Traditional clay ovens are an awe inspiring work of art featured in many homes all over the world. These can be constructed with bricks, rocks, dirt and mud and surprisingly not difficult to DIY!
At the request of her sister, one popular Vlogger, Li Ziqi tackled this undertaking in a most unusual and creative way. She studied the how-to’s through instructional videos online and rolled up her sleeves. Luckily for us, she documented her process on video!
How are these amazing ovens created?
Once she located the appropriate consistency dirt that held enough clay, Li sketched out her unique design. Gathering bricks, she built a base for the structure and filled it with rocks.
Lying empty glass bottles and covering them with dirt in the structure helps keep the heat in the oven. She used a dirt mound as a skeletal base for the oven and gathered piles of dirt and clay, mixing them with water until she had the perfect texture. She rolled these into tubes and carefully formed them around the structure. Mixing hay and more empty glass bottles between the layers of clay, help the oven hold the heat.
Here is where Li Ziqi decided her clay oven would stand out from the rest. She formed the oven to look like a cat! Ears were used for ventilation and an adorable nose was placed above the opening of the cat’s “mouth”.
She scooped out the dirt form and set ablaze wood logs to initially bake the clay. Once hardened, she cleaned out the artistic meowsterpiece and made a few delicious loaves of bread to enjoy!
We’ve definitely added this to our dream house list! It’s just PURRFECT!
“My sister asked to build an oven last summer and finally I got some free time to build one now. Actually ovens are very popular abroad, just not too many people make it in China. The bread made in the oven is soft and sweet on the inside and crisp on the outside. With the smell of coal fire and the warm temperature, enjoying the taste of the bread will bring pure happiness to you…”
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