Beehive oven

Abandoned beehive coke ovens near the ghost town of Cochran, Arizona

A beehive oven is an early type of oven. It gets its name from its domed shape, which resembles that of an old-fashioned beehive, and was in common use in the Americas and Europe from the Middle Ages to the advent of the gas and electric ovens. Beehive ovens were common in households used for baking pies, cake and meat. Ovens were used in industry prior to the Industrial Revolution, in such applications as making tiles and pots and turning coal into coke.

Use In Colonial America

In the thirteen colonies, most households had a beehive oven.

Bread was usually baked in it once a week, often in conjunction with pies, crackers, or other baked goods.

To heat the oven, the baker would heap coals and kindling inside and wait several hours. Then, he or she would test to see if it was hot enough to bake in by sticking a hand into the oven. If the hairs singed off, then the oven was hot enough.^{[citation needed]}

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  American 17th century beehive oven front Ephraim Hawley House

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  beehive oven ceiling Ephraim Hawley House

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  beehive oven back, next to water pump

External links

• The Manufacture of Coke in a Beehive Coke Oven
• The History of Beehive Ovens in West Blocton, Alabama
• Hearthcook.com