Pizza is one of the best foods ever. But the problem is, most pizzas aren’t that good. If you want to step your pizza game up, learning how to build a pizza oven at home is the way to go. Not only are homemade pizzas delicious, but they look fantastic too. Plus, there’s nothing quite like firing up your brick pizza oven on a cold winter day and getting cozy inside while the weather outside turns frigid.
Building a pizza oven is one of the easiest projects you can tackle. All you need is some outdoor space, an old furnace duct, firebricks and cement and the ability to dig a hole in the ground. The result will be a cheap and functional wood-fired oven that will bake great pizzas and roast meats like no other oven you’ve ever seen before. This guide will walk you through the process for building your own pizza oven from scratch.
If you’re looking to build your own pizza oven at home, you’re probably wondering what materials you need. Here’s a comprehensive list of items that will help make sure your pizza oven is built on solid foundations.
Wooden frame
You’ll need a wooden frame to support the bricks and chimney. You should also use a wooden frame for the thermometer, chimney cap and flue. If you want to make your oven portable, you can build it without any kind of framework. In this case, however, remember that there will be more weight on each brick which could make dismantling it difficult in later years when you decide to take your pizza oven apart for storage or transportation purposes.
Fireplace bricks
Fireplace bricks are used to build a fireplace. They’re made from clay and can withstand high temperatures, making them ideal for a pizza oven. If you’re looking to create your own pizza oven at home, buying a few bags of fireplace bricks is one of the easiest things you’ll do. You can find them at any hardware store or home improvement center, and they cost much less than other materials you’d use to build an oven (for example, granite countertops).
You’ll want to make sure that the bricks are “firebrick” (as opposed to just plain old bricks) so that they have been pre-baked in a kiln; this process makes them stronger and more durable than regular clay bricks would be.
Cement
- Mix cement with water to the right consistency.
- Use a cement mixer to mix the dry ingredients until they become powdery and light in color, then add water slowly as you move it around in circular motions to avoid clumps of cement. The mixture should have the consistency of peanut butter or cake batter.
- Add water to the cement and mix thoroughly with your hands until it reaches this texture. Be sure to wear gloves for this step if you want them left clean afterward!
- Move quickly so that your mixture doesn’t start setting before you get all of it spread out evenly on top of your wood surface—it will harden as soon as it dries out, so don’t let any go unused!
- Use a trowel (or some other kind of flat-edged tool) to spread out this layer overtop all four sides of each piece from above them all at once rather than just one side at time). If there are any holes where no mortar has been applied yet then fill those areas first before continuing onward with adding more onto surrounding walls directly underneath those freshly patched areas.
Copper pipe and heat-proof wire for the temperature gauge
- Copper pipe and heat-proof wire for the temperature gauge
The copper pipe that connects the fire to your oven is wrapped with heat-proof wire. The wire connects to a temperature gauge, which measures how hot it is inside your oven.
Thermometer
To get an accurate reading, you’ll need a digital thermometer that can be installed in the oven and will give you readings of both the interior and exterior temperatures of your pizza oven. Follow these steps:
- Attach the probe to the inside wall of your oven with adhesive tape or silicone caulking.
- If necessary, cut off any excess wire so that it doesn’t hang past where it’s needed.
- Plug in the thermometer (with its battery already installed) and use a screwdriver to secure it by tightening down on its mounting bracket or through any ventilation holes in your oven’s exterior wall.
- Calibrate your new thermometer by inserting it into boiling water until its display reads 212 degrees Fahrenheit (100 degrees Celsius).
Chimney cap
You can prevent rainwater from getting into your oven by using a chimney cap. This is an important step, as rainwater will have a corrosive effect on your oven. You should also consider installing a chimney cap to prevent smoke from escaping and birds from nesting in your chimney. Chimney caps are available at most hardware stores, but be sure to purchase one that is specifically designed for pizza ovens so that it fits perfectly onto your chimney and does not let any smoke escape during use.
Covering cement with stone or brick facing
To protect the cement from moisture damage, you can cover it with stone or brick facing. Here are the steps to take:
- Use a trowel to spread the cement over both sides of your facing.
- Level them out with a spirit level, then brush any excess cement away using a stiff-bristled brush.
These materials will help you build and maintain a pizza oven
- Materials for building your oven
- Fire bricks or refractory bricks
- Mortar
- Lava rocks
- Pizza stone (can be made from fire brick)
- Materials for maintaining your oven:
- Firebricks and mortar, which can be purchased at most hardware stores. The mortar will help you seal the porous firebrick together, preventing insulation from escaping through cracks between bricks. It’s also an important element of creating a strong base that’ll withstand high temperatures without cracking or crumbling apart.* Tools you’ll need to build and maintain a pizza oven:* Techniques for building an outdoor pizza oven:First, determine where you want to build your outdoor pizza oven. If possible, choose a spot that has some distance between it and any other structure on your property. This will prevent heat from being absorbed into nearby buildings and limit how much work needs done before you can use it regularly.* Second, gather materials needed for building an outdoor pizza oven (listed above). With these resources in hand, begin construction by placing lava rocks on top of the foundation supports so they’re easier to reach while working later on this project.* Thirdly, create voids between each lava rock layer using mortar until all gaps are filled; leave enough space between each layer so air flow isn’t impeded when using this feature later on down the road.
- Final words
Now we’ve gone over the materials you need for building a pizza oven, let’s talk about how to actually build it.
This is a big project and there are lots of steps. You can save time by planning ahead and getting organized before you start building. It might also be helpful to have a friend or family member help you out with parts of this project.
