The Tandoor Site

Building: Materials

All materials were bought from builders' merchants or DIY stores.

The concrete pad is just over a metre square (1040mmx1040mm), 75mm thick and rests on 75mm of compacted ballast. That's approximately 0.08 cubic metres of both concrete and ballast. I improvised the ballast using gravelly spoil from a friend's garden renovations and bought the concrete as 10 maxi bags of dry-packed mix.

The concrete is held in place while it sets by wooden formwork. I made this from old kitchen cabinets but OSB (Oriented Strand Board, widely available) would be the obvious material. You will need a heavy, long bit of timber to tamp down the concrete. I used a length of old 2x4 which was lying around.

The brick walls are 10 courses high and there are 16 bricks per course, giving a total of 160 bricks before an allowance for wastage. I used commons because they are the cheapest and this project was my first attempt at bricklaying. London stocks look nicer but are much more expensive. Engineering bricks would be overkill for this use. The tandoor is located in a sheltered suburban garden. If it were to be built in an exposed position then frost would be a concern and suitable frost-resistant bricks would be required.

Dry-packed bricklaying mortar was used in the construction of the brickwork. A builders' merchant will be able to advise on the number of bags required for 160 bricks. Buy generously since you are likely to waste some until you have got the knack of bricklaying. I used six maxi bags.

The tandoor itself rests on a layer of fire bricks. These are expensive so only just enough to fill the opening at the base of the tandoor were purchased. Thirty were required.

Some builders' sand was pacled around the edges of the firebricks. Just one maxi bag was used.

The tandoor liner is surrounded by six cubic feet of loose vermiculite insulation. This was bought from a builders' merchant as two bags, each three cubic feet.

I used two tubs of fire cement to seal around the base of the tandoor and to construct the tunnel which allows air to enter the oven.

One sheet of 18mm exterior grade ply is needed to make the cover.

Tools required: spade, long level, small level, rule, bricklaying trowel, pointing trowel, brick bolster, lump hammer.