Domestic Tandoor

[Ashes]

I bought a pizza stone. You should be able to pick one up very cheaply at a hardware store, just ask for a stone which is heat resistant and contains no lead (surprisingly some do).. explain what you want to use it for and im sure youll get lots of help.

My stone is 30cm x 30cm and 1.5 cm deep. I heat it up for around 45 mins to an hour on full effect in the middle of the oven, once hot i press out a ball of nan dough and with the help of a wood paddle (you can make your own) I slide the nan onto the stone. give it 2 mins and turn over the nan. I looks like a nan tastes like a nan but isnt quite as good as a tandoori nan.. ive tried the grilled method and tava method and this method stands up very well, it will turn out lighter than a tava nan and less crispy than a grilled one. BTW i always tava my chappatis.

doesnt cost alot for a stone, i think george used a paving slab in his oven?
GL

[Mark J]

PPS:  I see Mark J has a picture of his tava here (so to speak!  ) 

Ooer!  ;D

Tavas are great for doing breads, the trick is to get the stupidly hot on a gas ring first before slapping the bread on and sticking it under a throbbingly hot grill. I guess the heat is approaching that of a tandoor when using this method.

Sadly the shop on ebay where I bought mine has gone out of business, and you are right les mine is very large indeed!

[George]

doesnt cost alot for a stone, i think george used a paving slab in his oven?

You have a good memory! I've used the same piece of reasonably thick (bog standard) paving slab for several years and it hasn't yet cracked. That's made of concrete.

I also have a pizza stone (clay?) but I reckon the extra weight and depth of the concrete probably gives extra heat capacity.

At the moment I have a stone (granite?) slab permanenly in the oven (actually two of them, side by side) which I bought cheap at Lidl. They came with a plastic surround and were intended to be placed in a microwave oven to warm up, then to be used to keep food warm at table, like in some restaurants. But I discarded the plastic surrounds and put them in the gas oven. They haven't cracked, either. I'd be amazed if they ever did.

Regards
George

[Ashes]

Ive heard of some pizza ppl buying two stones, one to place under the bread and one on the shelf above, they then get intense heat above and below. Im sure someone could create an oven within an oven, like a box with all sides closed except one. Ironically we are trying to recreate technology that has been around for a few thousand years and is still in use.

[merrybaker]

Im sure someone could create an oven within an oven, like a box with all sides closed except one.

That sounds like a HearthKit:

http://www.hearthkitchen.com/

[Ashes]

That sure looks good! My idea was simular but with a roof, i think the problems could be getting the heat high enough and even if u can, the average oven probably wont be able to cope (ive already ruined the rubber seals on 2 ovens).

The secret to a good clay oven is the shape, its actually the airflow over the food that creates more heat, italian pizza ovens are domed and the hot air circulates over the food. The shape creates more heat where its needed, a fan oven is a simular.

I suspect the best shape for tikka and breads is the tandoor and cant be improved upon. Seems that you need a strong extraction fan to remove the heat on a home tandoor, the alternative is to built one outside but you would need some kind of cover, a garage or shed to protect the clay from water.

http://www.goldentandoors.com/tandoor-range.htm

[merrybaker]

A few months ago I was at a bread-making demonstration, and the man next to me said he had a big green egg.   I won't tell you what I thought when he said that. 

Anyhow, it turns out he meant this:

http://www.biggreenegg.com/bge.htm

and he uses it to make pizzas.  Very tandoor-like, I think.

-Mary

[Panpot]

Thanks for this Mary it is weird that I was about to post the following but reads your Big Green egg thing first, bye the way do you know if they are available in the UK?

Tandoor and Cow Dung.

What a title for a new topic but I started this one so its right it stays here. Isn't it interesting that in the western world we have to be all sophisticated in our approach to the simplicity of a tandoor, we need gas and big extraction fans,etc,etc,etc.

Yesterday I got round to watching a Floyd in India programme I recorded on Sky a few weeks ago. On this one he actually visits Tandoori Alley in Madras and buys a Tandoori for a pound made on the premises form mud and coconut fiber by a local woman.

He takes it to someones home and in the garden cooks the most impressive Tandoori chicken via a 4 hour marinade and stuffed peppers and kebabs in the Tandoor.

The tandoor which looks like a tall (2 ft)  narrow plantpot has charcoal in the bottom and that is it. He does say that the locals prefer to cook with dried cow dung and later does cook a Rogan Josh with the stuff.

So why all the bother when any of us can do this for ourselves with something from a garden centre or building merchants. I am on the case because if thats how they do it in Madras then Cow Dung omitted and good old charcoal in its place I suspect in my garden with no expensive extractor hastle I Can cook Tandoori everything including perfect nan.

Has anyone else gone down this route and do they know if they can be bought in the UK or indeed has anyone found a suitable vessel from a garden centre or builders merchant. If a pathing stone can go into the oven then I just might be on to something here. Any Comments?

Thanks

Panpot

[snowdog]

A proper tandoor gets hot while it is firing up, stays hot while it is in use, smokes, explodes or cracks if it gets wet, is potentially dangerous (an open fire), and makes a hell of a mess because of the ashes. On top of that, using one for reasons other than necessity isn't earth-friendly (charcoal costs a fortune over here for what it is and has to come from somewhere).

That's why they make gas-fired ones

Yes, you can buy them (tandoors of all types) over here:

eBay seller #1
eBay seller #2

http://www.tandooriq.co.uk/healthandsafety/healthandsafety.html
http://piers.thompson.users.btopenworld.com/background.html
http://www.barbecue-online.co.uk/acatalog/BBQ_Shop_Nipoori__Charcoal_BBQs_54.html

Found these details elsewhere:

Dowd Tandoori. 020 89044477 (Clay Tandoori ovens).

Tandoori Clay Oven Co Ltd. 020 88962696

[Fat Les (Banned for removing own posts!)]

.....and the man next to me said he had a big green egg.....

I've seen these MerryBaker....they look really good!  But a little expensive!  I'd get one if I could afford one though!

Snowdog......you forgot to mention the great taste that you get from a "proper tandoor" too!