9

FORGE

the quantities when sold by weight can be confusing.
A kilo or two should be all you need for this. This
light weight does make it a bit susceptible to high
wind, though, and it can look like you’ve had a bit
of unseasonable snow if you don’t cover it up once
you’ve finished with it.
Just assemble all the bits and you’ve made yourself
a tandoor.

BURNING UP
Fill up the base of your tandoor with charcoal and
light. You can get two different types of charcoal –
lumpwood and briquettes. We found that briquettes
worked far better than lumpwood. The biggest
difference was that lumpwood included a range
of sizes, and the smaller pieces filled all the gaps
and stopped the air flowing freely. There aren’t any

hard‑and‑fast rules for how much charcoal you’ll need
to get up to temperature, so it’s best to err on the
side of caution and start small, then build up if you’re
not yet at the desired heat.
Lighting can be a bit of a challenge as the charcoal
is at the bottom of a long chimney‑like structure. This
means that any flame is going to travel upwards to

the arm holding the lighting implement. We found

that it worked to add some BBQ lighter gel to the

coals at the bottom, then add it to one end of a bit

of coal not in the tandoor. Light the bit outside the

tandoor and, when it’s well lit, place it in the tandoor

using tongs. This lights the rest of them without

removing any arm hair. Don’t use anything that can

flare up as it catches fire, such as petrol or other

liquid fuels.

Leave the top off to allow more airflow through the

tandoor until the coals are lit and burning nicely, then

pop the top on and wait for everything to get fully up

to temperature. Obviously, this lid will get very hot

while cooking, so don’t touch it with bare hands. Use

either a metal implement or a pair of high‑temperature

gloves (such as welding gauntlets).

It’s best to give your tandoor a full burn‑through

before using it for real. This helps to both burn off

any contaminants that may have gotten on the pots,

and gives you a chance to see how it burns without

risking your delicious food. We found that ours took

quite a bit of time to get fully up to temperature

(about an hour), but could hold this for over an hour,

so gave us plenty of time to cook up a feast.

Now you’re ready to start cooking – stoke up the

coals and get the kebabs on. Do let us know about

your tandoor builds. Get in touch @HackSpacemag

on Twitter, or email [email protected].

Below

You should get a

good, even burn, but

it may take time to

light fully

Above

Don’t get the thermometer too close to the tandoor. We melted

the front of ours getting this reading

The inner chamber of the

tandoor is made of two

pots: a small one placed the

right way up, and a slightly

larger one placed upside

down on top of it

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