What the Heck is a Rocket Oven?

Imagine an oven that just used twigs and small pieces of wood to cook pizza, bread, lasagna and anything else you wanted to bake.

Plus, this oven is something you could build for yourself!

So what is this oven? Well it is called a rocket oven! But I'm afraid space travel has nothing to do with it ;)

A while back I wrote a blog post all about rocket ovens aimed at helping people decide if it would be a good thing for their homestead: Rocket Oven – is it Right for You? Here’s What You Need to Know

That post was broken down into the following sections:

• What is a Rocket Oven?
  • The Engine of a Rocket Oven: The J-Tube
  • The Oven Part of a Rocket Oven - White or Black Oven
• What are the Benefits and Costs of a Rocket Oven?
  • Benefits of a Rocket Oven
  • Costs of a Rocket Oven
  • Summary of the Benefits and Costs of a Rocket Oven
• Get Started with Rocket Ovens

Check out the post to get all the info but I'm going to cover a bit here too. First, I'm very interested to know... do any of you have a rocket oven? If so please leave a reply and I would love to see a picture of your oven.

Why is it Called a Rocket Oven?

You might be wondering why this type of oven is called a rocket oven. It all comes down to the sound the fire makes as it burns in what is called a j-tube. The j-tube is essentially the engine of the rocket oven.

The j-tube is designed to burn small pieces of wood so completely that even the smoke burns resulting in very clean exhaust. Air is drawn into the j-tube and pulled up through the system resulting in the flames burning sideways and the heat going up the j-tube into the oven.

Here is a diagram showing the cross-section of a j-tube.

This diagram also shows the path of the air flowing through the system.

There are several different types of systems that use a j-tube--all of them have rocket in their name. Two common ones are:

• Rocket Mass Heaters
• Rocket Stoves

Why I like These Systems

Rocket Oven: how much wood to bake pizza, corn bread, cookies, muffins and fruit loaf

What appeals to me the most about rocket ovens and the other rocket systems is that they use so little wood.

Being a homesteader I want to be as self-reliant as possible. With these systems I can easily grow the wood I need to operate them on my own property. If I plant the right tree species I can do this through coppicing which means I can harvest wood on a regular basis without needing to replant.

Since they use so little wood it does not take a lot of space to grow all the wood needed to make it work.

Plus these systems burn so cleanly that they don't have the environmental impact that wood systems can have.

Finally, I love that I can build one myself. The blog post has links to resources to help you get started building your own if you are interested.

If I can build it myself then I can also repair it myself. This makes me very happy as a homesteader.

My current plans are to build my own rocket oven next year. The oven will be part of my new outdoor kitchen which I'm just getting started building this year. My new garden (work in progress) will surround a gathering area that will eventually feature an outdoor kitchen. More on that later!

Hope you enjoyed this post and please upvote if you liked it and follow me to get more posts all about how you can work with nature to start/build your homestead and grow your own food.

Thanks all!