Pizza Oven

[Remmie]

Anyone have one or even better made one? I am in the process of preparing to build a clay oven in the garden, fortunately with a friend who has made a couple before and knows what he is doing. Living in Milton Keynes and it being a new city, I am having trouble sourcing good old fashioned house bricks that retain heat well, one friend recommended using ceramic roof tiles, not sure if they will be any easier to source cheaply and locally. Any tips, photos etc? Can't wait until it's ready and I get to play with the peel and try the first one, it's going to be immense.

[Jose Jones]

Nice one Rem. I’d love to build a pizza oven in the garden – it’s on the “list”.

Can’t help you with the bricks though – got any builder mates who can filch some for you?

While we’re here, got any good dough recipes? Thin and light, like you get in old Italy?

[Remmie]

Nice one Rem. I’d love to build a pizza oven in the garden – it’s on the “list”.

Can’t help you with the bricks though – got any builder mates who can filch some for you?

While we’re here, got any good dough recipes? Thin and light, like you get in old Italy?

I got one builder mate, unfortunately he lives a couple hundred miles away and was recently made redundant. I might just rob an old brick wall somewhere!

 

As for dough recipes, I frequently forget the amounts, but know a few good tips. Get some fresh yeast from a bakery or I can get it free from Tesco in the Bakery section, it dissolves better and adds a richer flavour. Dissolve it in a mixture of honey/brown sugar and hand warm water stir and leave somewhere warm for 10-15 minutes until it bubbles. Then, if you can get ahold of it, add it to some sieved '00' flour. If like me you get the quantities of liquid and flour wrong, olive oil helps even things out when too dry so add a little liquid bit by bit until the consistency is a just short of perfect by being a little too dry and then use the olive oil. Give the dough a good hour to rise before baking. Wash equipment with cold water as it's less sticky then warmer water when mixed with flour. It's nice to incorporate any or all of the following into the dough: Oregano/Rosemary/ground pepper/ripped olives.

[Victor Ganges]

Anyone have one or even better made one? I am in the process of preparing to build a clay oven in the garden, fortunately with a friend who has made a couple before and knows what he is doing. Living in Milton Keynes and it being a new city, I am having trouble sourcing good old fashioned house bricks that retain heat well, one friend recommended using ceramic roof tiles, not sure if they will be any easier to source cheaply and locally. Any tips, photos etc? Can't wait until it's ready and I get to play with the peel and try the first one, it's going to be immense.

For reference.

[Remmie]

For reference.

Thanks for the link, one of the poster's there built an awesome oven, but spent £900+ on it. I am going to do it on the cheap and I reckon it will still be boss. Turns out I do know someone in the building trade and he is about to knock a wall down so he's going to get me a shedload of bricks for nothing. Also, someone had a load of bricks outside their house just the street down to use for the base, looks like everything is coming up Milhouse!

 

I am going to use a combination of a granite chopping board and bricks for the oven floor, the chopping board for laying the pizza on and the bricks for sweeping the fire onto. Mega.

[odris]

Sounds like a great idea, just let me know when you have the online ordering system sorted out and I'll place my order.

[Remmie]

Maybe if I can be arsed I'll do some photos of the building process. I've never built anything before so could be a big fail.