DIY Pizza Oven

Love pizza even more than before with a wood fire pizza oven of your own!

What you will need:

  • Builder’s sand
  • General purpose sand
  • Cement
  • Concrete
  • Open-bottom bucket/pot (optional)
  • Trowel
  • Bricks
  • Large cellophane sheet
  • Some old pieces of wood or foam
  • Chipboard (outdoor board, or it will warp)
  • Wooden pallet
  • Drill
  • Wood screws
  • Wood saw

Method:

  1. Start by laying down the pallet in your desired location. Make sure it’s level.
  2. Use the wood saw to cut a section from the chipboard so that it fits the pallet base exactly.
  3. Now cut additional strips of chipboard at about 50mm wide to form a perimeter around the top of the pallet. This is meant to hold the concrete, so try to avoid large gaps.
  4. Now mix the concrete and pour/scoop it into the wooden mould you made with the chipboard. You can use a long wooden baton or plank to smooth out the top of the concrete. This will form the floor of your oven, so the smoother the better.
  5. Start layering your bricks before permanently fixing them into place.
  6. Your arch needs to be around two-thirds of the height of the oven. This is where you use the foam. Cut it into the shape of an arch for the bricks to rest on during construction.
  7. Now start by fixing your bricks into place on top of the concrete floor. Mix your cement with the builder’s sand at a ratio of 1:3. Only form the first layer of bricks and the arch at this stage.
  8. Lay the cellophane sheet across the base layer and begin to fill with general purpose sand. This will form a sand support on the inside of the oven while the cement dries. By wrapping the sand in cellophane, you prevent sand from sticking to the oven walls.
  9. Continue cementing bricks into place, layering them against the sand support as you go. You should also cement the pot or bucket in place to form the chimney. Make sure this is slightly higher than your arch opening.
  10. Use concrete again and spread it across the entire outside of the pizza oven. This provides a neater finish and more insulation.
  11. Give it a couple of days to dry and then remove the foam support under the arch. This will give you access to the sand support. Carefully cut open the side of the bag and begin scooping out the sand. Once most of the sand has been removed, just pull out the entire cellophane bag.
  12. Give it a good cleaning, allow to dry and presto!