The Tandoor Site

Building: Tandoor

Lift the tandoor liner into the enclosure and check carefully that everything lines up. The air hole must line up with the corresponding hole in the walls and the top of the oven must protrude by 30mm or so above the top course of bricks.

Cut a piece of 18mm ply to exactly fit the top of the construction (1 metre square if you're accurate in your bricklaying – mine ended up being 1000x995mm). You need to cut a circle in the centre of the sheet large enough for the top of the tandoor to fit through. You'll need to know exactly what part of the tandoor is on a level with the top of the top course of bricks then measure the diameter of the tandoor at this point (and check that it's exactly round) before marking the hole and cutting it with a jigsaw.

Put the plywood over the mouth of the tandoor and adjust the position until the sides of the ply are flush with the brickwork. Check that the air hole is aligned with the corresponding hole in the brickwork. When you're satisfied with the positioning you can carefully remove the ply and cement the tandoor into place.

Use a small trowel to apply fire cement all around the inside of the bottom of the tandoor. Make sure that you stick it well to both the tandoor and to the fire brick floor.

Make a tunnel between the air hole in the tandoor and the one in the brick. Use bits of bricks held together with mortar or fire cement. Try to ensure that all crevices are filled and the tunnel is airtight.