Saturday, April 23, 2005

Note to Self

photograph picture of homemade naan bread

Dear Sam
Please remember you do not have a tandoor oven.
It is futile to even think of making naan bread.
It might look pretty but it tastes like cardboard.


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posted in and and
Note to Self

7:57 AM  

17 Comments:

  • At 23/4/05 10:16, Blogger Lisa the Waitress said…

    Oh, that's very sad. At least the picture turned out...

     

  • At 23/4/05 11:32, Blogger Guy said…

    Hey Sam,

    Yes, the photograph turned out and is well worth the post.

    Sounds as though I'm not the only one that fails in baking from time to time.

    So, Sam. Why don't we make a tandoor oven? From the meatses to the naan, I would think it would be worth it. I'll do a little looking to see what the scoop is.

    Biggles

     

  • At 23/4/05 13:14, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    It's not impossible to make naan on a pizza stone with a very hot oven. Are you on silpat?

     

  • At 23/4/05 15:08, Blogger Z said…

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

     

  • At 23/4/05 15:54, Blogger Owen said…

    You can get closer on a grill - really hot and placed right next to the coals and brush the dough with butter before you grill. I grill bread all the time at our barbecues and kids adore it - it isn't really naan, but it is still very good.

    dr B - you can get firestone kits for making wood-burning ovens - I keep thinking about getting one - but I've not seen a tandoor design.

     

  • At 23/4/05 17:53, Blogger Guy said…

    Hey,

    Oh my, I can't imagine any way to get a tandoor anything from a gas or electric oven. Ain't gonna happen.
    I did a search for "build your own tandoor oven" on google and came up with plans, kits, ideas and all kinds of good things.
    Owen's idea is interesting. What about placing a pizza stone ON the coals in a bbq and closing the lid? That might work.
    As far as building one, it isn't that tough and the principle is straight forward. New 55 gallon 18 gauge steel drums are less than fifty bux, closer to 40 or so. Installing a fire pan below is easy, ventilating it is easy. There's a muffler shop around the corner that built a smoker out of an old drum:

    http://www.cyberbilly.com/meathenge/archives/000657.html

    Apparently the tandoor wants to be insulated with concrete or clay. This is the tough part, at least for me. I wonder if you could get 2 drums and slit one down the side and curl it in on itself to make a smaller drum (after taking both the lid and bottom off). Then pour the concrete between the two. That would handle that. You'd have an oven large enough for a bunch of chickens & bread. Smoky flavor!

    Biggles

     

  • At 23/4/05 17:58, Blogger Guy said…

    Hey Sam,

    What's the recipe you used, hey? I have a pizza stone I'd be willing to toss in to the fire and see if it works out. ?

    Biggles

     

  • At 23/4/05 20:11, Blogger Sam said…

    Hi Biggles, I am not going to make a tandoor when I can buy good naans in the terderloin for $1 a piece!

    I have got a pizzastone but i don't even have a bbq anymore since we moved so I can't try that.

    i think the main problem is the recipe sucks. I dont think a healthy naan bread is the way forward. i think we need to find a better recipe. anyone?

    PS we are going to buy a BBQ soon but it wont be one biggles approves of.

    I had to work today. I was very upset i couldn;t go and get saucisson sec from taylor.

     

  • At 23/4/05 21:21, Blogger Owen said…

    biggles, now we are getting somewhere. The first Alton Brown cookbook (which I borrwed from the library so don't have it anymore) had all kinds of intersting barbecue thoughts including attaching a metal tube to one of the three bottom vents on a large weber and then putting a hairdryer in it set to blow - all to increase temperature. He also mentioned searing tuna right over he top of a chimney starter.

    I read somewhere that the tough part is that a tandoor gets up to 800 degrees inside and that's just plain hard to achieve

     

  • At 24/4/05 08:26, Blogger Guy said…

    Hey Sam,

    You, my dear, are 'the' master and most proactive go-getter ever (that's a compliment). Both Internetally and physically. I would love to head out for a food adventure today and the next, but it ain't gonna happen. This is why I end up attempting these crazy things at home. Sometimes they work, sometimes they half work and sometimes the entire situation gets scrapped. Usually it's well worth the effort.
    As far as tandoor ovens to visit, have you been to Tandoori Chicken U.S.A. in El Sobrante? They have the real deal and it used to be darned fine. I haven't been in maybe 5 years. It's El Sobrante though, not exactly the gourmet ghetto anyone is looking for.

    So you're going to buy a gas grill eh? It doesn't bother me so much. Just remember, you're going to have to eat the stuff that thing produces. I like the part where you get the 'flavor rocks'. Those volcanic porous rocks that grease drops in to, goes rancid, then you burn and YOU HAVE FLAVOR !!! Yeah, I'm not convinced. Let me relate to you a little story. Eli and I went to our local raleys for aluminum foil. On the way in they had a display of gas grills for sale. Eli ran up and started fussing with the knobs. He turned and said, "Hey Papa, this has knobs just like our gas stove at home." I said, "Yes it does Eli, that's why we're not buying it. We already have a gas stove in the house, we don't need one outside too." He agreed and we continued.
    Sounds as though I got the Sec Salami this time, I smelled it. Smelled goooood.

    Xo Xo

     

  • At 24/4/05 08:32, Blogger Guy said…

    Hey Owen,

    Hmmm, that makes sense. Traditional Italian pizza ovens get up to 900. I would also imagine that's why they use thick clay type insulation. You can't afford to lose any heat. The principle is a lot like our fireplaces here at home. Fire on the bottom, air intake at fire level from ONE direction with a chimney to pull heat/smoke UP.
    Hey, my brother inlaw is a college degreed sculptor, maybe he could design a reusable mold. Pour in concrete, pow. Tandoor. HAHAHAHHA< that's too darned easy! But wait, surely the concrete won't take the expansion & contraction that it'll experience with severe temperatures. Concrete is lousy at that. Nevermind.

     

  • At 24/4/05 09:44, Blogger Sam said…

    Dr B
    the thing is we don't have a gas oven at home... Remember this post? boo hoo.
    We just have a little wooden deck too - I don't want to start a fire. We work long hours, so a little gas one would be good for starters, especially because we only have an electric stove top. If I owned my own house and had a proper yard, I would be builing tandoors and bbq pits and smoking pigs in the ground with the best of them, believe me.

     

  • At 24/4/05 14:42, Blogger Guy said…

    Hey Sam,

    Yeah, I sorta remember the post. But it's been a while and my meat riddled mind has problems with details.
    Are you hip to the BBQ Deck Mats? They are fire proof mats that go underneath your grill so you don't start fires in your type of situation. Good to have on ANY deck or area you don't want little burn marks everywhere.
    Ya know, gas ranges are wonderful. But I've been on Electric ranges for years. In fact, I've only cooked on a gas range for the last 5 years.
    In any case, consider the Fire Mat. It's designed for people in your situation.

    Biggles

     

  • At 25/4/05 20:52, Blogger Suebob said…

    One of my favorite all-time sunset magazine recipes was "Make your own adobe oven." I am not joking.

    To bake in it, you built a huge fire, let it die down, scraped the coals out, then put your animal carcass in to cook from radiant heat.

    It all seemed so nutty and Sunset-y to me, but maybe a tandoor is along the same lines.

     

  • At 3/6/05 20:03, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I have a Tandoor oven. I am in NY City, and I want to sell it for $250. Local pickup is preferred. geo@jdm.com

     

  • At 27/7/05 04:25, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Making your own tandoor at home's not as hard as you might think, and the naans are worth the effort, trust me on this one!
    Try a commercial tandoor liner as used at tandoors.co.uk or a large terracotta pot as used at www.poptastic.com/tandoor or www.cpsusa.com/ebay/tandoorOven.htm.

    Once you've got some kind of liner all you need are some firebricks for the base, vermiculite for insulation(available from garden centres) and the appropriate masonry, oil drum or even hot water cylinder to hold it all together.

    I've never used a "real" tandoor so I cant directly compare my terracotta pot tandoor to it, but I'm pleased with the quality of my breads and kebabs.

    Just my two of your smallest currency units.

     

  • At 21/5/07 23:26, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Hullo there,
    have tried a couple of your foods and I am amazed at the result. I do have a recipe for naans that turns out great each time I make them. If you'd like to have it, let me know. I'm not sure if I can just post it here. Would share gladly.

     

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