Furnaces for cauldron: types, selection criteria and installation features

Eastern cuisine, especially Caucasian, makes a truly charming impression on most people. But in order to enjoy it, it’s not enough to understand recipes and even have suitable dishes. including cauldron. Of great importance is the auxiliary equipment, which also deserves careful study.

The cauldron is evenly heated by an open flame. This means that the walls and bottom have the same temperature inside. But you can achieve a good result only by using a high-quality oven. There are stationary and mobile furnaces for cauldrons. The first type can be used all year round, and the second is mainly needed:

• Travelers
• to tourists;
• to hunters;
• to fishermen.

You should not think that only pilaf is cooked in a cauldron. This type of cookware is widely used in the preparation of meat and fish dishes. Among them are widespread:

• stewed dishes;
• ear
• soups of various kinds;
• Conder.

It is much more practical to cook any of these dishes in a cauldron using an oven, rather than on a fire. The closed hearth is reliably protected from the wind, which saves heat. In most cases, the stoves are made collapsible and equipped with removable legs. This design is convenient for storage and transportation.

Furnaces for cauldrons are made of metal or brick. If a choice is made in favor of a metal structure, then stainless steel will be an ideal solution. Only occasionally use ordinary ferrous metal coated with heat-resistant paint. But this design is not too perfect and does not last long enough.

The simplest type of stove to perform is cylinder-shaped firebox. It makes a hole for loading fuel and smoke slots. A cauldron is placed on top and approximately 60-65% of the bottom is in direct contact with the fire.

If you need the lightest furnace for a cauldron, then prefer a tripod. For its manufacture, it is enough to bend the metal tube into a circle and weld or bolt the legs. This is an excellent mobile product, however, the uniformity of wall heating is not always ensured.

Let us consider in more detail the characteristics of stoves from:

• metal;
• brick;
• clay.

Metal constructions:

• are relatively inexpensive;
• are installed without problems;
• do not create difficulties when using;
• may deform under intense mechanical stress.

At brick kilns There are positive aspects. It is this option that best fits the canons adopted in Central Asia and the Caucasus. The brick holds heat perfectly, allows the use of voluminous, weighty cauldrons. However, it is difficult to make such a furnace and therefore it is very expensive.

Clay products simpler than others and have relatively modest dimensions, while their serious disadvantage is unsatisfactory strength.

Structures with a pipe and a chimney have conflicting properties. On the one hand, such supplements make burning more stable and improve the culinary result. On the other hand, the furnace becomes heavier and even to some extent loses mobility.

Some versions of cauldron furnaces run on gas fuel. We are talking, for example, about the Kotlin TG-38 stove (12 liters) and TG-48 (22 liters).

The advantages of gas foci are:

• lack of soot;
• no smoke;
• ease of launch;
• ease of changing the operating mode.

There are gas tagans. An example of this design is the TG-26. It was designed to make a mobile and relatively powerful portable device. The TG-26 model is optimally suitable for cauldrons with a capacity of 6-8 l, but in principle, you can also use dishes with a capacity of 10-12 l. Its main parameters are as follows:

• landing diameter - 0.26 m;
• weight with burner - 9.4 kg;
• height with legs - 0.72 m.

TG-38 and TG-48 models also work on gas. Gas tagans can be used both on the street, and in specially prepared rooms. On such centers, even cast-iron cauldrons can be used without problems - the base is quite strong. The ovens themselves can also be made of cast iron alloys. They allow you to save fuel, since the hearth heats up very quickly and cools down slowly.

Significant weight of cast iron is also a plus. Thanks to it, the stability of the structure is ensured. Another property of cast iron products is also important - they rust less than those made of steel. Cast iron is very resistant to heat and does not burn out. Of it, constructions of various appearance can be made that serve for quite a long time.

As for chimneys, they are divided into 3 main groups:

• pipe;
• grate;
• insignificant triangular cutouts at the top of the cylinder.

Among street stoves for a cauldron, the most common were metal square products with chimneys. They are made mainly of steel sheets. Widespread such forms as:

• cylinder;
• rectangular prism;
• square prism;
• hexagonal prism (less often with even more faces).

In most cases, it will be quite right to equip the stove with a chimney. It is used to reduce the smoke in the area around the hearth. This problem is completely solved if the pipe is high and the draft is intense enough. As for the thickness of the steel sheets, 3 mm is enough. Such sheets allow you to:

• Do not strengthen the structure;
• Do not be afraid of burning;
• guarantee ease of movement of the furnace.

If you plan to use a cauldron with a volume of 10 to 20 liters, you can choose an oven with a waist-high adult.For heavier cauldrons, such high foci are no longer suitable.

Regardless of the height of the stove, it is worth paying attention to the material from which it is made. Quite popular brick structures can be not only a stand for a cauldron, but also a whole complex, including:

• smokehouse;
• barbecue;
• brazier;
• many other elements.

Of course, this is not a very cheap solution. However, its qualities fully justify a significant cost. But brick ovens must be abandoned if the focus is the mobility of the hearth.

On the other hand, their advantages can be considered external beauty and functionality. Of course, buying a brick hearth in the usual sense of the word will not work - it will have to be built. The construction takes some, albeit not too large, time.

As for metal stoves, when choosing between their modifications, you need to pay attention to:

• total value;
• wall thickness;
• type of metal that is used in a particular case.

Metal furnaces are either stationary or mobile. The first type must be chosen if external grace and service life are most important. The second type is recommended when it is often planned to go on picnics, hiking, fishing. If mobility is the most important when choosing, it is worth abandoning cast-iron stoves. But it is quite possible to move their steel counterparts even without any transport.

However, one must understand that everything has its flip side. The lightest steel furnaces often burn out in a short time. However, this should not be particularly feared. After all, mobile products are mainly used in hiking. If this is the case, and the stoves are not trying to be used as basic cooking appliances at home, there will be no problems.

Often they miss one more thing - the selection of the furnace to the size of the cauldron. A hole of the appropriate diameter should be made in it. Therefore, you must first acquire one or more cauldrons, and then look for a suitable fireplace. Ideally, you should buy all the goods in one place, because they usually sell compatible models. In any case, interest in specific details and nuances is not out of place.

Do not be afraid to ask sellers questions about the main characteristics of a particular furnace. On the contrary, if merchants clearly shy away from answers, one should be wary.

Among all stores, trading in stoves and cauldrons from the manufacturer is better. They charge minimum prices and rarely sell unsafe goods.

Returning to the stoves themselves, it is worth pointing out that steel and cast iron products must have legs. Flames located above the ground better warm dishes. The same circumstance will allow not to bend over again.

It makes no sense to purchase stoves from sheets of metal thinner than 2 mm. They will either burn out very soon, or bend under load.

A good choice, in addition to the TG series ovens that we have already talked about, is the MS-13 model. This is a collapsible product with a furnace size of 0.4 m outside and 0.245 m inside. The main body is assembled from a sheet 3 mm thick. The total mass of the structure reaches 17 kg.

A good alternative can be the Grilever Berel 360 model. The parameters of this product are as follows:

• compatibility with cauldrons up to 8 l;
• disassembled chimney;
• ash box, simultaneously performing the function of a blower;
• case thickness - 3 mm;
• coating with a heat-resistant dye designed for temperatures up to 700 degrees.

More capacious cauldrons (up to 16-25 liters) can be heated on the MO-25 stove. The walls of such foci are made double, a chimney is also necessarily used. According to the manufacturer, this device belongs to the premium category.Double walls give another advantage - the minimum probability of burns. A special valve installed in the chimney will help to accurately regulate the thermal power of the flame.

The Rocket-3 furnace runs on solid fuel. The intense air supply to the combustion chamber creates a loud noise, which is why this atypical name was given. The horizontal section of the pipe facilitates the loading of firewood and increases the safety of using the device as a whole. The thickness of the steel walls reaches 2 mm. The set includes a pair of coasters for dishes.

Whatever furnace for a cauldron was purchased, when using it, you will need:

• clean the soot from the inner walls;
• punch soot layers in the chimney;
• remove these blockages;
• regularly remove ash from the furnace and grate.

Before starting work, the stove will have to be warmed up properly. The fact is that in factories, a protective transportation coating is applied inside the product, and it must be burnt out. But even if the hearth is made of brick, it will still have to be calcined. This will allow:

• finally dry the raw bricks;
• increase the strength of the set solution;
• guarantee perfect dryness during work.

But even if the use of firewood is permissible, they can not be kindled with the help of gasoline, kerosene and other flammable substances. Hence the conclusion: it is necessary to apply only faultlessly dry logs.

And a few more important rules:

• household garbage, grass, leaves, dry stems of plants and the like cannot be burned in a furnace for a cauldron;
• Do not pour water to extinguish firewood or coals;
• You can’t try to replace full-fledged heating devices with this stove, kindling a big fire.

No matter how careful the choice of the product is and no matter how correctly it is handled, poor installation can ruin the whole thing. Since stationary stoves should first of all create a good mood, they should be placed only where the winning look will open.

In the absence of sufficient experience, it is better to contact professionals immediately. The smallest mistakes can be extremely dangerous!

If the stove has a wide chimney, then it is placed in the open air: either on the free part of the infield, or on the site under a canopy. Products with a narrow smoke exhaust duct are recommended to be mounted in:

• arbors;
• barbecue houses;
• summer kitchens;
• verandas;
• on the terraces.

The passage of the chimney through any roof is allowed only with the help of a special pipe extension. If the stove is placed in an open place, you must also pay attention to:

• a rose of winds;
• nearby trees and shrubs;
• nearby buildings.

Smoke should not be introduced into living rooms. It would also be a bad idea to install a brazier directly under trees or bushes. Even if they do not catch fire, such a focus due to excess heat and smoke can harm plants.

But just choosing the right place is not enough. Heavyweight cast iron stoves must be placed on solid foundations, otherwise subsidence is inevitable. Reinforced concrete foundations with a minimum thickness of 0.1 m are considered the best option when installing a stationary furnace for a cauldron. Various decorative materials are laid on top of them.

The combination of several options can look no less advantageous. You can put the hearth on wooden floors, you only have to cover them with fire-resistant materials.

Brazier should be placed as far as possible from:

• stocks of flammable substances;
• structures and objects with high thermal conductivity;
• items that support combustion.

Fire safety requirements also indicate that smoke extraction should be carried out especially carefully. When installing stoves in the gazebos, they make a single foundation for them to exclude shifts relative to each other.Outdoor foci protect from the weather with special waterproof coatings. All metal elements of the assembly are installed only after the solution has completely dried. A minimum of 72 hours must elapse between the end of installation and the start of operation of the furnace.

On the pros and cons of different furnaces for a cauldron, see the next video.