Thinking about a DIY wood fired oven-suggestions?

[EbS-P]

Hi everyone,

I’m thinking about building outdoor wood fired oven. I haven’t settled on size, materials, or design yet. Cob dome is something I am really considering, if I can find some clay in my backyard, just from a cost perspective and a bit of a trial run. Other than pizza I’m not sure what we would cook in it. Maybe a large batch of flat breads. My dad has gotten quite good at Dutch oven bread in a conventional oven. So it could see some bread baking. As a family of 6 we can really pack away the food if everyone is enjoying it. Right now my 2 year old can polish of a happy meal and say he’s still hungry and my 10 year old eat as much as I do. We don’t really entertain other than high holidays.

Is this a silly idea? If you have a pizza oven how often do you use it? If you have a wood fired oven is the extra work to fire it up worth it? What style/shape is the best?
Happy to hear your thought or wishes.
Evan

 

[SpaceBus]

When the weather is nice I do cook outside on a regular basis. We have a rocket stove type cooker and a small terra cotta wood fired oven. Since you have a big family I could see a DIY brick oven being worth it for you. Could even put a few feet of flue out the top to keep the smoke above ground level. You can also bake leavened bread in a brick oven, and that was pretty much the standard for a long time.

 

[gthomas785]

I built a cob oven as part of a group class. It was pretty easy and took about a day and a half with 5 of us.

 

[bholler]

Most of the ovens I see are used very little at all. But we do see a few used very regularly. There is no way for us to know how much you would use it though. A cob style one would be a decent test run to see how much you use it with relatively little investment. But they take a fair amount of maintenance if you use them often want to keep them long term.

 

[clancey]

I found this on u-tube and you might get a tidbit of information out of it...clancey

What Can You Cook in a Mud Oven? - They're Not Our Goats

When an earthen oven comes to mind, most folks envision wood-fired pizza at a traditional (or progressive) restaurant. While pizza is a perennial favorite of ours, a mud oven is actually a very versatile cooking tool. What can you cook in it? Well, the short answer is: pretty much anything you...

www.theyrenotourgoats.com

 

[EbS-P]

A cob style one would be a decent test run to see how much you use it with relatively little investment.

Kinda what I’m thinking. If I like it and want to upgrade or just don’t want it anymore I would not feel bad about smashing it to bits.

Summertime I try to cook meals outside as much as possible. 3 -4 nights a week between grill, pasta pot and wok.
Evan.

 

[EbS-P]

I built a cob oven as part of a group class. It was pretty easy and took about a day and a half with 5 of us.

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Very nice. The like the doorway!

 

[gthomas785]

Very nice. The like the doorway!

Yeah it came out nice. The floor and doorway are refractory brick mortared together.

For the oven, we piled up wet sand to form the interior shape. The dome consists of a thermal layer which was mostly sand & clay, then an insulation layer consisting of clay & straw, and a finish layer of just clay. Let it dry for for a day and scoop out the sand.

Ideally, you let each layer dry for a couple days before applying the next. We were in a rush so we just piled everything on and very gently fired it the first few times to dry it out.

The oven has held up ok but it really does not like to get wet, at all. Winter is particularly harsh so it will survive better under a roof.

 

[EbS-P]

The oven has held up ok but it really does not like to get wet, at all. Winter is particularly harsh so it will survive better under a roof.

We get 60” of rain a year. We just got 8” in three days. Might get 2” in 30 minutes (hopefully we don’t break the 2018 record of 40” in 3 days). Rain will be an issue here.

I considered a concrete and perilite mix at one point. That might make a decent exterior shell. I thought about welding heavy duty frame and using casters. I have covered second story deck over part of the patio it could be stored under. Not really wanting deal with stove pipe on this one.

 

[gthomas785]

We get 60” of rain a year. We just got 8” in three days. Might get 2” in 30 minutes (hopefully we don’t break the 2018 record of 40” in 3 days). Rain will be an issue here.

I considered a concrete and perilite mix at one point. That might make a decent exterior shell. I thought about welding heavy duty frame and using casters. I have covered second story deck over part of the patio it could be stored under. Not really wanting deal with stove pipe on this one.

The guy who taught the class has one on a trailer that he brings around to festivals to sell pizza. If it's on wheels it would be easy to store in a garage or shed and bring out when you're cooking.

 

[clancey]

Yea if I built one of those things and rain affected them I would try to make it mobile some way or have a roof of some kind put over it..They are a interesting stove and u-tube was the first one I saw that was being built. Why would they put straw in it and is straw that good of a insulation material--who would think--I know when it gets wet its bad...clancey

 

[MrCool1]

so, I am not trying to hijack this post, but I am new to forum life and unsure if this is a hijack or continuation. the website pushed me to continue instead of a new thread. I didn't want to put up a big fight this early in.
That's my story, anyway.
This is the first Forum I have ever joined, so be easy on me! I was so impressed with the group it was an easy decision.
so,
the wife and I have been talking about building an outdoor wood-fired oven/grill - likely with a dura-vent type chimney /adapted stack. talking about it for about 5 years now.
she will go for ANYTHING that gets her out of cooking. and yet she wanted for her birthday (and got!) a dutch oven to use over coals.

I have no issue pouring concrete and making a patio type setup for this - it "drizzles" here a lot. July and August, and most of September are usually dry - and during the driest parts we would not be able to use this grill, as we live in a giant tinderbox of woods. 10 acres of needles on the ground that love to burn. then surrounded by grass seed/hay fields.
the rest of the year is mine to burn!
I currently use a Pitmaster deluxe - I smoke fish, cook almost anything - roast veggies, shrimp/chicken - and even a couple of prime rib through the years. been very spoiled by the hinged cover and thermometer. I cook the Thanksgiving Turkey (covered in Bacon!) about every third year.
I have to wheel it out of the carport, position it to (hopefully) be out of the wet stuff coming down (ok, sometimes even snow) and have the chimney clearing the eave of the carport roof. it is a pain anymore to move - and I will be putting golf cart spindles and tires on it soon if we don't do something different. and maybe a folding towbar.
I have no plans to use "briquets" although the dutch oven likes a few on top for some things.... coals are for cooking!
it has reached a point I would rather put stuff in the crockpot versus wheeling this beast out to use. I am hoping that there is someone on here that is into this and has built something similar. I have seen the pizza ovens, and I agree that they are cool, but we would likely do two pizzas a year - but if I could get pork roast or chicken going on the grill, and jackie could have bread baking in the oven - life would be good!
I came across some DIY "kits" a year or so back, but apparently did not save them in my bookmarks. all my searches are coming up pizza oven.
we will want to build "counter" type workspace on the side(s)
I hate re-inventing the wheel if someone has it figured out. and the knowledge base here is way incredible.
oh, and I have a HUGE pile of firebricks - I do not know what Dad was going to use them for, but I am betting that they go into an outdoor grill soon!
ok, thanks for putting up with me, I have a date with a slow cooker.....
Happy Heating Season!

 

[EbS-P]

If I had a stack of bricks I would. Build something like is on here. Probably do the grill too on one side and make a counter top to cover the grill part when I’m not using it and want a prep space when cooking in the oven.

I don’t know if I would buy those kits but in general i like the designs they have.

Outdoor Pizza Oven Kits | America's Best-Selling DIY Pizza Oven Kits

Build your dream pizza oven with our budget-friendly and DIY-easy Outdoor Pizza Oven Kits. Perfect for DIY enthusiasts! Download our FREE pizza oven and pizza oven base plans and start building your pizza oven today.

www.brickwoodovens.com

 

[MrCool1]

If I had a stack of bricks I would. Build something like is on here. Probably do the grill too on one side and make a counter top to cover the grill part when I’m not using it and want a prep space when cooking in the oven.

I don’t know if I would buy those kits but in general i like the designs they have.

Outdoor Pizza Oven Kits | America's Best-Selling DIY Pizza Oven Kits

Build your dream pizza oven with our budget-friendly and DIY-easy Outdoor Pizza Oven Kits. Perfect for DIY enthusiasts! Download our FREE pizza oven and pizza oven base plans and start building your pizza oven today.

www.brickwoodovens.com

wow -my head is spinning - the ideas from this are unstoppable!
the galleries are just crazy cool. Thanks for that link! looks like some construction this spring is in order......
I wonder if I could fabricate a metal (kind of restaurant style) hood to go over that "box" grill - to then chimney out the smoke -and have an oven up at that level, not under it - we are getting too old for standing on our heads to cook. that is just awesome!

 

[EbS-P]

Hi, I'm planning to purchase a wood-fired pizza oven. Because I enjoy experimenting with different flavors offered by various woods. But my friends and parents say that it is a bad idea. Is it? I thought that it was better to take an opinion from others before making the decision.

I ended up with a kamado Big Joe and the pizza oven accessory. It can get to a max temp of 375C. It’s good enough for now. 18 months we’ve probably had 6-8 pizza nights. I’ve used as a smoker/grill way more than a pizza oven.

I still wish a masonry medium size one would appear on my back patio but it just wouldn’t get used that much right now in my current stage of life.

 

[gthomas785]

But my friends and parents say that it is a bad idea.

Why do they think it's a bad idea? Like it's a waste of money or ???

If you enjoy making pizza and you have the space and wood available, a wood fired pizza oven can be a lot of fun. . It definitely takes time to get the oven fired up so it's probably not practical for making just 1 pizza at a time on a weeknight. You'd want to throw a pizza party or at least make an evening out of it and sit around the fire once the pizza is done. Just something to think about. But if it's your hobby and you get enjoyment out of it, why not? Don't let negative people bring you down so easily.

 

[walhondingnashua]

I'm having a hard time getting the link to share...
I subscribe to a YouTube channel called Black Spruce. He has a couple videos where he built an outdoor kitchen style cooker and then made some conversions to cook pizza or smoke with it. Its nothing top end and he talked about changes he needs to make but may be a good place to start with some simpler ideas.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I bet you could do French bread pizza in your wood stove. Just change the wood you loaded up for the burn. The stove is already hot!