GDES3003 – GREEN DESIGN – MAJOR BRIEF
Initial Research – Part 1 – All about that Cob!
Matthew Lloyd – The Fabulous Cob Oven Company
What is a Cob Oven?
A cob oven is a centuries-old way of baking. Perfect, then, for the 21st Century foodie.
Cob is a material with a clean conscience. Using the clay from under our feet, mixed with sand and straw, it has been a staple building material to millions across the globe for millennia.
In the Americas they call it adobe. No energy-hungry cement is used in the mix, and no machinery is required for construction. This is a truly accesible and sustainable method of building that connects us to our environment, and nourishes both our soul and our body.
Wood-fired ovens are becoming a foodie must-have. Your roasts will be succulent and your pizzas will cook in seconds. Nothing beats a cob oven for the centre of attention at a party. Everyone will want to try their hand at baking a pizza, and will gather around the oven long into the night.
Burning wood is a low carbon process. No fossil fuel here. This is sustainable cooking, and if you burn fruit woods you’ll be adding a very special accent to your dishes indeed.
A cob oven isn’t just about pizza. You’ll be baking bread, roasting vegetables, broiling meats – the only limit is your imagination. Learn to embrace this relaxed style of cooking, and you’ve got yourself an evening’s entertainment that will have you heading back to the larder in search of more ingredients to try out.
(Source – the Fabulous Cob Oven – 05/11/15)
- COB refers to the mixture of clay, sand & straw that has been used for thousands of years. It uses all natural materials and is very easy to build.
Matthew talks passionately about his love of Cob Ovens and after successfully completing a build with a local Primary School, the values inherent in education.
…share the love of cob ovens and show how they have the potential to inform, educate and entertain children as part of their outdoor learning experience.
He even built his own ‘straw bail’ studio, which is an interesting subject that could tie into the overall social space build we are looking at.
I have given talks and workshops on straw bale construction. It’s an amazing system – I followed the simple recipe designedby Barbara Jones of Amazonails for a load bearing structure. It far surpassed my expectations, and I want to do it again, and make it my home.
Observations of the Fabulous Cob Oven website
I noticed a theme to the iconography and graphical style used throughout Matthews website – Earthy tones, hand prints (hands on, hand made, eco), floral & hand drawn style typography, warm, rustic/distressed
Other considerations (for our Cob Oven)
How is the cob oven housed/could it be covered for use in all weather?
How high does it stand/could it stand?
How will the space around it be used? Could we incorporate storage area’s or seating of some description. The area is intended to be a social hub, so it could be about more than ‘just’ the Cob Oven.
Think of ways that people interact, socialise, drink, eat & play together
Cob House Documentary
Channel 4 made a short film about our cob house and how we built it. Click here to watch it now on 4OD.
(Source – http://www.cobcourses.com/cob-houses/watch-cob-house-documentary/)
Photo’s of existing designs
I found a number of images online of cob ovens that people have already built. I selected a variety based on how they had creatively decorated the ovens, considered additional things like storage area’s/facilities, to weather covers and even seated areas. Lot’s of inspiration to choose from
Other Links
I also found a fantastic board on Pinterest which has loads of inspiration and information on builds, recipes, tips & more – Click here
Ideas for taglines
Matthew uses “Happiness is a Warm Cob Oven”, which I recognise as a reference to a Beatles song title; Happiness is a warm gun. I like the playful nature of this idea, which is something I could incorporate. He also references “Soul food” which is another evocative message of warmth, comfort and sharing.
- Let’s get our cob on!
- Food to warm your heart.
- Green living never tasted so good.
Tips/Information for cooking in a Cob Oven
Many hours of cooking …
It takes a morning to fire up the oven, but once it’s up to heat it cooks for many hours, so it’s the perfect party and community activity. With one or two people stoking the fire, the others can work on preparing the food.
If you’re ravenous, the pizzas should be the first to go in as everyone can satisfy their first hunger within minutes. Then you can put in roasting joints, bigger than any one family might consider polite, or heaps of lamb, chicken or vegetables as kebabs or in hunks, on the bone or off.
Flatbreads work brilliantly well in a cob oven, but when it’s fired we also use ours to cook everyday sourdough loaves, baked potatoes and more.
But there’s no need to stick to savouries; sweet pies and tarts and crumbles are great, although you might struggle to make a decent sponge cake. When the oven starts to cool down you could try a tray of meringues. You can also use the last of the heat for drying mushrooms, tomatoes and other vegetables.
Firing the oven
- You’ll need around 30 to 40 kilos of wood in short stick lengths for a day’s cooking.
- Start the fire using paper or cardboard and thin pieces of kindling, keep adding kindling until you have a pile of freely burning material then gradually push it back into the body of the oven.
- Leave the door off so that the fire can get the oxygen it needs, and the smoke can get out. Add sticks every half an hour until the oven has reached cooking heat which can take 3 to 4 hours.
Note: If the fire isn’t getting quite enough air to burn strongly, you can simply drill a few 10mm air holes at the back of the oven near the base to let more in.
- At this point the outside of the dome will still be barely warm. When you (or an oven thermometer) think the oven is hot enough, rake out the ash and embers into a metal container and put safely out of reach. Then leave the over with the door on for 15 minutes to let the heat equalise.
- If you’re going to cook directly on the oven floor and are worried about ash on your food, just wipe the oven floor with a wet rag on a stick.
(Source – http://www.theecologist.org/green_green_living/2422014/green_cooking_in_a_cob_oven_and_how_to_build_your_own.html)
What materials are used for fuel in a Cob Oven?
(Note this information is for a product called COBB, but the principles appear very similar)
Mostly wood is used, but different types can be used to add flavour/taste when smoking food.
COBB COBBLESTONE: This fuel is specifically manufactured for Cobb. It is manufactured from a renewable source – Coconut shell, Is quick and easy to light, burns hotter than charcoal briquettes and lasts for approx 2 hrs. (Perfect all rounder for both on plate cooking and general roasting).
ULTRA QUICK: This fuel has the same composition as the Cobblestone and burns for approx 1 1/2 hrs. (Perfect for on plate cooking).
GOOD QUALITY CHARCOAL BRIQUETTES: Use between 6 & 15 briquettes. For more heat use up to 15 briquettes. For baking use only 4-8 briquettes and keep the dome shaped lid on at all times in order to keep the heat in. Burns for approx 3 hrs.(Does not burn so hot as the Cobblestone but works well especially for those longer cook times).
RESTUARANT GRADE LUMPWOOD: Is a perfectly acceptable fuel source, a full fire basket will burn for up to 2 hrs.
DO NOT overfill the fire basket or put fuel in the moat. This will cause a fire and damage your Cobb
Lots of useful FAQ’s answered here.
(Source – http://www.cobb-bbq.co.uk/FAQ.aspx)
Simple Recipes
Cobs can be used to cook all manner of recipes, you can roast, braise, bake, simmer and grill just about anything you can think of:
- Bread
- Pizza
- Roast Meats
- Vegetables – e.g. Corn on the cob
Basic White Bread
Makes 3 loaves:
3 cups lukewarm water
1 tbsp granulated yeast (1 packet)
1 1⁄2 tbsp coarse kosher or sea salt
6 1⁄2 cups unsifted, unbleached, all-purpose white flour
Cornmeal for pizza peel
Preheat oven to 450 f.
Add 1 1⁄2 Tbsp. yeast to bowl. Add 1 1⁄2 Tbsp. salt. Add 3 cups water. Add 6 1⁄2 cups flour.
Stir the mixture until it’s thickened and well combined. Cover bowl with tea towel. Allow to rise for 2 hours.
Once the dough has risen divide it into 3. Form each section into a ball and pull the 4 sides of the dough to the underneath. This is stretching out the gluten and aligning it. It also gives you a nice tight top to the bread.
Leave the dough for its final proof on a very well floured couche (the floured, linen mat you see in my video) or tea towel for 45 minutes. Cover with couche or gently cover with a light, floured tea towel.
After it’s proved, gently transfer to your peel or baking tray/stone. Cut several slashes across the top. This allows the bread to move upwards as opposed to sideways when it bakes.
Bake until the interior temperature of the bread is 200 f. (around 25 minutes).
* if you want a crispier crust, when you’re heating your oven add a deep pan. Right after you put your bread in the oven, throw a cup of water into the empty hot pan. This will create steam which is GREAT for baking bread.
(Source – http://www.theartofdoingstuff.com/baking-bread-in-the-cob-oven/)
Pizza Recipe
When people come on our pizza oven building courses they often ask for our secret pizza dough recipe. So we thought we’d share it with you. Charlotte Eve has been perfecting it over the past 10 years and over 4000 pizzas later she thinks she’s got it spot on!
Per person:
3oz plain strong flour
1/2 teaspoon fast action dried yeast
A tiny tip of a teaspoon of sugar
1/2 a teaspoon of salt
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
Some hand hot water
Method:
Sift the flour, salt, sugar and yeast into a mixing bowl. Then add the oil and water.
Mix into a ball and then knead and tear for about 10 minutes. Leave the dough covered in a bowl to rise for an hour and a half.
Then use a sharp knife to cut the dough into individual portions and roll out with a rolling pin. Use plenty of flour to stop your bases sticking. Some people use semolina under the bases to stop them sticking but we find it changes the texture of the pizza so we stick with using flour – we find it does not burn and works well.
Keep your toppings simple. if you want to add veg like peppers and mushrooms roast them first otherwise they release water on top of the pizza and it doesn’t have time to evaporate as your pizza will cook in literally 1 minute in your oven.
Use a pizza peel (you can get these in most cook shops) to slide your pizza into your wood fired outdoor cob oven!
(Source – http://www.cobcourses.com/pizza-ovens/our-pizza-recipe/)
Things related to Cob Ovens/Cooking that could influence 3D artefact
Cooking utensils –
7six creative 
