"Cordwood Kitchen" Feeds Family Outdoors

Cordwood Kitchen Feeds Family Outdoors BUILDINGS Houses Hans and Marianne Pfaeffli enjoy the unique luxury of their outdoor kitchen where they often cook and eat summer meals The back yard structure and its big oven were both built from cordwood stacked and mortared together like bricks      I used White Poplar firewood that I cut into 9-in long pieces building the walls up by a couple of feet each day giving them time to dry in-between The wood must be really dry when you cement it in û mine was dried for a couple of years Hans explains I have cement footings to keep the base of the oven and shack level plus they protect the wood from ground moisture We ve got two windows in the shack for light and they let us see out to the driveway     The 12-ft wide shelter has a sloped tar-shingled roof that s 10 ft tall in the front and tapers to 7 ft in back Pfaeffli cemented the roof trusses into the wall for durability     Pfaeffli filled the center of the oven s cordwood base with rocks concrete chunks and sand to increase its heat-storing capacity He then capped it with a 3 in thick concrete slab he made with refractory cement This forms the baking surface and juts out about a foot from the 4-ft dia base providing counter space     Over the course of six days Pfaeffli used two forms to make 12 orange section-shaped pieces of refractory concrete Together they form the dome shell which sits on top of the base creating the oven cavity with an opening for access He also made two small blocks with handles using the special cement and these serve as oven doors     Pfaeffli covered the dome with rock wool insulation similar to fiberglass insulation mats chicken wire and stucco He says it insulates very wellà after a big fire you can put your hand on top of the dome and it s barely warm according to Pfaeffli      The refractory cement was necessary so it doesn t crack or crumble from the high temperatures he says It was my biggest cost - about $1 000     For baking bread Pfaeffli first removes the doors and makes a large wood fire inside the oven burning it for an hour or two Then he scrapes it all out puts in his bread dough and closes the doors He bakes a dozen loaves at a time and they re ready in an hour     Pfaeffli uses the oven year-round to bake bread and thanks in part to large trees nearby there s enough shelter that no winterizing of the cook shack is necessary      For cooking things like pizza roasts potatoes and vegetables I make a fire preheat the oven for at least an hour then push the charcoal off to one side and put the food in to cook while the fire s still burning I keep the heat constant by adding a little wood as necessary I put everything I need for a meal in there at the same time and just move it around according to the temperature each dish requires he explains     Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Hans and Marianne Pfaeffli P O Box 5485 Westlock Alberta Canada T7P 2P5 ph 780 349-5576; fax 780 349-5629

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