How to Build a Fogon

WHAT DO YOU NEED?
WHY BUILD A FOGÓN ?

Using a fogón
improves a family’s
health. Smoke leaves
the kitchen through
the chimney and a
raised cooking
surface keeps
children away from
the open flame. The
oven in a fogón is
always hot allowing a
family to bake food.

MATERIALS TOOLS
350 bricks (450 with brick chimney) mason’s trowel
2 meters of rebar bucket
1 chimney * hoe
1 metal oven level
1 plancha string
1m³ red dirt hack saw
* An aluminum chimney can be used or one can build a
brick chimney with 100 bricks and a quarter bag of cement.

THE MIXTURE
The mud used in a fogón should have a fair
amount of clay in it. An ideal mix of 25% sand and
75% pure clay is a good mixture for both the building
of the fogón and the mud plaster. If there is not
red dirt available, use black mud. Do not add cement
to the mix because it will crack when heated. You
can add cow manure or molasses to the mix to
strengthen it, but with the right clay-to-sand ratio, it
should not be necessary.

PREPARING THE BASE

Begin by leveling
off the ground.
Lay bricks on the
ground without
mud. The fogón
will be 2 1/2
bricks wide and 7
1/2 bricks long or
longer. On the end
of the fogón,
where the oven
will be, lay 1 1/2
bricks. This will
be a wall that will
help support the
weight of the
oven. The support
wall should be
about 50 cm from
the inside edge of
the fogón. If your
bricks are shorter,
make the fogón 62
cm wide and 180
cm long on the
outside. The length
can be extended to
180 cm for more
wood.
50 cm
Make sure the
fogón is square by
measuring from both
opposite corners until
the distances are equal.
Run a string from the
corners so that the
bricks will be straight
when you lay them.

BUILDING THE TOP OF THE FOGÓN
Continue bricking
layers. Keep using
a string so the
walls will be
straight. Also, use a
level to so that the
layers are level and
that the corners are
plumb. Stagger the
bricks, starting in
corners, so that
spaces in between
bricks never are
right above each
other.

FILLING THE BASE
This part of the fogón should be 6 to 8 layers
high so that small children cannot reach the fire and
animals cannot reach the food. You can make the
fogón even higher depending upon the height of the
person who will be using it. When you have reached
the height you want, fill the box with any kind of
dirt. Make sure that it is well compacted so that it
will not settle over time.

COVERING THE BASE
The base of the fogón should be filled with dirt
and a small space should be left for a layer of
bricks to be layed. Lay the bricks level without
mud. After placing the layer of bricks on the
base, cover the bricks with mud.

THE TOP OF THE FOGÓN
Now that the table is
done, start laying the
oven box and arms for
the plancha to rest on.
The inside of the oven
box should be 60 cm
long. This leaves about
8-10 cm of free space on
three sides of the oven. If
there is not enough space
around the oven, make
the box larger. The arms
for the plancha should be
at least as long the
plancha. Leave a space
between the oven box
and the plancha arms 1/2
a brick wide.
50 cm
60 cm
1/2 brick wide

SETTING THE PLANCHA
After laying 3
layers on top of
the table, lay the
plancha on top of
mud-covered arms
of the fogón. The
largest hole in the
plancha should
face away from
the oven. Lay a
couple of pieces of
rebar on top of the
bricks in the oven
box for the oven to
rest on.

PLACING THE OVEN
Place a whole brick
over the space between
the oven box and the
plancha without covering
the plancha. Removal
of the plancha is
important for cleaning
purposes. Next, brick
up three sides of the
oven box leaving the
front open.

Lay a thick bed of
mud on the front side of
the oven box. Set the
oven in place on top of
the mud. It should be
resting on the rebar
with equal open space
on all three sides.

Keep bricking up
the oven box. Make
sure that there is plenty
of mud between the
edge of the brick and
the oven.

The empty space around the oven permits the hot air
to freely circulate and go out the chimney. This empty
space around each side of the oven is very important to
assure that the air circulates and the soot does not accumulate
in the oven nor in the chimney. The chimney
should be at the same level or higher than the oven.
The chimney
should be placed outside
of the house. It’s
important that at
least 15 cm. are left
between the roof,
wall and the chimney.

BRICK CHIMNEY
The brick chimney
requires the same
method of construction
of the fógon by leaving
a space to later build
the chimney around and
outside.
Outside on the ground below
the space where the chimney
will extend from the
fogón, begin to build a base.
Build the base with sufficient
space between the wall of the
The ideal mud
mixture has a few
buckets of cement to
assure that the chimney
doesn’t fall.
Build the base to the
height of the oven.
On each side of the
base, set bricks on their
sides with the mud mixture,
forming a tunnel that
facilitates the escaping
smoke. Cover the two
sides with a layer of
bricks, leaving a small
space at the end to extend
the chimney.
After constructing the
tunnel, build upwards,
continuing to stack
bricks on their sides, using
the mud to hold them
in place.
Continue to build up the
chimney to the height of
the roof of the house. Build
a small roof for the chimney
using 4 bricks. The
roof keeps the rain out of
the chimney.

COVERING THE OVEN
When you
have reached the
top of the oven it
should have equal
space around three
sides..
Over the oven
door, place a piece
of rebar or old machete
to keep the
oven from bending
from the weight of
bricks. Also, the
oven can be removed
for cleaning.
Lay mud on top
of the oven and
keep bricking up
the oven for two
more layers.
To top off the
oven, lay 4 pieces of
rebar over the oven
box. Lay mud around
the edge and arrange
the bricks so the
oven is completely
covered. Cover this
layer with mud and
add another layer.

THE FINAL PRODUCT
To ensure that the
oven is airtight, take
mud in your hands and
smear it on the fogón.
Red dirt, molasses,
manure can all also be
used. The fogón is
also more pleasing to
the eyes.

PLASTERING THE FOGÓN
Once the fogón
is completely covered
with mud, take a
wet sponge and run it
over the entire fogón
smoothing out the
mud layer. This
helps fill in the small
holes and seals the
fogón.

RESOLVING COMMON
DIFFICULTIES
1. The smoke doesn’t go out the chimney.
*The chimney isn’t placed well. Place it level with
the oven in order for the smoke to exit efficiently.
*The chimney and/or the oven are covered in soot.
Place rebar or a piece of an old machete at the top
of the oven in order to take the oven out easily
when cleaning it. Build the chimney with enough
support to be able to take a few bricks out of the
elbow to clean it.
2. The bottom of the chipa guazu, etc. is burning
*The oven is placed to high. Place the oven at a
level lower than the plancha.
*There’s not enough space around the oven for the
air to circulate. Be sure to leave enough space
on the three sides of where the oven will sit for
proper circulation.
3. The oven doesn’t heat up.
*The air isn’t circulating properly. Try to clean the
oven and the chimney. Verify that there is enough
space around the oven for the air to circulate.

ALTERNATIVE FOGONES
There are many
models of fogóns
you can build
depending on the
materials in your
area. The most
important things
with a fogón are
that the smoke is
drafted out through
the chimney, the
oven stays hot, and
the fire is protected
from children.

ADDING AN ASH PIT TO YOUR FOGÓN
1. Begin building your
ash pit by filling the base
of the fogón with dirt up
to the third layer of
bricks.
28 cm. in length
2. Place 3 bricks on their sides,
forming a tunnel. Close the end
of the tunnel with a brick.
3. Place 7 bricks on
their sides bridging the
gap of the tunnel.
4. Cover the remaining
part of the tunnel with 3
bricks laid fla t. Fill the
exterior space with dirt.
5. Place a second layer of
bricks laid flat on top of the
original walls. Fill the space
around the walls of the tunnel
with dirt to the level of the
rest of the base of the fogón.
6. Build up the base of the
fogón to reach 7 layers of
bricks. The height depends on
the principal person using the
fogón. The opening of the ash
pit should be 7-10 cm wide
and 7-10 high.
VARIATIONS
7. Build the brick arms on which
the plancha will be placed with
sufficient space between the
two. Use at least 2 liters of
Money or molasses in the mud
mixture. Place 3 levels of bricks
for each arm. The opening for
wood should be 25 cm. Wide
and 20 cm high.
8. Assure that the plancha is level.
Continue to lay bricks on both sides
of the plancha. These bricks will
help prevent accidents, burns, etc.
9. Place a layer of bricks on
top of the base of the fogón,
leaving a small space between
the bricks to clean. This layer
of bricks begins the box where
the oven will be placed.
10. Place the oven using
rebar or other material in
order to assure that 7-10
cm of space is left below
the oven and that it is
level. Also, 7-10 cm of
space should remain on
all of the sides of the
oven for the air to properly
circulate.
11. Place 4 pieces of 6-8 mm
rebar on top of the oven when
laying the second layer of
bricks around the oven. The
rebar provides support to the
bricks covering the top of the
oven as well as the chimney.
12. Begin to form a box with 4
bricks, leaving a space the size
of half a brick for the smoke to
exit the fogón.
13. This column should
be placed on top of the
fogón and will be the
base for the chimney.
Every layer will use four
bricks.
14. The chimney should be
built directly up through the
roof and ought to be taller
than the roof.
15. Place a small roof on
top of the chimney, allowing
for smoke to exit and
to keep water out. A simple
way to build the roof is
to place 4 nails in each
corner in a bed of mud.
Use wire to secure the roof
to each of the nails.
16. This is a
smoke regulator
made of common
metal and is used
to control fire size
and smoke level.
Place it before the
mud mixture dries.
Remove and replace
the smoke
regulator until it
can be removed
easily. Leave it in
place when not using
the fogón.
17. Put this brick in place upon finishing the fogón. Place mud in
the space and not on the brick. Use a brick that fits snuggly in the
space. The brick should be able to be removed easily for clearing.
18. Enjoy your new
fogón with your family!