Pitza Oven

I am going to try and make a pizza oven !

Has anyone made one or know someone who has ?

1st. Not sure what to use and where. Vermiculite, perlite, brick or firebrick?

2nd. Is it better to use a form or a mould?

3rd. Is it possible with €150 to spend ?

Any advice most welcome !

Concrete Base MK1

Wooden mould for concrete base MK1.		Firebricks for oven base, reverse side of the bricks will be the surface.

Concrete mixture poured around bricks.		Firebricks and concrete after cleaning.

Concrete Mixture to adhere to fibre board.		Fibreboard, rebar and concrete mixture ontop of fire bricks.

Closer picture		Covering it all over and leveling the mixture.

MK1 didnt to well

It fell apart when turned over

Multiple Tests On Concrete

Testing various concretes		Test bricks ... well hard.

Moulds and forms

Planning out the moulds and form.		Wooden form for making oven door section.

The wooden form almost complete with the flue pipe position.

The Flue

A few bit and bobs to make a throttle valve for the flue.

Unless you know better i sure this part is done.

The wooden support for the flue pipe is incorrect. It should be a deeper piece of board or two supports, so the flue pipe does not twist.

MK2 Base and Form

MK2 built in the frame on the stand. After the MK1 failure due to inadiquate concrete mix, we reverted a more contemporary base construction.

I also added another course of fire brick, so that the dome will will now sit on the fire brick, instead of the concrete base.

I also also added pencil rounds to the form, hoping it would cast a brick effect arch. This did not work out too well do to the wrapping in cling film, as you can see in the next photograph.

Cling film was added to the form to aid the reslease, of the concrete later.

120kg of sand was built around a cardboard form, using he cardboard form as an guage to create an accurate dome.

Rendering The Form

60mm of vermulite, sand and refractory cement concrete		Filling in any low spots ensuruing you have a 60mm coverage.

After allowing 3 or 4 days to dry, we slide the form, and dig out the sand and carboard, to reveivel 60cm internal surface with 30cm dome.

Once its hot should have about 60 x 35cm cooking surface.

Cover with 40mm of insulation and then cover chicken wire ready for the next coat of perlite render.

Making The Door Out of The Form

Metal part of door screwed to wooden door and handle added after

Door positioned on oven, also provides support while drying

Mk 2 pizza oven MK 2.1 door

Sometimes you need to rethink things. I had to put the door in water to stop it caching fire. Then the oven got up to over 500oC, working with what I have on site I came up with the MK 2.1 cast door.

MK2 door constructed out of remants of old door.

Oven Fuel

Oven fuel arrives, this should keep the oven going 3 times for 2 years. We need to make sure the wood is properly seasoned, or we will never reach the temperatures needed.

One thing i found out along the pizza oven trip was not all fire wood is the same... if you want to get a good pizza you need to spend as much time on the wood as you do making the pizza.

Final Render Coat

Just around the door to finish... and then tile.		The final render coat

First coat of rendering added to the door arch.		Had to make a makeshift shelter, as the weather turned bad.

"I have huffed and I have puffed, I cant blow your house down" said the pig to the wolf at stupid O'clock this morning i mounted a rescue mission.

Too cold for me now to do anything much at the moment my mission for today warm up and get a tarp to cover properly and then chill for the rest of the day...

At first light I took at quick look and covered it again. I think it is ok !		Made a rain cap for the flue pipe. I have been hiding inside since...

I set of yesterday afternoon to get tarps to cover the oven and the fire wood and the car would not start. After another night of rain and wind I got the car going, made it to the shops and back with tarps, another flue pipe, paint, a brush handle and lot of other bits and bobs

Firing The Oven Up

I lit the 3rd little fire got the oven all the way up to 45oC i have to keep doing this about another 10 to 20 times slowly getting the oven hotter every time once it get to 240oC i am told its pizza cooking time....

Made rain cover thing, well its will do for now, I can work with the cover up and pull it down when I not working.

Finished the rendering around the door and made a pizza loading thing, from a bit of mettle and 2/3 of the brush handle will use the other 3rd to make I fire hook...

I found a few broken tiles which tomorrow I will cut and fit around the outside then give it a lick of paint....

Tiles fitted, I only had a few broken once, so i had to patch up around the back of the dome, but you dont look at its ass when your poking the fire.... better rain cover and paint i think thats about it.....

oh yes cook a pizza .... does anyone know how to make pizza dough may be i should have look at that 1st.

Fired her up this morning with longer flue pipe fitted after a slow start she got upto 134oC captain, she held at 70oC for hours after.... it did not blow up, crack or anything, looks like the Mk2 is holding... i will light her again today, once it cools right down.

Almost cooking time not everything in life works the way we plan it,, like paint I got from China R Us got the better one paid €9 for 500mls, only thing it wants to stick to is its self... but hey its only paint and if it does not stick, it not a big job to repaint..

Fire lit and dome got to +260oC the top hit over 400oC its so hard to get a good reading, so I put an little bottle, I found in the door.

I just started taking temp reading of the bottle and its at 120oC...

I did not think it would get this high so just …. but I know why... its was the wood I got I was told its seasoned if it is it need longer... I dried the wood I used this morning by the fire last night... that's what did it simply drying the wood before I put in it the oven... next stop Pizza

In Part 7 of the Mk2 pizza oven Pizza oven I went live.

You can find the video on my Facebook wall.

Will the oven hold 220oC ??

It sure did and at 5pm it was still at 180oC

Will the Pizza cook or just set on fire ???

I am surprised to say nothing set on fire.

Lit the oven at 8.40am by 9,40am at 230oC base mix started at 10am....

At around 12 noon I got high then started the live video and everything worked.... in 5 mins I got the best pizza in the world,, pizza to die for and flat bread

Homemade everything...

No photos of the pizza I eaten them but you can see the one in the video....