CCA Academy Cob Oven
First layer, first attempt at firing the oven
Finished oven under its brand new roof
After the second layer the oven could get hot enough for CCA students to bake biscuits
making the final layer by hand
donated sawdust and recycled clay
Using donated and recycled material the finishing layer is smoother than the first three and will give our oven an even texture.
student design
This is the drawing that won everybody's favor: a three nostril-ed cob oven pig
roof model
Students made 1/2" scale figures and paper models for the existing grill to be converted into a functioning covered pizza kitchen
finished covered Cob oven
Between June and October 2023, we worked with El Arkin, an SAIC grad student and CCA staff and faculty and led the t North Lawndale high school students through the design, fabrication and use of a cob oven. After making and testing small prototypes, we retrofitted an existing grill that was not being used into an outdoor kitchen with a functioning oven. Four successive layers made of different materials for structure, insulation and finish, enabled us to bring the temperature inside the oven to 700ºF and to bake our first pizzas.