Pizza oven and BBQ in Sutton

[carlgrigg]

Hi all

    She who must be obeyed has decided we need a BBQ and pizza oven on the patio. We don't have a large patio so size may be an issue but I am giving it a go. Until last Saturday I had never laid a brick in anger but do have friends who have so that's not a problem and with recourses such as this forum for technical details what could possibly go wrong :*).

    Just off to research forum rules on images and will put up my very basic design.

20150413_093106 by carl.grigg, on Flickr

Please excuse my drawing skills, drawing obviously not to scale but hopefully gives folk an idea of what I have in mind,

BBQ on the left with oil drum lid shortened if needed then Pizza oven in the little house.

Base build with engineering bricks, surface either more bricks or thermalite blocks tiled where exposed.

BBQ surround brick or steel researching if fire directly on thermolite sensible or would I need steel floor.

Pizza oven still researching thinking barrel covered in firebricks then ceramic fibre blanket.

Base of oven more firebricks obviously researching if more insulation under the floor before thermolites is needed / desirable.

Chimney / flue whatever steel tube I can find if I can disguise it with bricks and a pot all the better but if not stove paint.

Time scale hopefully fully operational for party 1st August

Budget not large but willing to spend cash where needed

All comments and suggestions gratefully received.

Cheers

Carl

[bethgrylls]

Carl...

Looks good...

Are you in Sutton (West Mids)??

[rivergirl]

Oh nice one! When you have finished practising on yours you are welcome here to do mine!

[jrb103]

Looking at the depth you have allowed for the oven 600mm overall I don't think you have enough room allowing for finish render insulation and firebrick dome/vault minimum would be about 200mm then at the front you need vent etc. I don't know how small an oven you can build but I think you would struggle with those dimensions.

[ducky]

Hi Carl

here's a picture of the base I built before I put the oven on. the oven base is 1200 square. I put an oven of 600mm internal diameter on it and it didn't leave much room for insulating it.

[carlgrigg]

No the Sutton I live in is in Surrey

I am getting a little worried about the depth but trying to do the best with the space I have. The overall depth is limited by the steps to the garden and the L shape means people can still access the garden when the BBQ / Oven is in use. Other options I am considering are 1) turning oven 90 degrees limiting width but allowing more depth or 2) Swapping sides for BBQ / oven and putting a diagonal across the corner. 

Progress is a little slow owing to weather other commitments and believe it or not my local Selco selling out of engineering bricks, I went to Wickes on the same estate to see if by any chance theirs where a close enough match and they had sold out as well. No matter pick up supplies in the week and get a good run at it on the weekend.

Thanks for the input

Cheers

Carl 

[carlgrigg]

Not been keeping this thread up to date but have been busy with the build.
As I have not laid brick before decided it would be foolish to attempt a brick arch so ...

20150607_160701 by carl.grigg, on Flickr

And guess what it appears to have worked.

As mentioned earlier I was a little nervous regarding dimensions and comments by jrb103 convinced me I needed a different layout

20150701_192824 by carl.grigg, on Flickr

The surface is made from thermalite blocks supported with steel and the intention is to tile the edge of the blocks, any visible surface and possibly a small splashback.



The fire bricks arrived today so am getting a very good idea of how its going to look. I intend to line the inside of the oil drum with 32mm fire bricks then cover the whole thing in Ceramic Fire blanket followed by chicken wire and Vitcas fire cement.

Just need to find out how difficult cutting the firebricks is going to be and am considering placing a sheet of vermiculite board or something similar underneath to protect the blocks from direct heat and possibly make leveling the oven floor easier.

[carlgrigg]

20150817_184641 by carl.grigg, on Flickr

Oven is now fully functional, not finished but functional. If I ever build another I would learn more about chimney design in an attempt to get less smoke coming out the door but it is not bad enough to change this one.
My advice to anybody thinking of building one is go for it, I chose an easy design and only had space for a small oven so was not a big project but if I can do it most people can.

I am very pleased to say managed to hit my deadline of getting it ready to fire in time for a practice run (in fact 2) before our party. The first pizza I made in it was the best pizza I have ever made, possibly not the best pizza I have ever tasted but just means I need to practice. Got through 6KG of dough at the party but did not have time to count the pizzas we let people built their own and where cooking them in 2 to 3 minutes.

Was planning some decorative touches this weekend but was talked into my first roast, being dying to try one but did not expect the wife to invite guests. I did a Porchetta that fed 9 people with generous portions, overcooked but learned a lot doing it.

20150816_143447 by carl.grigg, on Flickr

After cooking put the door in and plugged the chimney, after guests left emptied the oven and put wood in to dry a little for next use. Got home from work today and the oven is still over 40C.

[oblertone]

Great set up and nice looking pork. May I suggest that next time you do a roast it gets a 30min 'sear' at high temp (250c +), then remove the embers, let the oven cool to 180c then put your roast back in and put the door in place. A pork shoulder will sit there quite happily for hours, I've done it overnight but four hours gets good results.

[carlgrigg]

Thanks for the hint will bear that in mind for next time.