Anyone can build a stove for a cauldron with their own hands. The cauldron is a cast iron cauldron with thick walls and a semicircular bottom. This design is used for cooking food over a fire. The lower part is made so that the flame heats all the walls of the tank, and not just the bottom of the cauldron. The advantage of the product is that it will not get food stuck in the corners of the dishes. Thanks to the thick walls, which are made of cast iron, food does not burn, and all components are stewed slowly.
Modern cauldron stoves come in metal and brick.
Today, some people mistakenly call a cauldron a dish that does not belong to a variety of a similar design, for example, a cast iron pot or a pot. In terms of their characteristics, they are similar to a cauldron, however, such products do not meet the basic requirement - a rounded bottom shape.
The best option is a design with thick cast iron walls. It can be installed on a tripod, under which a fire will be built. The device can also be placed above the hearth - a cauldron stove.
A clay cauldron stove is a traditional option.
The design of the stove for a cauldron is similar to other variants of similar designs, but its main feature is the recess in the cast iron slab into which the cauldron is placed. According to all the rules, this recess must be made so wide that the cauldron can be located 2/3 below the level of the stove. If the recess is made wider, then access to the cauldron will be difficult. If the recess is small in width, then the base of the cauldron will not be able to warm up evenly. Today on sale you can find special designs with rings of various diameters, thanks to which you can use dishes of any size. However, the main purpose of such a stove is to cook food in a cauldron.
The device can be of the following types:
The brick structure can be placed outdoors or indoors. You can install a cauldron, grill or other device for cooking in it.
First of all, you will need to decide on the dimensions of the structure. Regardless of whether the device will be used as a smokehouse or food will be prepared in it every day, it must be placed close to a private home. Be sure to provide a place where the firewood will be located, since the device can only operate on this type of fuel.
Figure 1. Arrangement of the stove for a brick cauldron.
To make a stove for a cauldron with your own hands, you need to prepare the following elements:
When all the elements are prepared, you will need to select a site.
The stove will have a small height, so it is not necessary to make a base.
You will need to level the soil and make formwork from metal and 10 cm reinforcing bars. After this, the structure is filled with concrete mortar. The horizontal surface must be measured with a building level, since the slightest distortion can affect the level of liquid in the cauldron. The height of the stove platform should be approximately 8-10 cm.
The design diagrams are shown in Fig. 1 and fig. 2. Return to contents
After this, the brick is laid out. The sequence of actions will be as follows:
Figure 2. Arrangement of the stove for a fireplace-type brick cauldron.
After this, a chimney structure is installed, which can provide good draft and eliminate smoke gases.
Dishes of Caucasian and oriental cuisine, cooked independently over an open fire, are especially tasty, healthy and appetizing. The aroma emanating from the food being prepared in the cauldron is very good and pleasant.
Stove for cauldron
The dishes acquire special taste due to the uniform heating of the bottom and walls of the cauldron by open fire. It’s no wonder that owners of their own dachas, country houses, or those simply going on vacation in nature strive to assemble with their own hands a structure adapted for preparing culinary delights in a special semicircular cauldron.
Such ovens can be stationary or mobile. The former are a permanent structure that is easy to use year-round, while the latter are usually foldable and can be taken with you on a trip or assembled for a seasonal holiday outside the city. Stoves for cauldrons are assembled from metal or brick.
They are made exclusively of metal, preferably stainless steel, or in extreme cases ordinary steel painted with heat-resistant paint!
The simplest mobile version of a cauldron stove is a cylindrical firebox made of sheet metal with a hole for adding fuel and slits for smoke to escape. The cauldron is placed on top of the stove, with two-thirds of the bottom located directly above the fire.
But the lightest structure is a tripod. It is made from a metal tube bent in the shape of a circle and legs are attached to it (by welding or bolts). This “stove” is very convenient for hiking, but does not allow the walls of the cauldron to warm up evenly.
The size of each oven is individual and depends on the cauldron in which the cook will prepare the dish.
In order to make a simple stove for a cauldron with your own hands you will need:
We will carry out the work outdoors in close proximity to electricity and with mandatory observance of safety rules (protective suit, leggings and mask for working with a welding machine).
Using a welding machine, we connect the steel into a cylinder, weld the bottom, then the supports and handles to the finished structure. However, the last parts of the structure can be bolted on by first drilling holes in the metal.
The simplest oven for a cauldron is ready. To protect it from corrosion, we apply several layers of heat-resistant paint. All that remains is to place a cauldron on top, light a fire in the firebox and prepare the food, everything is as simple as one, two, three!
We supplement the design with a smoke exhaust pipe, doors, a ash pan, and a grate.
The manufacturing process is similar to the first option, but a few points will be added.
Ready-made oven doors are also suitable. We attach them to the canopies by welding or bolts, and equip them with metal latches.
Thus, we get a model of a stove for a cauldron, into which it is convenient to put fuel and clean out combustion products, the smoke is discharged into the chimney, and the draft can be easily adjusted using the blower door. But this stove is less comfortable for transportation, as it takes up more space.
Stationary stoves for cauldrons are not only a place where food is prepared, but also an element of home interior decoration. Therefore, you should prepare a place for the stove in advance and carefully consider its shape and finishing options, purchase beautiful accessories for cleaning the stove (scoop, poker), doors (firebox, blower) and a decorative plate with rings of different sizes, on which you can install different volume of cauldrons.
The configuration of the oven from the outside can be any, but from the inside the oven should resemble an egg cup. For ease of use, the height is set at 80 centimeters.
There is no need for a foundation for the furnace due to the low weight of the structure. But to prevent distortion of the masonry, you will have to pour concrete into the formwork and reinforce it with reinforcement. To do this you need:
To make the seams as even as possible, we lay thin wooden slats between the bricks. As soon as the solution sets a little, remove the slats. This technique will allow you to quickly and accurately unstitch the seams later.
We start each first row with half a brick, each second with a whole brick. This technique is called suture ligation.
We install all metal elements (doors, etc.) along the course of the masonry.
If the metal plate under the cauldron is not factory-made, cut out a circle in it with a diameter slightly smaller than the cauldron and carefully clean the circle from unevenness and burrs with a file to prevent smoke from seeping in and ash from getting into the food.
When installing pipes, to ensure good traction, joints are made at an angle of more than 90 degrees.
After completing the masonry, the stove can be tiled or jointed. After which the oven under the cauldron is dried by lighting a small fire in the firebox.
When cutting bricks with a grinder, a large amount of dust is generated. It is advisable to use eye and respiratory protection during work.
The first two rows are the bottom of the future oven. When laying, leave space for cleaning the stove and ash pan, which will be closed with a door. We secure the door with wire, clamping it with adjacent bricks and fixing it with mortar.
Third row - we cover the ash pan door and continue laying out the walls of the oven. We lay the grate.
In the fourth row it is necessary to provide a hole through which flue gases will escape.
In the fifth row, continuing to lay out the walls of the oven, we install a door for the firebox. We provide its size depending on the intended fuel. For firewood, the optimal door width is about forty centimeters, for coal - less.
Laying 5 - 12 rows for the oven
In the sixth to eighth rows we block the firebox, continuing the construction of the walls.
In the ninth and eleventh rows we leave a hole for the circulation of flue gases.
In the twelfth, we cover the top of the outer walls of the firebox using metal corners and a steel (cast iron) plate with a hole for installing a cauldron. The hole in the stove should be located exactly above the firebox, laid out in the shape of a cylinder.
The chimney is an important part of the structure. For its installation you will need: an angle grinder (angle grinder) and cutting discs, a welding machine and electrodes, hammers, a steel pipe with a diameter of 10 to 12 cm, elbows or fittings with the required rotation angle.
We connect the fittings and pipe by welding, having first laid them out on a flat surface. We make sure to use protective equipment – a mask, overalls and gloves.
We remove scale and other irregularities with an angle grinder (grinder) or a file.
We install the prefabricated metal chimney in the right place (in a hole specially left for this purpose in the stove masonry), coat the cracks with stove clay or refractory mortar.
We check the chimney for cracks. To do this, light a small fire in the furnace firebox and watch the movement of the smoke.
A properly built oven ensures uniform heating of the cauldron. You can check this by pouring water into it. If the cauldron heats up evenly, bubbles of boiling water will completely cover the inside of the dish.
The stove can be finished by grouting, plastering, or painting the bricks with special heat-resistant paints.
The stove under the cauldron is multifunctional. It’s easy to heat a kettle of water or even fry a kebab on it. To do this, skewers are hung on a metal rod laid across the stove, and hot coals evenly cook juicy, aromatic pieces of marinated meat.
There are an innumerable variety of delicious dishes in the world that are prepared in all sorts of ways. Among them, dishes cooked over a fire have gained special love among gourmets and ordinary eaters. Fish soup, pilaf, borscht and other dishes cooked in a cauldron have an amazing aroma and simply amazing taste.
Cauldrons come in a variety of shapes and sizes; a hemispherical cooking container is considered classic. However, it will not be possible to cook anything in such a “saucepan” if there is no stand prepared for the cauldron.
In the simplest version, the role of a stand can be played by the most ordinary bricks, but such a support is unreliable and does not look aesthetically pleasing. If you want to cook over an open fire in comfort and without worrying about safety, then be sure to familiarize yourself with the types of cauldron stands and the options for making them yourself.
Upgrades for convenient cooking are varied:
Pot stand in the form of a tripod (tagan)- made in the form of a circle in the upper part from which three legs go down. The support of the tagan is provided by the legs located at a slight angle, and the cauldron itself is inserted into the circle during cooking.
This is one of the simplest models, available as a monolithic product or as a collapsible one, which is more convenient for outdoor events. Artistic forging is used as decoration for these products, which provides the aesthetic appearance of the tripod.
Stands on four legs no less comfortable than tripods. This option is also available in disassembled form and in the form of a cast structure.
Grill holder- the most convenient thing if you plan to cook outdoors not only over an open fire, but also in a cauldron. This design is made in the form of a square base and a circle (in which the cauldron is installed) on top.
In addition to cauldron stands used outdoors, there are also miniature options:
Stands for cauldrons can be:
The fundamental criterion when choosing a client is container volume for cooking, it must match the diameter of the stand's circumference. If the cauldron is wider than the circumference of the stand, then it will not be able to be placed stable, which is unsafe. If the cauldron is smaller than the circumference of the stand, then placing it in its proper place simply will not work.
Types of stands for cauldrons
If you use cauldrons of different sizes, then it is worth purchasing a stand for the cauldron in the form of supports and a hook, to which attach a thick-walled pot. An important factor when choosing a cauldron is the material from which it is made:
If purchasing a customer is impossible for some reason, make it yourself. For this you will need:
The scope of actions to create a client in record time is as follows:
At the site of the broken bottom a cauldron is placed, firewood is placed through the door and a fire is started. Now you can start cooking!
If this is your first time cooking in a cauldron, then you need to prepare it correctly. To do this you will need:
At this point, the preparation of the cauldron is completed, you can put it on the tray and start preparing dishes that will be mind-blowing in terms of aroma and taste.
About 12 years ago we bought ourselves a cast iron cauldron. And for the same number of years I dreamed of Uzbek pilaf, which my husband promised me to cook in this cauldron.
Last summer my patience ran out...
As a result, this stand for a cauldron was “born,” hastily made by my husband’s hands.
Before this, while fishing with friends, I noticed a tripod for cooking pots and cooking over a fire. Therefore, in my mind, a tripod was seen for the cauldron.
But, as I understand it, the order to cook pilaf was unexpected for my husband (12 years is not enough time to think!!!) and took him by surprise. As a result, in his mind, urgently, a very simple design was born from scrap materials that he had available at that moment in time:
Quite a small set. There was nothing to be done with the part of the metal barrel except to place it in the place where the fire pit was located (and that was what he liked best!).
And from the reinforcement he welded a triangle slightly larger than the diameter of the barrel, but so that the triangular stand he welded for the cauldron with his own hands was strong and fit the size of the round bottom of the cauldron itself. He managed to arrange it so that the cauldron would stand firmly and steadily on it.
All the dimensions of the triangle were taken by eye and selected experimentally, by laying out three pieces of reinforcement on the barrel this way and that.
Everything turned out to be as simple as shelling pears, you just had to use your brains and not wait for the weather by the sea for 12 whole years...
So, the organization of the place at the dacha for preparing dishes in a cauldron is as follows:
Stand for a cauldron made from a barrel and pieces of reinforcement This do-it-yourself stand for a cauldron has important advantages that emerged immediately during the cooking process:
There are several design options for cauldrons on sale:
You can simply buy a stand for the cauldron ready-made You can buy a stand for a cauldron ready-made in a trusted online store and it’s not that expensive. And at the same time a cauldron, if anyone doesn’t have one.
Original shape on the outside
Food cooked over an open fire tastes much better. And all because the aroma of smoke is mixed with the smell of food. That is why many do not deny themselves pleasure and build a separate kitchen complex on their plot. Not only the grill, but also a huge cauldron takes pride of place in it. You have to build a separate pedestal for it. In addition, you need to know how to build a stove for a cauldron with your own hands.
There are two ways to solve this problem - choose a stationary option or use a mobile metal oven. Let's look at how to do this in more detail.
At the preliminary stage, it is important to decide what kind of cauldron stove you want to have on your site. The stationary option is suitable for those who often use such a device and have the opportunity to allocate a large area for it. Moreover, it should be distant from the main buildings. In this case, a solid brick foundation is laid for the cauldron, or more precisely, for the stove, on which the huge vessel stands as if on a pedestal.
For a mobile version, you can make a stove out of metal. Its design is extremely simple. The role of the pedestal in this case will be played by the upper part of an ordinary iron cauldron. A large cast iron pipe or a heat-resistant steel pipe will be suitable as the main material.
A mobile oven creates conditions for rare culinary forays and allows you to make the most of the possibilities of a compact outdoor patio.
Both options are easy to assemble with your own hands. Here is a detailed description of the first way to implement the problem.
Assembling a brick stove under a cauldron according to a simple scheme is not so difficult, and anyone who knows how to handle construction tools can cope with this task. For construction you may need:
In the process of assembling a brick base for a cauldron, it is important to remember that the fire that will burn from under the cauldron must heat it evenly. The size of the vent is determined quite easily. It is necessary to choose a volume that will allow the cauldron to be drowned in the oven by two-thirds.
We carry out the work in a certain sequence.
Type of internal recess On top of the base that has not yet hardened, we lay a reinforcement grid, the width of the cells should not exceed 12 cm. The reinforcement will strengthen the base, increase its strength and will not allow temperature changes to destroy the oven, assembled with your own hands.
Note! If you immediately make an uneven platform for the masonry at this stage, the cauldron will not be able to fit neatly into the brick stove prepared for it. Therefore, be sure to use a building level and constantly check the horizontal axis.
Now let's move on to the main stage.
Metal plate Note! The edges of the cut hole should be very smooth. Otherwise, smoke from under the cauldron will penetrate through cracks and small gaps. It is better to immediately process the edges of a stand made of thick metal with a round file. This will help remove dangerous metal burrs.
Russian style option After the brickwork is completed, you can begin assembling the chimney. This stage is the most difficult and time-consuming. Everything needs to be done right. Otherwise, you won’t be able to cook in a cauldron, feeling comfortable and safe.
What is a chimney needed for? It performs several important functions:
Metal pipes with a diameter of 10–12 cm are suitable for the manufacture of a chimney. If the device is not straight, but with bends, fittings and elbows of the appropriate diameter will be needed.
Note! Chimney pipes must not be bent at right angles. This almost completely eliminates cravings. If you need to bend the chimney, its angle must be more than 90 degrees.
Chimney device To assemble individual parts of the device, the pipes are laid out on a level place, fittings are attached to them and scalded. The number of inserts must be clearly indicated on the drawing. Scale and beads formed by welding can be cut off with an angle grinder.
After the chimney is assembled, it can be installed in the hole of the base, assembled with your own hands from brick. There should be no gaps between the masonry and the chimney pipe.
Only after installing the chimney can the assembled stove be tested in practice. A preliminary check of its functionality should show whether there is draft and whether combustion products escape through the chimney pipes. It is advisable to immediately place a cauldron filled with water on a melted brick stove, assembled with your own hands. Such a test will allow you to understand how evenly the bottom and walls of the vessel are heated. If, when the water boils, the bubbles are distributed equally over the entire surface, it means that the brick stove was assembled correctly.
In our country, summer weather can be extremely unstable. Therefore, a stationary structure must be placed under some kind of canopy. Otherwise, even a little rain can interfere with the preparation of a delicious dish. You can protect yourself in different ways.
Modest and beautiful The easiest way is to pull an awning made of thick fabric over the cauldron. However, having already spent a lot of effort on assembling a stationary oven with your own hands, it’s worth putting in a little more effort and making a good-quality gazebo, installing a convenient tabletop next to the cauldron for cutting food, prudently building shelves for kitchen utensils under it.
It would be great if we could bring water to this object. Then it will be easy to follow the rules of basic hygiene. The space of the new improvised kitchen will always be in a clean condition, which will certainly bring pleasure to cooks.
And one more important circumstance. When choosing a space for a stove, it is important to consider where the firewood for lighting it will be stored. The wood must always remain dry, otherwise it will not be possible to melt and heat the cauldron to the desired temperature.
Pilaf from a cauldron Cooking delicious, smoky dishes over an open fire is a hobby, without which country life may seem boring and uninteresting. Therefore, it is worth assembling a stove for a cauldron on your site with your own hands. Its installation is not that difficult. To implement it, you just need to carefully re-read the article and strictly follow all the details of the installation. And to make the object more attractive, the stove can be lined. After lining, it must be dried by lighting a small fire in the firebox.
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