Saturday School: How to Make A Box Oven

Saturday School:  How to Make A Box Oven (also known as apple box oven or cardboard box oven)

Box ovens are great for baking as they are easy and cheap to make, and they do a good job of baking too.

Pros:  Cheap to make, easy to make, great for baking, use with charcoal

Cons:  can use only outdoors--do NOT use indoors, if you are a perfectionist making it may be a little frustrating in that the aluminum foil is hard to keep nice and wrinkle free

Costs:  cost of box, heavy duty aluminum foil, foil tape (if using), baking rack, pop bottles or other method to hold rack up, charcoal, pan that will fit.

So here is how I made mine:

Using Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil and foil tape I completely cover all surfaces of both the banker's box and its lid, using foil tape for the seams and around the handle hole that I use for ventilation.  No cardboard is exposed when I am done with it.  I have made a box oven in the past without using foil tape and it worked just fine, I folded the seams over a few times to make sure the heated air couldn't get under the aluminum foil.  I use empty pop bottles to hold up a rack and an aluminum pie pan for holding the charcoal.

Options:  There are different ways to make and use a box oven.  The method I use most often is where the lid is the side door.  But with the box oven I made, I can use the lid as the bottom, the side or the top.  Some box oven instructions have the lid going on top (so you first put in charcoal and whatever is holding the rack, the rack then the pan and put the box lid on the box as the top); while others have the box coming over top the food and rack system (set up charcoal and rack system and bring box over it) and no separate lid.    Some even have you make a oven window to see inside.

Here are a few links to resources of how others have made a box oven:

http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/fsme/docs/boxoven.pdf ---this shows how to make the kind where the box comes over the top.  Great instructions and such for this type.

http://peaceofpreparedness.com/Resource%20Library/Cookers/Applebox%20Oven%20directions%20and%20instructions%202011.pdf  ---this shows how to make a box oven with a window.  Great instructions and information.

http://safelygatheredin.blogspot.com/2008/10/how-to-make-cardboard-box-oven.html  ---this shows how to make the kind where the lid is just that--a lid for the top.  Great instructions for this type.