I think most people would say building a Tandoor isn’t necessary to make good tandoori grilled meats or bake naan, since the broiler in your oven can create similar results. But what’s the fun in that?

A tandoor is a traditional cylindrical Indian oven. A fire burns at the bottom, so that food can be cooked by first skewering it and then inserting the skewer into the cavity, which functions much like an oven. Since the tandoor is made of clay, naan can also be cooked by slapping thin dough onto the piping hot walls, where they bake in minutes.

My design contains an inner cylinder, where the cooking occurs, and an outer cylinder. This way, insulation can be placed between the two rings, preventing heat loss from the inner chamber to the outside. The holes at the bottom allow for air to rise into the coals, providing the oxygen needed for good combustion.

As I was about to graduate high school, I figured I should go out with a bang, so I set to work using the school’s studio and my four years of ceramics class experience to create the biggest pot the studio had ever seen.

After consulting with my teacher Ms. Larson, we decided to use special raku clay which is better at withstanding thermal shock, and fire the piece at a relatively low temperature in the kiln to prevent it from becoming too brittle and prone to cracking.

The result was a fully functional piece that can cook delicious meals just as it was intended to do. For details on the process and more pictures, consult my Instructables article: Building a Tandoor From Scratch