Topic: Tandoor

[loveitspicy]

Anyone got some good all round pictures of a tandoor oven - i will make one if possible!

hoping there is

best, Rich

[Curry Barking Mad]

Hi Rich,
Are you looking at making a fixed garden tandoor or a mobile one?
Mick

[loveitspicy]

Hi Mick
I had a look at some pics you put up mate - however i would like to see closer images overall if possible!

The idea is i live not far from and area ( village)  that makes all things in terracotta  ie big plant pots etc - ive scoured the internet for decent images so i can explain what im after. The tandoor looks just like a huge plant pot to me. Then i would encase it in a stainless box with some insulation - its a bit of a project for me to be honest! Would love to cook with one and take some pics along the way in making it.
So to answer your question probably not a garden one but even that would be helpful.
best, Rich

[mickdabass]

Hi Rich
Uncle Bucks your man!
He had a thread a couple of years ago constructing one from a teracotta pot, fire bricks and vermiculite.
Im sure you could find it without too much hassle

Best Regards
Another Mick

[Curry Barking Mad]

Hi Rich,
If you go to my blog and scroll right down to the bottom of the page you will see how I made my garden tandoor (if you haven't seen them already)

http://cbm-mick.blogspot.com/

The steel tandoor I bought is great but I don't know how easy that would be to make as a home build.
I had to change the rusty burner pipes that were original. I used a 8.8 kw burner with the air inlet going through the original clean out door stuffed with lagging. The pictures show the burner with my home made baffle plate with ceramic briquettes.

[loveitspicy]

Mick - CBM

The pics look great mate - we cook everything out here on bottle gas  - basically all the gas connections valves and all things nice to do with portable gas are ready available.. vermiculite is a bit of an arse to find. The garden tandoor you constructed looks great mate - is it made from just a normal terracotta pot?

Secondly the steel one does the flame burn then you put the baffler plate and the ceramic briquettes on it? finding ceramic briquettes out here could be a tricky one also.

I was thinking of something on the lines of both designs you have in one - a gas connection into a terracotta pot insulated with stainless or steel round it. Steel and stainless sheets are reasonable priced out here and there are plenty of places that work them around me. 
I didn't know if it was better to make a terracotta tandoor and fire real charcoal in it - obviously we have a little better weather most of the year ! Also i would imagine that there must be some sort of raised up plate with holes in (probably about 8 high) etc with the charcoal on that so the air could enter and circulate up to fuel the burning charcoal.

best, Rich

[Curry Barking Mad]

Rich,
The pot was just a plain pot (clay) just a very large one. I cut out the bottom of the pot and turned it upside down. As it had the rounded shoulder shape it was ideal.

Re the steel tandoor, I light it with a lit match dropped onto the burner when the gas is turned on. I then lower the baffle plate on its legs over the burner (stands about 3 inches clear of the burner). I have a kind of gripper tool that allows me to do this. I then use the same tool to lower the briquettes in a steel bowl onto the plate. To be honest if you didn't have the briquettes you could just stand the skewers on the baffle plate (you may notice the drilled dips in the plate for this purpose) and any juices that drip onto the plate will smoke and burn giving you the smokiness associated with tandoor cooking.

Whatever you make, you are correct, you will need to let air in. The steel one has holes in the bottom sheet steel. This is ok as there is no debris/ash to worry about. The charcoal clay one only had the one airway which was big enough take out the leftover ash when cooled. This hole allowed plenty of air in to feed the fire, at times I had to restrict the airflow using bricks as the air would get sucked in at such a rate the charcoal would burn very quickly.

I can tell you, that conventional clay tandoors (charcoal) never go out in a working kitchen. As home user we use ours just like a bbq. The only problem you have is when you first fire it up you get a layer of soot that sticks to the sides of the tandoor. You have to wait until the tandoor gets hot enough to burn this off. You don't want to try and slap a naan on that. When it is hot enough to burn off the soot you cannot hold your hand over the opening let alone put your arm in to stick a naan on. So you have to wait for the temperature to drop somewhat which means the fire is starting to die back. This is where a lot of babysitting is needed trying to maintain a good cooking temperature.
I prefer my gas one totally and will not go back to trying to cook using the charcoal.
Just my thoughts on the matter.

cheers,
Mick

[Unclebuck]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/39497298%40N08/

[loveitspicy]

Uncle Buck thanks for the link to the pics - nice job!

Mick - how tall and wide is the steel tandoor you have - it looks the way to go i reckon with some wheels on the bottom it could be portable-ish. How thick is the steel? It looks like it has a stainless outer - probably to make it look nice!
What is on the bottom under the gas ring? ie the base

Looking at your pics mate - its a steel cylinder inside probably some insulation then a stainless outer how does the air circulate for the gas flame and i presume there is a lid / top on this

best, Rich