Heat your masonry oven with a clean, top-down fire The top-down fire works well for masonry ovens, stoves, and fireplaces, as well as outdoor fires. It's simple: dry fuel, small sticks (plenty of surface area), plenty of volume where fuel and oxygen can mix -- and kindling on top, so the fire burns down, clean and hot. Think of a candle: the flame on top pre-heats the fuel (wax) below, as well as the incoming combustion air. The wick burns hot, bright, and clean, so all you get is light and heat -- a perfect fire! If you use it in your oven, your neighbors won't have to breathe your smoke . . .
Adjusting mass for optimal performance
Here's a valuable perspective on the benefits of smaller, easier, cheaper, "faster-cooling" ovens, and a working baker's comparison w/the classic Alan Scott brick oven design (which isn't always the best option for someone who wants to start small and simple). The baker is Noah Elbers, who runs a small bakery in New Hampshire. There are some nice photos of him and his oven(s) on the web, but he's clearly spending his time in the bakery rather than on the computer -- hurrah! He does participate in the brickoven group on yahoogroups, which is where this comment came from. It is worth . . .
Learning by Doing
This is an exerpt from The Best of Making Things - A Handbook for Creative Discovery by Ann Sayre Wiseman. The phenomenon of of learning belongs to the child, not to the teacher. We do not teach a child to walk - one of many skill potentials in all beginners. At best, we stimulate discovery, desire, and curiosity; encourage and whet the appetite; provide space; and anticipate readiness to exercise the inevitable. Learning by experience is profound knowledge, more deeply recorded in the memory than theory or speculation. The most direct, immediate, and satisfying path to knowledge is . . .