Outdoor Kitchens/ My wood fired oven build

[sxtasy]

My company builds outdoor kitchens and living spaces. I've been pretty fortunate to work on some pretty fun projects, like built in bbq's:
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a122/justin240/IMG_2091.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a122/justin240/IMG_2207.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a122/justin240/IMG_2210.jpg


And outdoor fireplaces and patios (built the wood box out of firebrick in herringbone pattern):
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a122/justin240/IMG_1778-1.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a122/justin240/IMG_1779-1.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a122/justin240/IMG_2217-1.jpg



My current project on the go is an Italian Style wood fired brick pizza oven. I downloaded the free plans from www.fornobravo.com
There is a forums there and pretty much all the information needed for people to build their own.

Information I have gathered about the ovens, temps can reach 800+ degrees, cooking temperatures can be maintained for 12+ hrs (you can bake bread the morning after a fire) and cook a pizza in two minutes.

My motivation:
tEZKJY7vJAE

[sxtasy]

On to the build, here is the concept for the stand for the oven. A very basic drawing (still learning sketchup) with wood storage under the oven:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a122/justin240/Pizza%20oven%20build/AutoSave_pizzaoven.jpg

And here is the space I am working with, kind of small but just means we will have to have to be efficient with the footprint of the oven:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a122/justin240/Pizza%20oven%20build/IMG_2046.jpg

Notice the orange tarps overhead (still raining lots here), they will be giving most of my photos a lovely orange hue:nut:

[sxtasy]

Laid out the block stand, drilled holes into the pad and doweled vertical rebars into the pad to help tie the pours together:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a122/justin240/Pizza%20oven%20build/IMG_2060.jpg



After the block stand is at height I core filled all of the blocks with concrete. Doing this in two pours helps give me something solid to attach my countertop forms to as well as makes bending the rebar over into the slab much easier.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a122/justin240/Pizza%20oven%20build/IMG_2066.jpg
At this point, the forming is pretty much done except for vertical support under the overhangs.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a122/justin240/Pizza%20oven%20build/IMG_2068.jpg

[Guillermo]

fucking awesome! i plan to do this same thing once I can get enough money to buy an actual house instead of a condo. i hope you post up some pics of all the awesome stuff you make this summer. :thumbsup:

oh, and that looks like a super cool job, too!

[Kloubek]

Totally ballin. That'll be insane.

[sxtasy]

4" concrete countertops:
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a122/justin240/Pizza%20oven%20build/IMG_2074.jpg


The concrete cured overnight then stripped the sides of the forms off and wet sanded to give the slab a little bit of texture:
before
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a122/justin240/Pizza%20oven%20build/IMG_2076.jpg

after
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a122/justin240/Pizza%20oven%20build/IMG_2080.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a122/justin240/Pizza%20oven%20build/IMG_2089.jpg


Now the slab needs about a week curing before the vertical supports are removed

[sxtasy]

Thanks guys!

Stonework time, we faced the block walls with 5" thick natural sandstone, hand chiseling each piece and even rounding the sandstone to the same arc as the countertops:
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a122/justin240/Pizza%20oven%20build/IMG_2093.jpg


I found a nice big rock to serve as a one piece header over the wood box:
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a122/justin240/Pizza%20oven%20build/IMG_2092.jpg

[ExtraSlow]

Fucking awesome, keep the pics coming.

[sxtasy]

Time to layout the oven, I am using standard size refractory fire brick (can be found at IXL) and the floor is sitting on 2" of fireproof insulation board. As per the plans, I am using a herringbone pattern for the oven floor so as to reduce the hard edges that might snag a pizza crust:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a122/justin240/Pizza%20oven%20build/IMG_2099.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a122/justin240/Pizza%20oven%20build/IMG_2101.jpg

[sxtasy]

After the oven floor is done, I built the oven entry opening:
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a122/justin240/Pizza%20oven%20build/IMG_3777.jpg

And then the dome starts,

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a122/justin240/Pizza%20oven%20build/IMG_3786.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a122/justin240/Pizza%20oven%20build/IMG_3788.jpg

[sxtasy]

More of the dome under construction:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a122/justin240/Pizza%20oven%20build/IMG_3789.jpg


http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a122/justin240/Pizza%20oven%20build/IMG_3790.jpg


Used styrofoam forms once the oven was near the top, at this point it gets tricky as the dome radius gets tighter, the compound cuts get more extreme. I widened up the joints and used a more coarse mortar to speed things up a bit. After the oven is used a few times the brickwork will be blackened in soot anyways:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a122/justin240/Pizza%20oven%20build/IMG_3796.jpg

[sxtasy]

The dome is complete! It was a pretty good feeling, pulled the forms out immediately so the inside could be cleaned up from the mortar:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a122/justin240/Pizza%20oven%20build/IMG_3803.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a122/justin240/Pizza%20oven%20build/IMG_3805.jpg

[sxtasy]

Now it needs to sit and cure for a few days, then it needs to be cured further with fires, each one increasing in temperature. Still quite a few steps to go, I have to build the chimney out front of the oven, the dome needs to be insulated, then it gets a scratch coat layer, then it will be clad in tile. Stay tuned for more progress :D

[bourge73]

That is brilliant work man. Wood fired everything is going to be killer. So your going to open a late night, after the bar, "beyond wood fired pizza stand" right?

[VWEvo]

:eek: Wow, very cool build. I never realized how much work goes into one of these.

[C_Dave45]

Sweet progress pics, SX. Looking forward to the finished product! A lot of hours in that project. Very nice work.



Originally posted by bourge73
That is brilliant work man. Wood fired everything is going to be killer. So your going to open a late night, after the bar, "beyond wood fired pizza stand" right?

Sure..if you wanna fly out to the Island after last call! ;)

[Guillermo]

Originally posted by bourge73
That is brilliant work man. Wood fired everything is going to be killer. So your going to open a late night, after the bar, "beyond wood fired pizza stand" right?

i'd volunteer to help out with the pies. here's a Nick and Vito's clone from a couple of weeks ago:


http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/7092/s008vf.jpg

http://img862.imageshack.us/img862/9655/s006p.jpg

http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/7614/s007g.jpg

[sxtasy]

Originally posted by bourge73
That is brilliant work man. Wood fired everything is going to be killer. So your going to open a late night, after the bar, "beyond wood fired pizza stand" right?
haha good idea, i bet a wood fired pizza joint would do pretty well in Calgary


Originally posted by VWEvo
:eek: Wow, very cool build. I never realized how much work goes into one of these.
Yup pretty time consuming, took 4 days from the floor of the oven to finishing the dome


Originally posted by C_Dave45
Sweet progress pics, SX. Looking forward to the finished product! A lot of hours in that project. Very nice work.




Sure..if you wanna fly out to the Island after last call! ;) Thanks Dave, I might need some tiling tips for over the dome



Originally posted by Guillermo


i'd volunteer to help out with the pies. here's a Nick and Vito's clone from a couple of weeks ago:

Dam those pies look good

:drool:

[legendboy]

wow man you have some skill! I wish i could work with stone and brick like that!

awesome job

[core_upt]

Nice work! That's awesome!

[shanxk8]

Originally posted by sxtasy

And here is the space I am working with, kind of small but just means we will have to have to be efficient with the footprint of the oven:

Roughly how big is your oven and the footprint of base? We've been talking about building one of these, but one concern I have is the large footprint would split out yard into 2.

I really like the design you came up with for your base.

[adidas]

Im surprised there is no vent to exhaust the gases.

Amazing stuff tho, will keep an eye on this thread for sure.

[spacerz]

Now that is what I call talent. You've got some neat projects there. :thumbsup:

[CapnCrunch]

Cool. How often are you going to use it?

[sxtasy]

Thanks for the compliments, its actually easier to build than it looks, lots of homeowners do great jobs building their own.


Originally posted by shanxk8


Roughly how big is your oven and the footprint of base? We've been talking about building one of these, but one concern I have is the large footprint would split out yard into 2.

I really like the design you came up with for your base.
The inside diameter of the oven is 36", which is about enough space to fit two pizzas and a fire. Once you add the thickness of the brick, chimney, insulation and whatever you want to clad it with you are about 5' front to back. I have seen some nice corner built designs that might leave your yard more open. If I were to do another one and I had a little more space to work with, I think I would build a circular seating area/countertop table close to the oven.


Originally posted by adidas
Im surprised there is no vent to exhaust the gases.

Amazing stuff tho, will keep an eye on this thread for sure.
I started building the vent today, it actually sits in front of the oven unlike a traditional fireplace.

[project240]

Great build!

I'm toying with the idea of building an outdoor fireplace this summer and this thread is sure to provide a bit of info/inspiration.

Keep the pics and updates coming!!

[sxtasy]

^^ You should build one, I think you would be amazed at how much heat a masonry box throws out, much more than a prefabbed store bought one. It will last much longer outdoors as well.

This is a good place to start: http://www.rumford.com/

And a rumford is quite easy to build.



The chimney is now complete, it is essentially another arch sitting in front of the oven with a void in the top and clay flue liners stacked on top of that. All that is left to do is insulate it all and clad it. Started some small curing fires too:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a122/justin240/Pizza%20oven%20build/IMG_3824.jpg


http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a122/justin240/Pizza%20oven%20build/IMG_3825.jpg


http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a122/justin240/Pizza%20oven%20build/IMG_3828.jpg

[forced14]

Just curious if there are any updates. That is looking fantastic, I want to see what the finished project looks like!

Another thing I was wondering about, are there any regulations with regards to building something like this? Ex. does it need to be a certain distance from the house / fence?

[TomcoPDR]

Very cool, thanks for sharing.

[sxtasy]

An update! It's all done, finished it last week and just got the photos together:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a122/justin240/Pizza%20oven%20build/IMG_3842.jpg
Its quite a bit bigger now after all the layers. Everything was wrapped with 2 inches of insulation, including the clay flue chimney. After that it was all wrapped in diamond lathe and three layers of scratch coat was applied. We used a concrete sand and mixed in welbond glue for a strong scratch coat. Tiled the dome, used premix stucco for the chimney and chiseled a chimney cap out of stone. A lot of work, but happy with how it turned out.

Hopefully will have some more pics or video of making some delicious pizzas :D

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a122/justin240/Pizza%20oven%20build/IMG_3843.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a122/justin240/Pizza%20oven%20build/IMG_3840.jpg

[project240]

Looks great! I'm looking forward to some pics of the pizza after it's first use.

[npham]

That's awesome man. Great job.

[hurrdurr]

I wanna bump this for the pics since they're gone now :(