DIY Brick Pizza Ovens
- 1). Select the location of your brick pizza oven based on its practical use and fire safety concerns. Do not build your oven near fuel sources, flammable materials or dwellings.
- 2). Dig a hole about 18 to 24 inches deep and the full width and length of your oven with your shovel. Fill the hole with gravel or rocks. The idea of this stone foundation is to keep moisture from the oven and to provide a non-flammable base on which to burn.
- 3). Create a 40-inch-square cement platform over the stones on which to build the oven. Pour the cement and check that it is level. Place 4-by-8-by-16 inch cinder blocks on edge all the way around your cement base to create a perimeter wall. Cement them in place using your mortar and trowel. Place a second layer on top of these blocks in the same manner. Use your level to check that all is straight. Allow the mortar to dry completely, referring to the manufacturer's recommendations for dry times.
- 4). Fill the cinder block shell with sand and press it down gently until it fills the bottom layer completely. Leave about 4 inches of room on which you will pour a cement cap that sits even with the top of the cinder block frame. Wait up to five days before moving on with the project as the cement dries and sets properly.
- 5). Sprinkle sifted sand over the top of the cinder block base for the firebricks to rest on. Lay a row of firebrick to your preferred dimensions on top of the sand and check that it is level. Gently tap down any bricks that are not laying correctly with a hammer. Lay the first row of bricks longways from front to back. Lay the remaining rows longways from side to side behind this front row. Allow an inch or so of overhang for the front row of bricks. Do not set the bricks with mortar, but fit them together brick to brick with no space in between. Create a wall by stacking three layers of firebricks around the edge of the firebrick platform you have just laid. Make your brick cooking area large enough to fit the pizza you intend to cook. Make a three-sided wall which leaves enough space at the rear for cinder blocks to be placed around it, and which is open in the front to allow for oven access.
- 6). Install a pre-cut steel shelf and standard steel chimney pipe. The shelf should be constructed of 1/4-inch steel and should measure to the same width and length as your stacked firebrick walls with a 1 1/2 inch upward tilting lip which will hold it in place once the remaining bricks are stacked on top of it. Cut a hole to fit the chimney pipe through the center of the steel sheet using your cutting torch. Place the shelf and pipe atop the firebricks.
- 7). Build two more levels of cinder block wall around the firebricks in the same manner you did with the base of the oven. Leave a small space of about 1/8 inch between the cinder block wall and the firebricks at the oven opening. Once the cinder block wall has dried completely, pour cement into the space between it and the firebricks inside. A lightweight Perlite mix may be preferable for maximum insulation. Wait for the cement to dry completely before moving forward.
- 8). Pour cement and aggregate into a concrete mold to form the countertop. Wait for it to set before placing it atop the oven. Place a weather guard on top of the chimney pipe to protect the oven from rain. Cover the outer shell of the oven with ceramic tile or another heat-resistant finish.
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