The principle of cooking in a cauldron is similar to the principle of a Russian stove: due to a gradual decrease in temperature, food is languishing under the influence of low-intensity heat. The device can be purchased ready-made or laid out with brickwork. It is easy to make a do-it-yourself stove for a cauldron from a pipe.
What is a cauldron
The cauldron is a cauldron, the lower part of which looks like a hemisphere. Thanks to this shape, it can be lowered into the hearth, which creates an even distribution of the effecting heat.
The boiler can be made of heavy but very strong cast iron or lighter aluminum. Its dimensions are different: from small options for 2-3 liters to massive ones for 10 or more. In medium-sized cauldrons (up to 8 liters), you can cook on a standard stove if you purchase a special stand. Massive boilers require a stove.
The thickness of the walls of the dishes depends on the material from which they are made. If it is cast iron, they can be thin (2-4 mm). The aluminum cauldron has thick walls (approx. 10 mm), which prevents food from burning and ensures better heat retention.
How the oven works
In the past, nomads, moving from place to place, carried boilers with them. The hearth for their use was made simple. In a dug hole lined with stones, two holes were created on different sides. In one of them, located in the lower part, they put firewood, and through the other, made from above, smoke came out. A fire was made at the bottom of the structure, and at first it only heated the lower area. This was enough to melt the lard and fry the meat. Rice for pilaf was prepared when the stones with which the walls were lined began to slowly give off heat.
The stoves used today bear a resemblance to such a hearth, but are made of brick or metal and are equipped with a chimney.
An option that requires minimal labor costs is to make a ring-shaped support for the boiler and install it on the brazier. However, you can get food with a barely noticeable smoke only on the stove. It can be made of brick or metal. It is not difficult to make a stove under the cauldron with your own hands from a pipe. For a high-quality result, it should be in the shape of a cylinder and a hole at the top of the nut. The structure is equipped with a damping pipe.
Scheme and dimensions
It is also important to choose the height: it depends on the dimensions of the boiler and the immersion depth. For small and medium cauldrons, an indicator of 30-45 cm is sufficient.
The diameter of the section depends on the size of the boiler. Doing the opposite (buying a cauldron for a tube) is not recommended. The minimum immersion depth is 2/3 of the structure height.
The oven can be placed on the floor or on its legs. In the second case, it will be easier to serve it, the muscles of the cook's back will not be overworked.
Selection of materials and tools
A simple water pipe with a diameter of 25 cm is suitable, from which a piece 45 cm long is cut.This can be done with a grinder. You will also need 4 profile corners with a shelf and a square piece of sheet metal with a side of 255 mm (its thickness will be 4 mm). For the door you need 2 hinges, for the handles - 2 steel strips 25 cm long and 5 cm wide. You will also need to prepare a metal rod 20 cm long and 6-8 mm thick.
Of the tools you will need:
- welding machine;
- electrodes MR-3 or ANO-21;
- drill with a set of suitable drills;
- file;
- marking tools - a simple pencil, construction tape;
- grinder with two circles (for cutting and stripping).
It is also advisable to use a workbench with a vice. If this is not possible, a compact desktop instrument will do.
How to make a stove from a pipe
A fragment of a pipe of the required dimensions is processed with a grinder with a stripping nozzle, aligning the edges. Burrs are removed with a file. In the future, the sequence of work looks like this:
- The sheet metal is placed on a flat area, and then a pipe is installed in the central part. They grab it at four points every 90 degrees.
- Then slag is knocked off and the quality of the seam is checked. After the workpiece has cooled down, the points of installation of the legs are marked from the corner. Do this from the bottom in a circular manner at a distance of 10 cm from the bottom.
- The legs are also mounted every 90 degrees. One shelf is trimmed to improve the seam. The leg is grasped at an angle of 25-30 degrees to the pipe part. At the bottom, the corners are trimmed so as to reach the touch of the floor with a plane. Small pieces of steel sheet are also welded to increase the contact area.
- Make a markup for the door opening. You can make it rectangular or cut it out of a pipe. The dimensions of the opening are 15x20 cm. The door is mounted on hinges, and fixed in a closed position with a rod (it must be welded).
- Furnace handles are made of steel strips so that the structure can be carried. On each side, 5 cm is marked, the part is clamped in a vice and bent with a hammer. The angle must be right. Then the parts are welded to the stove.
- Finishing of burrs and seams is carried out with a grinder and a file.
The stove can be painted if desired. The composition must be heat resistant. Before painting, the surfaces are degreased with a solvent.
A fragment of the chimney pipe is cut from the back. At a distance of 15 cm from the top, a hole is created along the diameter of the tube. Then a right angle bend is made from it. Having directed it into the hole, grab it at 3 points, check the position and boil it in a single pass. Then a pipe 1.5-2 m long is put on it. The latter should have a protective trump card in the upper part. This design allows smoke to be directed upwards. Thanks to this, he will not cut the chef's eyes.
If there is a desire to make the draft stronger, several holes are made in the lower part of the stove for ventilation. They are arranged in a row. Their diameter should be 0.8-1 cm. It is possible to organize an additional groove equipped with a box. The coals will accumulate there, and not fall out. Also, the groove serves as a blower.
Ways to improve the oven
There are several ways to improve such a simple stove. One of the options is to combine it with a barbecue. This requires a welding machine. This procedure will help save space on the site. You can cut through places to place rotating skewers and use the stove as a barbecue.
To make the structure easy to move around the site, you can mount it on a cart with wheels. For decoration, you can use forged elements and ornate rods. You can build a hat-like lid for the stove. Then the final design will be like a gnome.
If the homeowner has an old steel stove that loses heat when burning, you can give it a new lease of life by covering it with eco-friendly refractory material (brick or natural stone). You can combine it with a tandoor.It will not work to transfer such a structure from place to place, but it is perfect for cooking over an open fire.
How to start operation
When the homemade stove is ready, you should not immediately start cooking pilaf on it. First, you need to burn off the existing oil from the steel. If an old plumbing pipe was taken as a base, it is thoroughly cleaned from the inside with a metal brush and rinsed thoroughly.
When the tube dries out, you can lay firewood for the first time and carry out annealing. In this case, you can put fuel into the stove from the top. In the future, firewood will need to be loaded through the door. It is necessary to thoroughly ignite the tube and then remove slag and fuel residues from the structure.
After that, you can start cooking pilaf or other food on the stove. Firewood is placed along the upper edge of the door and ignited. When they are partially burned out, a boiler can be placed on the structure.
