Squirrel tail ovens

This introductory post is about the long ovens with the flue at the back then crossing over the top of the oven, like a squirrel's tail, so the smoke and heat could exit into the chimney in front. First example is at Rose Hill Manor in Frederick, Maryland.

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Frederick, Maryland has a strong German heritage so there are several Squirrel tail ovens in and around the city. Rose Hill Manor was built in the 1790s for Gov. Thomas Johnson's (1732–1819) daughter. He retired to the home. It is now a museum with many activities for children. The covered oven is connected to the kitchen portion of the house.

Oven is located at the right back of the working kitchen hearth.

Louis Figuier (1819-1894) book Les Grandes Inventions Modernes 1879 showed the flue system of a furnace exiting up the chimney.

The flue exits into the chimney, above the oven door. The opening is half this width with a metal door open (left) when firing up the oven.

The hole at the end of the flue could be closed with a damper (metal plate) or in this case in another museum c1866 addition, a metal door shut to keep heat in during baking, after the coals and fire are removed.

Long handled tools were used to maneuver the fire, coals and the items to be baked. The exit to the flue is in the center back near the top, now blocked, grey.

1882 description from Lancaster County, PA - Pennsylvania Dutch/Deutsch (German) area - building a squirrel tail oven in Carpentry and Building. A Monthly Journal. New York: Aug 1882.

From W. D. H., Gap, Pa. From the description of E. W. T. who asks about ovens in the April number of Carpentry and Building, I presume that the article he speaks of is the same that is so common with us.

They are so common that the farm house, old or new, that is without its bake-oven is hard to find. We don't consider ourselves so terribly old-fashioned either. We never see them built of fire-brick and never hear them called Dutch ovens. Sometimes they are built away from the house, but very frequently they are built against the kitchen in such a way that the mouth of the oven opens into the fire-place of the kitchen. By this arrangement the baker need not go out of doors to attend to her oven, but can do all in the kitchen, which not only saves the housewife many steps, but reduces the risk in case of fire. There is one plan which I will try to describe. The foundation is built 6 feet square, of stone on three sides. The fourth, or front side, is formed by the back wall of the kitchen fire-place and is of brick. The foundation is hollow and arched over. The bottom of the oven is 3 feet 6 inches above the kitchen hearth. The inside of oven is 5 x 4 feet 6, the longer dimension being from the mouth of the oven to the flue. The hight in the center from hearth to roof is 18 inches. The top is built nearly the shape of the upper shell of a tortoise. The hearth is laid with hard-burned brick without mortar. In building up the front we leave an opening the width of the oven door, and just outside of door, to conduct the coals and ashes to the ash-pit under the oven, we leave an opening as shown in the sketch. An opening is provided in the foundation, by which the ash-pit may be cleaned out from time to time, and we close the same with a flat stone or an old stove plate. The front of the oven is built up with the chimney of the kitchen.

We use an iron fire door 14 by 18 inches. We leave an opening for the squirrel-tail flue, as it is called, 4 inches square, about 26 inches above the hearth of the oven. We lay the foundation of the arch and fill with sand, packing solid, and shaping up for inside of oven. The arch is built of hard brick and good mortar, leaving an opening at the top part of arch to start the flue. The flue is built with brick on edge, and covered with brick laid flat. All is plastered with a good coat of strong mortar, filling up any cracks that may show when it dries. We cover it by setting a frame for the corners of wall, weather-board it up and finish either with a shingle or board roof. We remove the sand after the plaster is dry. The draft through the oven is regulated by means of a sliding rick in the opening of flue. Both flue and fire door are opened when the fire is started. Dry wood is used, and the fire is built in the front part of the oven. When heated, the ashes and coals are drawn out, the baking is put in, and both flue and door are closed. If the oven is built away from the house and with out connection with the flue, the smoke escapes by means of the squirrel-tail opening, the same as here described. Source HERE

Rose Hill Manor in Frederick, Maryland website HERE

Blog posts - Ovens HERE
Blog posts - Squirrel tail ovens HERE
Blog posts - Frederick, Maryland HERE

Future posts on Squirrel tail ovens to include a list of public ovens to view and a post on ovens with a flue system into a smoke room.

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Mar 3 Tue 12:30 In search for Agrarian Capitalism in England, c.1700-1800. Institute of Historical Research. IHR HERE

Mar 3 Tue 7 American Cookbooks: The 10 Most Influential Cookbooks in American History. Leslie Goddard. Wake County Public Library. No tape HERE

Mar 4 Wed 1 [6pm UK] Dark history of sugar and the slave trade, and how it influenced porcelain production in the 18th century. Dr. Neil Buttery and ceramic expert Paul Crane. Museum of Royal Worcester. HERE TAPE maybe HERE

Mar 7 Sat 4:30am [9am UK] The Architecture of Taste: Medieval Arab Kitchens and the Tools of Fire. Daniel Newman. MACFEST - Muslim Arts and Culture Festival HERE

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Mar 8 Sun 2 Dr. David Hosack, physician to Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr and founder of the young nation’s first public botanical garden. Victoria Johnson, author of American Eden. CHOW DCHERE

Mar 10 Tue 7:30-8:45 A Brief History of Irish Food. Sarah Lohman. Brooklyn Brainery $10 HERE

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Mar 19 Thu 10:30-12 From Haute Cuisine to Fast Food: The Evolution of American Dining. Allen Pietrobon. Washington DC OASIS $18 HERE

Mar 19 Thu 9:30-11PM The Other Side of Speyside Whisky' Webinar w/ Spirit & Snack Tasting Kit. Holly Seidewand. New York Adventure Club. Replay for one week. $8.33-113.83 HERE

Mar 22 Sun 2 Flavors of al-Andalus: the Culinary Legacy of Spain. Janet Mendel. Culinary Historians of New York $10 HERE

Mar 24 Tue 7 Coffee Nation: How One Commodity Transformed the Early United States. author Michelle Craig McDonald. American Antiquarian Society. HERE TAPE may be HERE

Mar 24 Tue 7:30 A History of Cake. Sarah Lohman. Brooklyn Brainery $10 HERE

Mar 26 Thu 1:30 [UK 5:30] Egyptian Food. 1) Staples and Shifts: Understanding Egyptian Coptic Foodways (1st c. AD-7th c.AD). Mennat-Allah El Dorry. 2) Food in Ancient Egypt: We were what we ate. Hala Nayel Barakat. Institute of Historical Research. IHR HERE TAPE maybe HERE

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