Huge outdoor pizza oven building project pledge

[Steve]

She sure was nice but it had no character. A brick oven will be far more homely and if you build it yourself it will give you so much more satisfaction.
Just sayin ...,

 

[Mark]

She sure was nice but it had no character. A brick oven will be far more homely and if you build it yourself it will give you so much more satisfaction.
Just sayin ...,

Yeah true, but I got to build it right too and that's my big worry - hell, I've never even laid a concrete slab before! One thing for certain is my pizza oven WILL have character - just hope it works

 

[Mark]

This is my cousins pizza oven - we enjoyed a few pizzas in between scotches

 

[Pink]

All I can say is good luck Mark. I have seen a couple diy jobs and they turned out fantastic and the pizzas were to die for...but I have heard they are a bit tricky to build. We are going to watch this one closely because I have always wanted one. Make sure it is good looking though as you want it to be a centre piece/focal point of your back yard. Also is bigger necessarily better or faster? I know, typical girl comments but practically speaking the bigger the area the longer it will take to heat up and the more fuel you will need? The smaller ovens generate a stack of heat and I think it is part of it's charm making smaller personalised pizzas and waiting for them. It only takes about 5 minutes, if that. Really can't wait to see how it all turns out.

 

[Mark]

All I can say is good luck Mark. I have seen a couple diy jobs and they turned out fantastic and the pizzas were to die for...but I have heard they are a bit tricky to build. We are going to watch this one closely because I have always wanted one. Make sure it is good looking though as you want it to be a centre piece/focal point of your back yard. Also is bigger necessarily better or faster? I know, typical girl comments but practically speaking the bigger the area the longer it will take to heat up and the more fuel you will need? The smaller ovens generate a stack of heat and I think it is part of it's charm making smaller personalised pizzas and waiting for them. It only takes about 5 minutes, if that. Really can't wait to see how it all turns out.

Thanks @Pink Yes, you make a lot of good points there and now you've got me thinking about the size... perhaps you're right and a smaller oven might be the better option Less resources to build, less fuel, faster heating up etc...

This isn't an easy project but I think if done step by step it shouldn't be that hard to pull off - you only live once

 

[armysnail]

It looks easy on youtube.

 

[Mark]

It looks easy on youtube.

Yeah I guess it is if you know what you're doing lol...

 

[Mark]

This a ready made pizza oven sold at Bunnings - don't know how well they work but it's pretty small. By the time the fire is going inside there wouldn't be much room for the pizza (just enough). Cost $500 - guess it could be OK for someone wanting a quick fix for a wood fired pizza oven...

 

[Mark]

Just an update on this pizza oven build...

Since I started researching... and researching some more, about building one of these things I'm becoming a little less enthusiastic about it.

The thing is, Bunnings now sells a larger ready made pizza oven (I think it's about $1700) this includes a stainless base and there are other retailers on the market who specialise in making them for probably not much more than what I could make one for myself from scratch.

Also, I do run the risk of spending a lot of money, time, and effort DIY-ing one of these pizza ovens only to end up making a mistake and having it crack ect as there's plenty of these examples over the internet where pizza oven building has gone wrong.

So yes, I'm now having second thoughts after all my hype and big build up I may end up buying one LOL

 

[Jenni]

Pizza ovens look great but friends went to all that effort and don't really use it..

We cook our pizza on the BBQ on a hot stone plate and that works really well. You can even add the smoker box to get a more authentic flavor.

 

[Mark]

I have a Weber BBQ but I never tried cooking a pizza with it although it probably would work quite well.

We have family and friends who do use their pizza ovens regularly that's one of the reasons I'd like one from seeing how good they are for entertaining but I suppose firing up the pizza oven is not something easily done for a quick meal.

 

[Jenni]

suppose firing up the pizza oven is not something easily done for a quick meal.

Yeah our friends said they really only use it for entertaining, a big effort just for two pizzas.... And it also means they are limited using it on weekends.

 

[stevo]

A bit of money no matter which way you go I guess? Keep it on your list of things to do, maybe something will present itself one day

 

[Mark]

A bit of money no matter which way you go I guess? Keep it on your list of things to do, maybe something will present itself one day

Yeah, thanks. I won't be buying one anytime soon though... I still have to save for my new incubator yet

 

[Tim C]

Lightweight fire bricks are made with Aliminium-silica cement, available at the hardware shops, perlite and brickies sand..A few simple wood moulds to pour into for the required shape. Recycled red bricks (or whatever) for the main structure, a fireplace mortar recipe is available online or on the back of bags of cement too, I think, or aliminium-silica/sand mortar. Line the fire-box with the fire bricks, using angle or light H-iron incorporated into the structure to support them inside the fire-box (like most slow combustion wood heaters). Or make a curved plywood mold to pour the fire-brick mixture over, incorporating some (weldmesh?/fibreglass matting?) reinforcing. Remove the mold, then build the rest around it? or leave it in and burn it out later??
Thick or multi-layered cement board would make a good base, I reckon..even if it was on a wooden/movable frame it would insulate quite well.
A couple of old besser brick incinerators could also be modifed, or use a 1/2-2/3 long-cut 200L drum, bricked around....
Or an underground/mound/framed earth oven?
The fire-bricks could also be molded with bevelled sides to create a self-supporting arch. Although with this method it would be easier to make the arch(es), prior to determining the overall dimensions.
Air bubbles in bricks are the killer with fire. Red bricks are fired, so the ones with air bubbles are broken in the kilning process, however cement/ besser bricks haven't been kilned and may well crack after heating.

 

[Tim C]

The first picture on page 1 of this thread is the best. That style. But with a door. Basically a heavy table/bench. Red bricks and some render. Aluminium-silica cement. One of those parking bay concrete tables would be a good raised base, on a brick wall to height, wood storage underneath. A chimney of fashion. And an adjustable air inlet in the door (baffled or gapped).
When I worked in the Murrayville (Vic) pub, the gourmet pizzas there were to die for. Basically with the tomato(semi-dried) on last, so the oil in the tomatoes/capers/basil etc. flavoured the whole profile.
I can't remember which, but one of the little towns between Pinnaroo and Ouyen has an outdoor pizza oven, and once a year they cook for 2-400 people in a short time!! Walpeup? Anyway, that one's just a 10x10' red-brick wood-oven. Probably just the remains of the bakery their, once the wooden building fell down....
So make it designed on a bread-oven, then you can do both. And generations later, people may still be using it.
Personally, I' d just go to the parking bay with a 2/3 cut drum, plonk it on the table and cover it in dirt. A hinged lid, both ends, and the big lid hole as the chimney. Make it draw air from the fire end and chimney over the pizza end. An elbow and a stackpipe will help/make it draw. A tight-fitting door on the pizza end, and a loose-fitting air/heat adjustable fire/wood door. KISS!
On this principle, just arrive with your 3/4 cut drum, throw a layer of dirt over it, start a fire, and cook! Next day dig up your drum and fill in your holes. Maybe a handle on the top.
Maybe a pup-tent arrangement- that folds flat, but with symmetrical door-ends. Assemble and bury. Pizza on the beach. All beach-cooked food contains sand and salt anyway.
Basically 2 barbecue plates hinged, with traingles hinged to the ends. I see the wood-fired steam generators are now made that shape. (Tinytech .com-danger, I got a virus from them!)

 

[Mark]

You make it sound so easy Tim.

I wonder how one big rectangle thing made of bricks would go like one of those French bakeries? I do have the space down the back picnic area but I've never laid a brick in my life! It would be great to have something I could slow roast a rack of several hanging Pekin ducks in...

 

[Tim C]

I'm glad it sounds easy(er) for you. Yeah room for a rack of ducks or other would be great. Just a few ideas you may not have considered, that may be of use (or not)...

 

[Steve]

I just use my BBQ at the moment too. I dont even use a stone as I find they get inpregnated with oil that might come out of the cheese.
I make them up on those stainless steel pizza trays (just like in the pizza shops) and put them in the BBQ with the lid down on pretty hot, maybe around 200 to 250 c.
9 minutes is the timing for a fairly thick base and use pliers and a oven mit to pull them out. Oh, and I rotate them at about the 4 min mark in case the heat is not even around the BBQ and you can see how they are going.
Perfect every time.

 

[Mark]

9 minutes is the timing for a fairly thick base and use pliers and a oven mit to pull them out. Oh, and I rotate them at about the 4 min mark in case the heat is not even around the BBQ

Are they easy enough to remove from the tray?