I have realized that anyone can make a Lorena stove, but you need to know a bit about how to make it. Her stove was pretty, but apparently the holes were dug out too big, so the stove heated slowly. In addition, the method we have been using uses really wet clay, so it takes several weeks for the stove to dry out, which also makes it cook slowly in the begining. So, the big holes combined with wet clay made her stove cook so slowly that she got angry, tore it apart and went back to cooking on a 'fogon' (tradition open fire place).
I'd met a lady who knows a different method for making the stove with clay that is practically dry and that isn't so sandy (meaning we can use almost any clay and don't have to go all the way to the river to get it). And her process only takes a day! So, I asked her to come and teach us her method and we rebuilt Dulce's stove.
We made the stove using a mixture of the red clay we'd previously gotten from the river and some clay found nearby.
We dug the holes the same day using garden trowels, a kitchen knife, and a machete.
We smoothed the outside all out using a wetter mix of clay.
And we were cooking on the stove that same afternoon. Can you see the smoke coming out of the chimney?
