Building a homemade pizza oven? Anyone done it?

[AlaMoi]

yeah . . . but a pine scented pizza . . .

[Kerry Beal]

7 hours ago, &roid said:

Seriously, take @scott123’s advice - just get a 12 or 16” gas fired ooni. Second hand if need be. If the desire for DIY brickwork is still there build a nice counter to seat it on.  
 

I’ve cooked with wood fired ovens a few times on holiday in Italy - unless you’re feeding a couple of dozen people regularly they just aren’t usable. 

Get the 16 inch

[bokeg]

On 12/5/2022 at 8:48 PM, Margaret Pilgrim said:

Totally subscribe to all of the caveats above.   We built//installed an Italian pizza oven in the country.    Lots of free fuel.   Retired, supposedly lots of time.    I wanted it also for cooking large hunks of meat and baked stuffs.    It works a charm...but requires someone at attendance at all time.   You don't leave a fire burning at these temps.    It takes almost an hour to bring it up to temp.    Great if you are feeding a small crowd, but from my end, shaping and topping pizza for a crowd is a LOT of work.   Letting guests create their own is often a disaster as they overload and wind up with calzone.    For wildfire reasons, we don't use in on hot summer days, and manning it in the rain is equally impractical.    We've had it for around 16 years.    Husband says we've now got the cost per pizza down to under $100, plus ingredients, maybe.     I often make pizza on the floor of  my kitchen oven since no one at the end of the day has much stomach for several hours attention to the pizza oven.

 

Had the Ooni been available at the time we built, I'd have gone for it in a heartbeat.    

 

Our pizza oven is charming, for sure.    But it gets little use.   

 

 

Husband, outdoor pizza oven, adds you need at least 3 feet internal area to cook two pizzas at a time.

Hello. Home pizza oven owners - I'm toying with either a Fyra or a a Karu. The first runs on pellets whereas after is 50 quid dearer and seems to run logs charcoal or gas with an additional purchase of an adaptor. Any views on pros and cons? Anyone got one of these?

[Duvel]

Get a Koda 16” …

[paulraphael]

On 12/4/2022 at 8:38 AM, lindag said:

I've heard from a couple of sources who've built their outdoor ovens that they're are really not practical because it takes an enormous of time to get them up to the proper temperature.  None of my own personal experience.

 

I've thought about this. It's helped discourage me from this particular flaming rabbit hole. 

 

One approach would be to get community involvement. How many people can you meet who would bring their own dough to your place on fire day? What about bread bakers and other bakers who could use the residual heat? You could be a local hero. 

 

Designing an oven that excels at all these things ... you'll need a serious kung fu master to help with that.

[heidih]

Marlena de Blasi chronicles their outdoor oven in "A Thousand Days in Tuscany".  Yes planning and staggring bakes/roasts is a dance. It nothing else it is a great little read.

[bokeg]

On 12/6/2022 at 3:09 AM, AlaMoi said:

I did all the research, checked out many options, considered everything from total homespun DIY to cast shells + outer DIY masonry.

then . . . for the 'experience' I volunteered as a "fair" helper firing up, using a wood beehive oven.

 

omg.  takes 36 hours to get it heat soaked thru.

cannot just go like the dickens to get it hot - if you do, it cracks/etc from the rapid temp changes.

slow firing, constant attention - no, you do not take a nap or sleep overnight - slow fire, stoke regularly, constantly monitor.

 

totally completely utterly impractical to do pizza in a wood fired pizza oven in the back yard.

 

still love the idea, but a pizza stone and an oven that'll do 550'F at the push of a button . . .

 

Miami dentists in the 1960s spent a year in Germany, where they immersed themselves in a small village's life. Amidst quaint traditions like the community bake oven, their most memorable takeaway was the Flamekuechen—a delightful combination of dough scraps and savory toppings used to 'test' the wood-fired bake oven temps during the 'every Wednesday bread bake fest' session.

I can't afford to buy a WFO, even the DIY kits are pricey. I found like 500 from scratch DIY instructional videos on YT. I watched 6 and while the basic concept was the same, they all did things differently. I don't recognize any of the YT'ers names on these videos, so I don't know who's legit and who's just okay.  Truth be told I'm not exactly a builder/handyman. But I'm seeing videos where they build one for like $80-300. And they look like as long as you pay attention a normal person could build one.  I think I just need to find a solid video to follow and I'd be able to get it done.  Does anyone have a recommendation for a particularly good video?

[AlaMoi]

mercy . . . I would never have guessed I'd carry these around so long . . .

some may not be there anymore.

www.traditionaloven.com
http://www.mnn.com/the-home/household-products/stories/from-laid-off-to-bread-winning-baker-thanks-to-a-100-diy-oven-0
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Modern-Homesteading/Clay-Oven-Bread-Business.aspx
http://www.scribd.com/doc/8451084/Building-A-Bread-Oven
http://www.scribd.com/doc/46547439/Clay-Oven-Building-Instructions-Web
http://small-scale.net/yearofmud/2009/09/12/build-your-own-20-outdoor-cob-oven-for-great-bread-and-pizza/
http://www.ovencrafters.net/
http://www.gulland.ca/homenergy/brickoven.htm
http://www.nakedwhiz.com/firebricks.htm