Introduction:
Why a wood-fired, earthen oven?
Earthen Building, or what is "cob" anyway?
Chapter One: Build a Basic Mud Oven
How big an oven should I make?
Getting Organized
Materials and tools
Beauty and sculpture
On "waterproofing"
A roof for your oven
Eight steps to a simple oven
Chapter two: firing and baking in your oven
Building and managing a fire
Assembling a set of traditional baking tools
Chapter three: Simple Sourdough Bread!
Introduction and a note on ingredients
A quick outline of a ten step sourdough process
On yeast, flour, and bread
How it works -- the ten step process in detail
Chapter Four: Materials and making do
Floor materials
Straw and other fibers
Gravel and Sand
Subsoil, clay, and what to do if you can't find it
Clay Facts
Refractory Cement
Chapter Five: other mixtures, other ovens
Single layer, all-clay, "rammed earth" ovens
Simpler foundations
Sculpting and finishing
Lime and other water-resistant plasters, and a warning
Brick or metal doorways
Chimneys & doors
Firing doors
Cob doors
Insulating a mud oven
Experiments and things to try
Chapter Six: Pyro-dynamics, or, playing with fire
Mechanics of fire
Some related principles
Metaphysics of fire
Chapter Seven: Troubleshooting
My sand form won't hold its shape
I have no sand -- how else can I make a form?
I can't find straw
My fire won't burn
The bottoms of my loaves always burn
My oven is cracking
Can I quick-dry my oven?
Can I keep an all-clay oven from shrinking?
The doorway is crumbling and falling apart
I can't find clay subsoil anywhere
What about fuels other than wood?
Afterword
Art, earth, ovens
Resources
Books on bread and building