How to Build a Wood Fired Pizza Oven in Your Backyard?

Do you love eating pizza? That’s right. We all love pizza. Life will be more enjoyable if you can cook pizzas in the backyard. To enjoy that build a wood-fired pizza oven!

Building a wood-fired pizza oven is not easy to do. If you consider your backyard a party area, you might need to build one. Wood-fired pizza ovens are unique by nature. It is the most ancient way to cook pizzas. Before building a backyard wood-fired pizza oven you need to consider the location of the oven area, which materials are suitable, time consumption, and cost. You will find a detailed discussion about building a simple wood-fired pizza oven in your backyard in this article. Keep reading.

What is Wood Fired Pizza Oven?

We all know what a pizza oven is. What does it look like? Well, a wood-fired pizza oven is different. It has a lot more advantages than a regular pizza oven.

This kind of pizza oven is often found in outdoor areas like backyards of houses. It is a solid structure of mostly brick and cement. The fuel of this oven is burning wood. No gas or electricity is needed to cook. Totally a natural way to make pizza. Do you have a wood-fired pizza oven in your backyard? If not, then find out how to build one.

How to Make One in Your Backyard?

Before making an outdoor pizza oven, you need tools and planning first. It is not an easy-to-make structure. But following proper guidelines will bring you a good result and your hardship will be decreased.

Tools and materials

Basic construction tools will cover this project. But you must arrange these materials and tools to build it properly.

All of these will be found in any builder’s merchant.

• Concrete mix
• Cement mixer
• Large and small cement trowels
• Crout bag
• Welder
• Circular saw
• Safety glasses and rubber work gloves
• Shovel
• Tape measure
• 8-inch cinderblocks
• Exterior grade plywood
• Angle iron
• Rebar
• Brick tile
• 140 to 200 fire bricks.
• Around 40 arch bricks.
• Heatproof screeds.
• Ceramic fiberboard.
• Ceramic fiber blankets.
• Ceramic fiber adhesive.
• Wire mesh.
• Outdoor oven cement.

Planning and locating

Before building any structure, make a plan and set your mind on when, where, and how you are going to build it. Without planning is like you are stuck or drowning in the ocean. Unlike a bar-b-q maker, you may not move an outside pizza oven from place to place. So planning must be the first step.

Choose an appropriate location to build the oven. This area must be suitable for both summer and winter seasons. Easy to access with a large seating area and half sunlight half shadow. Also safe for gathering in the rainy season.

Measure the area to decide how big your oven will be. If you have a large number of family members then make a big one so that you can make a minimum of 3 pizzas at a time. The surrounding place must be big enough for sitting. If the gathering is small then make 2 feet by 4 feet oven to make it compact.

More importantly, how long it will take to build a wood-fired pizza oven? It depends on which materials you are using and in which weather you pick to build it. In this article, we will instruct you to build a brick and concrete-based structure as it is the most reliable and cost-friendly. So, you need to start building in the summer season when the weather is high in humidity. This helps the concrete dry soon.

Mixing materials

Now, start mixing cement with a mixer. Add clay and sand to make a stronger concrete mixer. Take all three materials in a bucket, put water, and keep puddling. Puddle it more and more until it becomes thick like quicksand. It is not so wet nor too hard to use with bricks.

Start building the structure by fitting bricks one by one and sticking them with the mixer of concrete. This concrete mixer will act like paper gum, holding the bricks together.

Supporting platform

Now, it is time to make the foundation of the pizza oven. This foundation needs to be solid. Make a plinth-like frame that is strong enough. I would suggest making an L-shaped structure. This structure is common in the kitchen also. It will make the oven area handy and provide countertop space. Burning will be safe and the smoke will not bother your eyes. Build the foundation high enough maintaining to your standing height.

It will take 4 to 6 hours to dry out solid. Now, put more concrete mixers on the base wall foundation. This will protect the structure and give it a shape.

Making a round hollow oven area

This part is crucial. It is the heart of the oven. The dome area.

This round-sized hollow area is the main place where pizza will be cooked. To build that you need to make a dome mold to give it a shape. Use clay and sand to construct the dome. Build it center on the plinth you have already built and slowly construct the dome up like a giant sand fortress. This dome will take 2 hours to dry out solid. Then remove the mold softly.

Now, roll out your hands and the puddled clay withstand mixing. Then build them in circles around the sand dome and start from the base. Work the clay lengths into each other then smooth the outside with your hands. The layer should be thick. Leave the clay to dry for 3 to 4 hours.

Build a suitable floor

You must build the cooking floor even and smooth. This place decides how delicious your pizzas will be.

Originally the plan was to use sand on the floor for the oven. Sand definitely could work well. The component should not be compact. The structure must support heat flow by using screed layers all around the dome and floor area. Try to make the floor structure as if the heat can catch pizzas from 3 different sides.

Making a strong entrance

The oven entrance is an important part of this project. It must be wide and strong. Remember what size of pizzas you like. Also, consider which plate you use to place the pizza. If it is a wooden plate with a handle, then make a big mouth for the entrance. Now, use ceramic fiberboard and ceramic fiber blankets to support. The size and shape of the entrance will look like an igloo house.

Keep a space right on top of it. Here you need to fit a chimney. A chimney will help to ventilate air with smoke. The chimney must be long to enjoy a clean environment.

Decorate the outlook

Alter building the whole wood-fired pizza oven in your backyard, don’t you think it should be decorated? Yes, decorating your outdoor pizza oven is necessary. Look, it is outside of your house and people are going to see it. So make sure you decorate it with a nice painting or sticker on it. You can also use graffiti art to make it more attractive.

Decorating your backyard pizza oven will show your artistic mind and sense of humor.

Safety Precautions

Before building a wood-fired pizza oven, take safety precautions. Use all tools and materials wearing hand gloves. Do not use heavier tools. Remember, this is not single-hand work. So, better your pick someone able to help you.

When you dry use the oven, use a safety helmet. Do not use huge amounts of wood at the beginning. Do not use paper or flammable liquids and objects near the oven. Make sure you set the chimney under the open sky. Do not set the chimney under your roof or a tree. Keep your kids and pets away from the oven mouth as they get curious and the oven mouth is wide enough.

✨ You May like: How Long Do Inflatable Decorations Last?

Is a Wood Fired Pizza Oven better?

Gas and electric ovens cook with direct heat. These elements heat your food. A pizza oven fired by wood traps heat. Heat goes indirectly at high temperatures which creates a singed crust and a rustic, smoky flavor you simply cannot enjoy any other way.

Wood-fired oven makes the flexibility of flavor. As a pizza oven burns different kinds of wood, you can host new flavors by changing the category of logs you use. Cherry will create a different flavor than apple wood or another variability. They are more authentic than electric or gas ovens. In ancient history, humankind used wood to burn and cook. This is the most natural and proper method of cooking.

The result is a hotter and faster cooking method. In a wood-fired oven, the pizza will take only minutes to cook and the heat is even because it radiates from the dome, walls, and tiles of the oven. The dough is cooked to the perfect texture crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.

FAQs

1. Is it worth building a pizza oven?

Yes, it is worth enough to build a pizza oven in the backyard. These pizza ovens can make tons of pizzas and taste just as good as restaurant quality without any price tag. Soon enough, you’ll have saved enough money simply by eating homemade pizzas. That’s why pizza ovens are so worth it.

2. Can you construct a pizza oven with normal bricks?

The answer to the question is, you can use traditional clay bricks to build a pizza oven. They will work the same and if you are only going to be using it a few times a year then it makes sense to go down this route. You can even use reclaimed bricks or bricks from a demolished house.

3. Do fire bricks hold heat?

Dense refractory bricks have a high thermal mass which is sometimes a useful property in that they will retain heat in a pizza oven after the fire has been taken out.

Final Thoughts

Having a backyard pizza oven that runs on wood is so delightful. Enjoy a nice evening with your friends and family and serve pizza at the dinner. To enjoy that, build your pizza oven.

Make a plan to select a perfect place for the base structure. Arrange all the tools and materials you need to build it. Now, make a concrete mixer and build the foundation of brick. Cover the body of that foundation. Construct the cooking area or the dome of the oven.

Add a chimney and paint the whole thing with a nice decoration. Take safety precautions to avoid any accidents.

This article may help you with the basic ideas and give you instructions to build a backyard wood-fired pizza oven. If it does not benefit you then try the expert’s suggestions. Hope you will enjoy your outdoor evening with a yummy wood-fired pizza Article looks good. The focus is solid and to the point. Just has some wording problems making the article difficult to understand in 1 or 2 places. The pictures are very good and make understanding the article easier.

✨ Next Attraction: How to Create Shade Without Tree in Backyard?