TYPES OF TANDOOR AVAILABLE IN THE MARKET

The history of Tandoor dates way back a few centuries ago, in Arab countries. It is from there where the use of tandoor spread to India and then finally, to Western countries. The word “tandoor” has been derived from a Babylonian word “tinuru” from the Semitic word “nar” which means fire.

After a while, the Arabs made some modifications and started calling it “tannur”, and then it finally came to be called “tandoor” by Turkey and Central Asia. In ancient times, only clay tandoors used to be in existence. However, nowadays there are quite a few types of tandoors available in the market, and some of them are discussed below.

·        Square tandoor:
A square tandoor is one of the most common types of tandoor that is used by almost every other restaurant across the globe in their respective kitchens. A regular sized square tandoor tends to be sufficient for 60 seat restaurants when it is used for bread and kebabs.

·        Gas tandoor:
Up until the early 2000s, a majority of the restaurants were using tandoors with charcoal as fuel. Many cooks prefer to use charcoal due to their ability to keep the clay pot hot for a longer amount of time.
But charcoal has some of its own drawbacks such as they are likely to be supplied at an irregular rate by the vendors and it requires a special exhaust hood in the kitchen. Due to all these reasons, many of the restaurant owners have stopped the usage of charcoal as fuel and have shifted to using gas tandoors.
Gas tandoors are quite similar to square tandoors and the only prominent difference between the two is that the fuel can be natural gas or propane. Gas tandoors have burners attached to them, on which a unique baffle plate sits. This helps in deflecting the flames of the burner and heat up the clay pot.

·        Catering/Drum tandoor:
In this kind of tandoor, the clay pot is fitted in a stainless steel barrel. It is attached in a plain and simple design with stainless steel straps tied around its bottom, top and centre for reinforcement. A majority of the times, this type of tandoor is used in restaurants or by caterers for on-site booking of kebab and bread. As it is not used frequently, charcoal is preferred to be the fuel in order to heat up the tandoor. However, nowadays, more and more people are requesting gas tandoors for their patios or backyards.

There are some more tandoors that are available these days. And as you can see, all these different types of tandoors serve different purposes. So, if you are looking to invest in one then determine your needs and then make a decision.