Casting was known to the Indian artisan from the time they started making bows and arrows with graduation to making casts for large guns usually done in expensive metals as bronze but then came the art of casting iron and so with other items came along the cast iron tandoor that was one single piece. The cost of the moulds and the large piece slowly gave way when steel was introduced and became relatively economical to use. Steel tandoors were introduced in India a few hundred years ago and since the process of bending steel was known to the Indian artisans the process of give shape to the steel was possible but the welding was usually done by soldering parts by brass which usually gave way over a period of use or rivets that would hinder in the inner smoothness of the pot because of its unique shape. Because of the poor welding stability the art almost died when just a few years ago it erupted again - thanks to the welding machine. The pieces are still hammered manually and later joined together with electric arc welding to give it a shape. The Saang Grinders are used with various different grits to achieve the inside finish in a manner where one can slap naan breads to the walls with ease.
Even still most chefs have not been able to adapt to making naan breads on a mild steel tandoor but the process of doing skewers is mainly shifting to the use of this popularly known as Iron Tandoor. The ease of lighting up this tandoor pot without having to worry about its breakage in case the firing is not right or the pressure of checking if the tandoor pot is not overheated resulting in a breakage gives peace of mind to the chef and the owner of a restaurant. The only maintenance being the cleaning with aluminum foils and oiling when not in use gives freedom to the user. This tandoor is a boom in the catering industry that uses smaller size tandoor to achieve more job since carrying a large clay pot tandoor is very heavy and would reduce its life in transportation eventually rendering the tandoor useless for use. Tandoors with this pot are much lighter and one need not worry on the breakage part. This is the reason most caterers overseas prefer this. Restaurants that use just one tandoor for both naan breads and skewers are shifting to the process of using the mild steel pot Stainless steel double insulated tandoor for their skewers.
