I’ve been thinking about building a wood fired pizza oven for a few years. In doing so I spent a lot of time searching online, and realised in the process just how many other people share a passion for home-cooking a really good pizza (or five).
Pizza is a favourite food for so many – and yet there is only one way to cook it. Wood fired at searing temperature. Why did it take me 20 years to discover this?
Pizza is something that my wife and three boys have also become fanatical about. Dad’s “special pizza” has become a weekly family ritual – and pizza a food group in it’s own right in our family!
I am keen to take this on another level and build my own Pizza Oven (my poor conventional oven has tried its best to get beyond 250 degrees C, and I’ve tried stones etc.. to no avail). Now don’t get me wrong you can get good results that way, but no matter the technique used, it’s just not quite the same.
So where to start? We rent a house in Sydney Australia – so once resolved to start on a wood fired pizza oven, I realised that my aspirations would need to wait - unless that is I could somehow get portability into my design.
Imagine the possibilities offered by a truly portable wood-fired pizza oven!
Home or away, kids (and adult) parties, fundraising at the kids school, round at friends places… I began to be tantalised and then seduced by the idea that I could do this, indeed that anyone should be able to access wood fired pizza!
So began my crusade for the mobilisation of the simple wood-fired oven – and this blog is about sharing some resources and experiences as the project develops. I hope it provides some inspiration for anyone tempted to have a go.
Enjoy!
Simon Morgan, May 2009
Hi Simon! I’m Albert from Barcelona. I’ve been searching the net on how to make my own wood fired oven, and I wanted it to be portable. Today I found yours and let me say that it’s gorgeus! I’ve seen lots of different ovens around the net and definetly this one is the best! Hope you don’t mind if I get some ideas of it to build mine!
Great job.
Albert.
Hey Albert, as they say in this part of the world “fill yer’ boots” - let me know how you go. Cheers
Simon
Hi,
Fantastic website, I’ve nearly got all the materials to start building….
I’m from ’sunny’ Edinburgh and just wanted to know if the oven is water / weatherproof or do I need to cover it with a roof or heat resitant paint.
Alan
Hi Alan
thanks for the feedback. I don’t think it is particularly weatherproof - would definitely need some kind of treatment, and possibly a cover.
One tip - if you have the hebel bricks or equivalent, I reckon you could use a tile rather than clay pavers as the heat face. I’m thinking of re-doing the ‘top half’ this way to try and keep the weight down. Also I’m finding that the oven is not quite big enough, so want to use as much of the free space as possible and will make the oven as big as I can (i built the frame so it would fit up the garden path).
Send some photos!
Cheers
Simon