…no no no.  You can cook just about anything you want in a cob oven, even dehydrate fruit and herbs..;)