The Clay Oven

The clay oven in most restaurants is usually about three feet high and approximately two and half feet in diameter with the open top being about one foot in diameter, which is normally covered by the chef with a metal plate when the oven is “at rest” in order to retain the heat. The oven is made from a special blend of clay and Bangladeshi jute is used to reinforce the walls which are about two inches thick. In the villages of Pakistan and Bangladesh the clay ovens are buried in the ground with the earth packed tightly around them to give insulation and stability. Obviously this is not practical in the restaurant and the oven is in a square enclosure of firebrick insulation blocks. The open cavities are packed with high density glass fibre wool insulation. A concrete top with ceramic tiles on the top and outside faces create a hygienic kitchen appliance, cold on the outside yet very hot inside. The oven is supplied unfired (after three or four uses it is fired). A small draw hole at the base can be opened or closed to create an air flow. Although charcoal is the traditional fuel, some restaurants usually have two tandoors, one charcoal fired running at very high temperature and the other gas powered running at lower temperature. Charcoal fuelled ovens are usually loaded to about 6 inches in depth and allowed two and half to three hours to reach operating temperatures, literally white hot (700F/370C). It is a property of the special clay blend that it can withstand this high temperature without cracking and the coals can be allowed to extinguish and the oven to go cold between usages without shrinking. To finish off, the oven implement which your chef requires is the three feet long round metal skewers which allow the food to rotate on them whilst cooking.