Modern Design - Ambitious new oven build

[guym]

18 March 2020

So it unexpectedly looks like I'll be working at home for the next few weeks...

It also wasn't raining at the weekend so I managed to get out and dig over the area in front of the oven and get some new grass seed sown. A mix of occasional showers and then some sunny warmer weather over the next few weeks would be ideal please.

Two builders bags of logs get dropped off this evening... everything is nearly ready! Just need to wait a few months for the grass to grow and we'll be about there.

Still some final tweaking to do - the brickwork still needs a good clean, and the worktop needs a few mortar patch repairs.

Can't decide whether to paint it or leave as brickwork - what do you think? Thoughts welcome...

ps. struggling to post images/ photos. Any known bugs?

[truckcab79]

Not sure you’ve fully understood ‘working from home’.  

[nicebut]

Great work and think hold fire on the paint until you have everything else in place.... Mine is moving on until today when the builders merchants have closed and my delivery postponed until the 14th April.... I am hoping to have mine up and running by summer.... mine is being made from the garden clay....

[guym]

16th March 2020

Dug over the area in front of the oven ready for grass seed

[guym]

March / April 2020 - Coronavirus Lockdown

The warm and sunny weather which coincided with the start of the Coronavirus lockdown turned out to be pretty much ideal growing conditions for the grass seed. It also provided a good opportunity to get outside and start using the oven. We had some logs delivered and started using it...

















We've had three proper outside cooking sessions so far. What have we learnt...?

1. Get the oven and floor very hot before cooking - dome to be clear of soot
2. As earlier forum support suggested - cooking more than one pizza at a time is tricky! Ours seem to cook in less than 2 minutes - so quite easy to work around
3. Have your top-up wood ready and close to hand. We're finding that at full tilt the oven can happily take an extra log or 2 every 15-20 minutes to keep it at a constant temperature
4. I haven't mastered the art of transferring an uncooked pizza from the peel to the oven floor - this needs more practice!

...other than that - it's all working out really well. The pizza is delicious and retains its heat once out of the oven. And the characteristics of cheese, herbs and meat cooked so quickly is really what sets it apart.

Will try and post a breakdown of what the oven cost in the next few days...

Stay safe!

[guym]

My personal favorite pizza is this...

Base Layer
- Passata
- Cows Milk Mozzarella - never Buffalo (too delicate for Pizza)

Topping
- Salami Napoli
- Dolcelatte cheese - relatively small amount
- White onion - finely sliced
- One Black Olive in the centre (!)

Herbs
- Fresh and Dried Oregano
- Dried Chilli Flakes - Small amount
- Capers - Small amount
- Fresh Basil (top tip - empty your mozzarella and brine into a small bowl. Keep the brine. Put any fresh herbs you intend to use on the pizza into the Mozzarella water. This way the herbs don't burn when cooking)

Seasoning
- Fresh ground black pepper
- Grated Parmesan
- Extra virgin olive oil or Truffle Oil if you're feeling extravagant

[guym]

SOUND ON - A few brief videos hosted here which better show some of the finished results...

Some of the earlier fires here...

Some other recent Italian cooking shenanigans here also...

[simonh]

nice

I use a wooden peel to get the pizza into the over, plenty of semolina on it, put the dough on and build the pizza directly on the peel, couple of shakes as it is ready to go into the oven to get it moving then pull back in one swift movement.

I use a pipe to blow the ash of the floor to stop the bottoms getting gritty as well

[guym]

So, what did it cost to build?

Labour      £0
Bricks       £0
Cement    £0
Sand        £0
Ballast      £0
Rebar       £0
Insulation £0

We appreciate that all of above is really a false economy! We did of course pay for these materials when we did our kitchen extension - but those costs were sunk into that project at that time and these were leftover - so we're kind of glossing over that! Part of the inspiration/ challenge here was to find an interesting way use up those materials.

Here's what we actually spent money on...

Insulated Pizza Dome (good quality but with issues!)      £40.00
42% Aluminia Fire Bricks                                              £58.00
2 x Calcium Silicate Boards                                           £34.95
Foil & Drawing Pins                                                        £2.60
Stainless Chimney Flue                                                 £14.24
Chimney Cowl                                                              £19.99
75 x Extra Bricks @ 30p each                                        £22.50
2 x 25kg Bags Cement                                                  £12.00
4 x Building Sand                                                           £7.40
4 x Concrete Gravel Boards @ £6 each                           £24.00
Fire Cement - Pre-mixed tub (small)                                £3.89
2 x Fire Cement (Big tubs)                                            £21.49
Fire Cement (Black Cartridge)                                         £4.60
Steel - Door Surround/ Roof Support                             £50.00
Decking Boards for bench seat                                      £10.00
Large MDF sheet for shuttering                                     £20.00

GRAND TOTAL                                                            £345.66

Ambition was to do this for free/ cost neutral. So far we've only sold some roof tiles for £90 - which brings us in at £255.66 all in. We're happy with that!

Overall, despite all the digging, humping heavy materials around and standing out in the cold and rain - it's been a great experience. And at the end of it we've got a working pizza oven for £255!

[guym]

Thanks Simon - Top tip, will definitely try that. Cheers!

[slen916]

just a quick tip, for the bits of wood used to top the fire when cooking. i use a couple of bits at a time( about 40 mm ish dia ) and put them in the oven (opposite side to the fire) a couple of minutes before to really warm up so when you transfer them on to the fire they flame up almost instantly. helps keep the flames licking over the top of the dome.

[oblertone]

Semolina (as mentioned above) is the answer to all of your peel/oven transfer issues, use it liberally and forget the school days as it really is an excellent lubricant. What's more, encourage your guests to build their own as it gives you a nice break and allows the floor to heat up again between pizzas. Just unsure they use lots of semolina on the slab whilst stretching and filling their creations.

[guym]

10 May 2020

Just a quick note to say thanks for the advice from SimonH, Slen916 and Oblertone. A quick dig in the cupboard unearthed the perfect wooden chopping board for the job. Liberally coated with Grain Polenta it worked like a dream. There's still a definite knack to it - and you have to work quickly - but much better. Then returned to the metal peel for removing and turning.

Also used the log technique - and as you can see below - the flames really started to lick the dome. This was still not quite up to temperature - at full tilt it was definitely cooking the pizzas in well under 2 minutes - probably closer to 90 seconds!

Final photo shows the build so far. Looking okay now that the grass in front has started to come through. Leaning towards leaving it unpainted - so just need to clean up the brickwork a little and do some patching in. Built the pizzas on the outside worktop for the first time this weekend too. Having everything to hand so close is going to become a the next trick. Practice makes perfect, but so far so good.