DIY Pizza / Bread / Tandoori /BBQ Ovens, etc...
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I said that at one point during the build- if it doesn't reach temp- it's the biggest da^% woodfired pizza oven you ever saw 
I have a pizza oven I built last year. Im a mason by trade and it took me 3 weeks to build it. I love it, makes pizza in 90 seconds and its the best pizza I ever had. On the weekends we have friends over, for pizza and beer,also been baking bread lately. The back yard smells like a bakery. I liked doing this so much I designed a DIY oven that my friends could buy and install them self in about an hour . I looked at other pre built units they were expensive and shipping made it not worth it.
The oven Im selling is approx 34"x44" and sits on a metal stand,completely finished. Can be put together in less than 1 hr with no tools and makes great pizza!
The oven Im selling is approx 34"x44" and sits on a metal stand,completely finished. Can be put together in less than 1 hr with no tools and makes great pizza!
A friend and I built the oven as described in The Bread Builders, a book by Alan Scott and Daniel Wing. Instructions were perfect, materials easy to get, and required skill level matched our extreme inexperience. Not cheap, but the oven will outlast several generations in the family. I highly recommend it.
The book is available at Amazon and everywhere else.
IIRC, the hearth measured something like 36" x 32". It takes several hours to get heated up for baking bread. For pizza, it takes an hour to put the heat into the bricks.
For spur of the moment pizza parties, I have a portable wood-fired pizza oven that goes anywhere with us. From idea to first pizza is one hour, including time it takes to prepare sauce and dough.
There is no good reason to eat Dominos anymore!
EDIT: jlow might have built the same one! Nice work!
The book is available at Amazon and everywhere else.
IIRC, the hearth measured something like 36" x 32". It takes several hours to get heated up for baking bread. For pizza, it takes an hour to put the heat into the bricks.
For spur of the moment pizza parties, I have a portable wood-fired pizza oven that goes anywhere with us. From idea to first pizza is one hour, including time it takes to prepare sauce and dough.
There is no good reason to eat Dominos anymore!
EDIT: jlow might have built the same one! Nice work!
Some interesting info here for the firepit/smoker model.
http://www.ibiblio.org/lineback/bbq/wdh.htm
http://www.ibiblio.org/lineback/bbq/wdh.htm
CTWood, here is a link to some good pics of representative ovens. There is a lot of good info there and they are a good group.
Brick Bake Oven Page Including Photos
Brick Bake Oven Page Including Photos
I'm extremely envious. My dream is to have a brick oven in my yard someday, but we don't have a lot of space. I told my wife the other day that if she wants us to stay in this house forever (she hates moving) she just needs to let me put a brick oven in, then I'm never leaving.
I have been planning one for a number of years. Started getting building materials together a couple years ago then had to put it on hold. I have a stack of about 1000 bricks sitting out back that desperately needs some company.
So why did you place the chimney toward the front instead of toward the rear? I was planning my chimney toward the rear. Also, did you use special fire brick and mortor for the inside of the oven?
So why did you place the chimney toward the front instead of toward the rear? I was planning my chimney toward the rear. Also, did you use special fire brick and mortor for the inside of the oven?
The fire is in back and the heat is to roll over the pizza, hence the chimney in front. I did some research on design of a pizza oven and this was the verdict. It also heats all the firebricks front to back.
Seeing as how we had two threads going on essentially the same subject, at the same time, I decided to merge them together so as to get all the discussion under the same thread...
Definitely a cool idea, I'm sorely tempted myself, although low-carb and pizza don't exactly go together...
Gooserider
Definitely a cool idea, I'm sorely tempted myself, although low-carb and pizza don't exactly go together...
Gooserider
Ok, so I officially throw down the gauntlet now. I will build my Forno This spring. Wife will love it because that means I will expand the pool area and build the roofed area out there. I plan to have the MegaMother of BBQ areas. Forno, outdoor fireplace, Smoker, gasgrill area and of course, covered seating near the pool. What the hell. Why not do it this year?
There were a bunch of websites on building them, with widely different opinions on the topic, however I did see several that advised against using traditional red bricks and mortar - claim was that they would "spall" or spit out little chips of brick into whatever you were cooking - might be good for mineral content, but didn't sound very appetizing...
Seemed to me like the general recommendation for at least the interior was either fireclay or refractory firebricks and mortar - or other equivalently heat resistant materials... The insulation layer should be vermiculite or other fireproof material, and the outside can be pretty much anything you like...
There was a LOT of material about the thickness of the shell and related topics - essentially what I got from it was that the thicker the shell the longer it would take to get up to temperature, and the more wood it would take, but the longer it would stay hot - like almost everything we encounter dealing with this fire stuff, there are a bunch of compromises and trade-offs to consider... You need to do a lot of research and consideration of what your cooking needs are in order to make a wise choice about what to build...
Gooserider
Seemed to me like the general recommendation for at least the interior was either fireclay or refractory firebricks and mortar - or other equivalently heat resistant materials... The insulation layer should be vermiculite or other fireproof material, and the outside can be pretty much anything you like...
There was a LOT of material about the thickness of the shell and related topics - essentially what I got from it was that the thicker the shell the longer it would take to get up to temperature, and the more wood it would take, but the longer it would stay hot - like almost everything we encounter dealing with this fire stuff, there are a bunch of compromises and trade-offs to consider... You need to do a lot of research and consideration of what your cooking needs are in order to make a wise choice about what to build...
Gooserider
Regarding the history, design, materials and operation of a brick bake oven, The Bread Builders book is complete and cheap compared to the cost of the oven. I am sure I spent over $1,000 on materials for the oven we built.
If it's about great pizza and not bread or the thrill of building a brick oven, the portable "oven" we have here is the winner. It consists of about 30 full size firebrick ($1.50 each) and a lid from a Weber-type grill set up on a stand of some sort (I made a wooden stand). On the stand, we create a hearth from the firebrick, preferably laying on end to give a 4.5" deep hearth. We use some firebrick on the 9" tall end to create a three-sided ledge from which to lay the Weber grill lid. Oven opening is to the front. We build and maintain a fire on the hearth and grab a beer and go inside to make the dough or better yet, outsource the dough making and keep tending to the fire.
After a time, the coals are moved away from the center of the hearth. Most of the ash is brushed aside too. We throw some corn meal on the hearth and it will tell you if the hearth is ready for pizza. Too hot and it will burn immediately. If hot enough, throw a pizza directly on the hearth. We turn it when it needs turning. It will be done in a few minutes.
Most all of the cost of the portable oven is in the firebrick if you can scrounge a lid. For $50 total, pizza is as good as the $1,000 oven, no doubt.
Some people think they can tell the difference between apple-fired pizza and oak-fired pizza. I have my doubts.
For an even cheaper solution, we have added a small firebrick hearth made from firebrick splits (half thickness firebrick) to a propane-fired grill. Heat brick, cook pizza. It works great, but not the same aesthetics as cooking on a wood-fired hearth.
If it's about great pizza and not bread or the thrill of building a brick oven, the portable "oven" we have here is the winner. It consists of about 30 full size firebrick ($1.50 each) and a lid from a Weber-type grill set up on a stand of some sort (I made a wooden stand). On the stand, we create a hearth from the firebrick, preferably laying on end to give a 4.5" deep hearth. We use some firebrick on the 9" tall end to create a three-sided ledge from which to lay the Weber grill lid. Oven opening is to the front. We build and maintain a fire on the hearth and grab a beer and go inside to make the dough or better yet, outsource the dough making and keep tending to the fire.
After a time, the coals are moved away from the center of the hearth. Most of the ash is brushed aside too. We throw some corn meal on the hearth and it will tell you if the hearth is ready for pizza. Too hot and it will burn immediately. If hot enough, throw a pizza directly on the hearth. We turn it when it needs turning. It will be done in a few minutes.
Most all of the cost of the portable oven is in the firebrick if you can scrounge a lid. For $50 total, pizza is as good as the $1,000 oven, no doubt.
Some people think they can tell the difference between apple-fired pizza and oak-fired pizza. I have my doubts.
For an even cheaper solution, we have added a small firebrick hearth made from firebrick splits (half thickness firebrick) to a propane-fired grill. Heat brick, cook pizza. It works great, but not the same aesthetics as cooking on a wood-fired hearth.
This is the book I used as a reference to build the oven. One tip is that I built mine on a 6" slab so if I need to move it, it can be lifted by a Hi-Lo.
http://www.amazon.com/Bread-Builders-Hearth-Loaves-Masonry/dp/1890132055/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b
http://www.amazon.com/Bread-Builders-Hearth-Loaves-Masonry/dp/1890132055/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b
I broke ground today on my outdoor kitchen which will include pizza oven and outdoor fireplace. I have researched pizza overns over and over and over and noticed that you use half cylinder shape VS the circle dome design that many people use. What do you see as the advantage/disadvantage to your design? have you had any cracks?
Thanks.
David
Thanks.
David
The oven is nearly complete. I have been cooking in it since July. I am putting the roof on this week.
- Oct 3, 2007
- 1,539
Great idea for a thread-I've pondered this one from time to time for our next home. I thought about maybe building something jutting off of the kitchen so that you could use it without cooking the whole house-I think they called that a summer kitchen at one time? My wife makes a pretty good pizza with our crappy Maytag electric oven so I can't imagine how good it would taste in a brick oven fired with wood 
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