jdhmnovel Chapter 114: Building an Oven
Chapter 114: Building an Oven
The most important thing today is... playing in the mud!
Before last winter arrived, they said they would build a charcoal kiln this year to make charcoal. They also said they would build an oven to bake bread.
As a result, the two of them kept nagging, but in reality, they dragged their feet and didn't do anything for more than half a year.
With winter approaching and the possibility of a cold snap looming, the two finally decided they had to get down to business!
charcoal,
Simply put, it is the dark brown or black solid fuel left behind after wood is incompletely burned or pyrolyzed in the absence of air.
Therefore, as long as the air vents are blocked when burning firewood to achieve the required high temperature and low oxygen, it will not burn continuously into ash and thus form charcoal.
They don't need to produce a lot of charcoal; enough is fine. There's no need to build a separate charcoal kiln.
And since they also needed to build an oven... so the two of them decided to build a bigger oven!
By blocking the vents, we can burn charcoal. By opening the vents, we can bake bread—it's the best of both worlds!
The two sisters left home early and chose a semi-high slope less than two miles from their home to set up a barbecue grill.
If it were just a grill, you could just set one up at home, but they also need it to make charcoal.
The charcoal-making process inevitably produces a lot of smoke. So the two decided to set up the charcoal-making site outside their house.
"This is it. It's high up, so even if it rains occasionally, it won't flood," Lin Chunyi said with satisfaction, stepping on the hard soil.
Lin Lanshan rolled up her sleeves, full of energy, "Then let's get to work! The sooner we finish, the sooner we can lie down and rest."
The two sisters split up to prepare the materials for building the oven.
After Lin Lanshan finished speaking, she picked up a hoe and dragged two bamboo baskets to dig up yellow clay and river sand.
Lin Chunyi carried a basket on her back and took a woodcutter's knife to the bamboo forest to cut down an old bamboo stalk and drag it along. She then collected half a basket of dry grass along the way and returned to the place where she had built the oven.
She put everything down and cut the bamboo in two. Then she made two cuts on the pointed end to split it open.
"Sister, why did you cut such long old bamboo? What are you going to do with the extra?" Lin Lanshan came back carrying a hoe covered in mud, followed by two baskets of peaches.
Lin Chunyi divided the split bamboo into several strips, then said with a half-smile:
"We only made three bamboo cups in total, and you gave away two of them..."
With only one cup left, it's difficult for the two of us to even have a proper drink of water. We'll have to make a few more.
As for the remaining bamboo, we'll make it into bamboo charcoal once our oven is finished; it won't go to waste.
Lin Lanshan remembered; it was that time in the county town. She gave the two cups of water to Ashu and Ahua!
A few days ago, Ahua said she had washed it clean and wanted to return it to her.
But to her, it wasn't anything valuable, and since it had already been used, she didn't ask for it back.
So I patted Peach's head and told it to go back to playing.
Then, picking up the old bamboo section at the base, he said without hesitation, "Let me do it, I'll do it. I'll make five, six, seven, or eight of them at once!"
Lin Lanshan skillfully cut the bamboo sections, then cut a long bamboo tube, making a total of eight.
Just like before, she marked each one with a small mark before nodding in satisfaction.
"Take a few with you when you go out, and keep a few at home. That should be enough for all your needs!" After saying that, he tossed the bamboo cups back into his spatial storage.
Lin Chunyi arranged the bamboo strips into a dense hemispherical frame and tied ropes at the joints.
They chopped the hay into smaller pieces.
Then, they poured half a basket of clean yellow clay and half a basket of dry grass together, added water, and poured the remaining half basket of yellow clay into another pile with river sand.
Then he said to his younger sister, "Come on, let me remind you of the joys of childhood, playing in the mud—the kind where you don't get punished."
"When I was little, it was all about playing. Now I'm working. What's there to be happy about?" Lin Lanshan muttered under her breath, then took off her shoes and socks and stepped on them.
This slippery, smooth feeling underfoot...
"Hahaha, I'm stomping, I'm stomping, I'm stomping, stomping, stomping! Sis, come on in and play! Stomping in the mud is so relaxing!"
She stepped down with her left foot, and her right foot immediately followed, making a squeaking sound.
Just a moment ago someone was saying they weren't happy working, but now they're having a blast. I wonder who that person is!
Lin Chunyi raised an eyebrow and smiled, "You can tamp it yourself. You need to tamp both piles well. The longer you tamp them, the better the soil will stick and the more durable it will be."
I'll go back for a bit. We don't have any wine bottles for the insulation layer, so I'm thinking of trying some roof tiles instead.
Tiles can provide some insulation, and we happened to have a lot of old tiles that had been replaced from the roof, which we stored in the storage room.
"Oh~" Then she'll enjoy the happiness all to herself, hehe.
After a short while, Lin Chunyi came over carrying a basket of pebbles and broken tiles.
She threw the things on the ground and crossed her arms. Then, with a squinting smile, she looked at her sister and said:
"Are you done playing? How about you play for a day and we do it tomorrow? We're not in a big rush anyway."
Lin Lanshan had stomped enough, pulled her feet out of the mud pile, scraped the mud off her feet back into the pile, and said:
"I'm not a child anymore, I'm not playing anymore, let's hurry up and make the oven." But the joy in her words was impossible to hide.
Then let's just see through it but not say anything.
The two men laid a layer of gravel on the ground, then covered it with a layer of sand. Next, they laid a layer of broken tiles for insulation. Finally, they added another layer of sand, and the foundation was complete.
Then place the hemispherical bamboo frame on top, and add two fist-thick wooden sticks on top; these are the chimney openings.
Tighten it further, stuff the frame with hay, and the inner layer for shaping is done.
Next, we will make the heating layer for the oven.
Roll the sand into brick-sized and shaped blocks. Place each block on the frame, extending the edge outwards where the wooden sticks are to create two ears.
Then comes the insulation layer.
The two sisters irregularly pressed the broken tiles, one by one, onto the hot, sandy soil.
Next, we need to work on the structural layer.
Spread a layer evenly of a mixture of yellow clay and hay. Add a layer of tile, then spread another layer of hay and mud.
Finally, a semi-circular kiln entrance was made and propped up with bamboo strips and dry grass. Leaves were then placed over the outside of the kiln to prevent it from cracking.
This hemispherical oven, which is less than thigh-high, is basically finished.
Lin Lanshan straightened up, satisfied, and said, "Finally, I've done the most important thing this year. Everything else is just a small matter."
"From now on, it'll be so much easier for us to bake bread or sweet potatoes."
"Okay, let it air dry and set for two days before we burn the grass inside. Come on, go wash up. You're covered in mud."
Lin Chunyi wanted to laugh, because her younger sister looked a lot like... that pink pig that jumped over the mud puddle.
————In progress————
(?_?|||) I can't keep my eyes open anymore~ I'll hand in the other chapter during the day~