How to Build a Pizza Oven at Home

By Robert Parsons May 11, 2023

Cooking at home can become monotonous if you do it regularly, causing it to feel more like a chore. It can be difficult to find new recipes to keep your family interested, especially if they are picky eaters. This challenge may make the cooking experience quite tiring.

Constructing a DIY pizza oven can be a fun way to increase creativity and enjoyment in making food. Additionally, it presents an opportunity to gather the family together for a rewarding challenge. The finished product will allow for the creation of delicious flame-cooked pizzas on any occasion.

Building Your Pizza Oven

To begin with, selecting an ideal location for your pizza oven is crucial. Whether you prefer your garden or the corner of your patio, it’s essential to choose a spot that you will enjoy spending time in.

To build your homemade pizza oven, you should first choose a preferred location and then gather the necessary materials such as brick and clay. It is recommended to combine these two materials for a more sturdy structure that can withstand weather conditions. The following are the materials required:

  • – 20 cinder blocks, or 6 to 8 large square concrete slabs
  • – 11 pounds of cement
  • – Approximately 40 bricks
  • – 440 pounds of builder’s sand
  • – Glass bottles (approximately 20 to 30 wine bottles)
  • – 385 pounds of clay
  • – 13 pounds of wood shavings
  • – Pebbles, big stones, and rubble
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Instructions

To make your own brick pizza oven, gather a wagon or wheelbarrow, a large amount of water, and the materials you’ve collected.

  • 1. First step, you need to build the base of your oven. Use either concrete slabs or cinder blocks to create a hollow and sturdy square shape. Imagine a 3D cube with the top face removed. This space will be where you put your materials underneath the pizza oven. Cement can be used to attach the cinder blocks or slabs together, similar to making a concrete sandwich.
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  • 2. Place a layer of rubble and stone followed by a layer of sand in the center of your concrete square. Arrange your glass bottles flat next to each other on top of the sand. 
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  • 3. It’s time to fill in the missing side of your cube with the remaining concrete slabs or cinder blocks. This step is crucial for insulation, so make sure it fits tightly. 
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  • 4. To build the dome for your pizza oven, take 265 pounds of sand and shape it into a dome at the center of the oven floor. The dome should be around 18 inches in height and 32 inches in diameter. After shaping the sand, cover it with newspaper to prevent it from drying up while molding the clay. 
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  • 5. Create a thick tube shape with clay around the base of the dome, resembling a sausage. Then, mold the rest of the clay around the dome accordingly. Remember to wait for about 4 hours for the clay to completely dry before proceeding with any further steps.
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  • 6. Next, cut a semi-circle-shaped door using a kitchen knife that can fit a pizza tray. It should not be too big. Then, build a brick-wall rim around the door. Cut a large hole behind the brick arch for the oven’s chimney.
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  • 7. You need to add two more layers of insulation to your dome. The recommended material for the first layer is a mixture of wood shavings, cement, and water. Once it’s dry, you can apply the second layer using sand, cement, and water.
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  • 8. After your homemade pizza oven has completely dried, you can start using it by lighting a fire. Put some newspaper, firewood, or coal near the opening of the oven. This will help to start the fire. Use the pizza tray to move the fuel source toward the back of the oven.
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  • 9. Finally, bring in your pizza.
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Conclusion

If you have set up a brick pizza oven in your backyard, you can enjoy spending quality time with your family around it frequently. However, building it can be a messy and laborious task that requires effort.

If the task of making homemade fire-cooked dishes seems difficult, you can consider buying a professional-grade pizza oven for your backyard kitchen. This way, you can enjoy the authenticity of fire-cooked dishes in the comfort of your own home and you might even prefer it over ordering takeout.