# Pizza Oven Time



## Crow's Nest

Built a new house 2 years ago and have been without a Wood Fired Oven for going on 5 yrs.

Started construction on my Oven a couple weeks ago. It is based on the Pompeii Oven Plans that are on www.fornobravo.com.

The specs on the oven will be :

40" Diameter cooking floor

19" high Dome

19"X11.5" Door openning

Dome thickness will be 4.5" of Firebrick and insulated with 6" of Perlcrete in the floo and 1" Ceramic blanket plus 4"-6" of Perlite loose over the Dome.

If I build this correctly, this oven should heat up to about 1000 degrees and retain some of the heat for a coupled days after the intial firing. Day two should be in the 500 degree range and day three around 4-450 degrees.

Great for day two and three Roasting and Baking.

This will be third Wood Fired Oven I have personally owned, the second in this style.

While I love Low and Slow, High and fast is great for Steaks, Prime Rib, Seafood, Caseroles and Pizza's and such. I have roasted whole chickens and turkeys and have made some incredible breads.

Can't wait to get her done and fired up. I am hoping to be done before June 1st.

Here are a few Pic's of my progress:

























































:brew2: Cheers!


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## LaddH

What a cool project! Keep the progress photos coming. 
Thanks for posting.


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## jerrybbc

Looks good, my mom had one that grandpa built for her that she often made some great meals in. Looking forward to some more pics.


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## daddyhoney

I built a wood fired oven about 5 years ago and it makes killer pizza. Sometimes I cook all day. Start with high heat items and as the temperature falls i cook other things. This thing must weigh a couple of tons with all the concrete and rebar and firebrick. Anyway I have gravitated to cooking more with cast iron and sometimes wish I had built an outside fireplace instead. I have a hispanic neighbor who grew up cooking goats on an oven like mine. Good luck with your project.


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## metal man

Very cool, keep the updates coming please. We were talking about needing to build one at our final resting home..Where did you get your fire brick?
I'm about to start a outdoor gas log fire pit and need some brick.


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## GT11

Great project...can't wait to see the progress.


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## Crow's Nest

Thanks all, it is a really fun project and not difficult if you study the build and take your time. I never work more than 2 hours at a time on it.

Metal Man, I got the brick from MPI in Austin. They specialize in Masonry Materials.

Not sure where in the Katy area you would go. If you do find place that carry Firebrick, try and get the Whitacre-Greer firebrick and not the Elgin-Butlers.

The Butlers tend to be very crumbly and will not hold up well in an outdoor environment where moisture may be present.


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## Crow's Nest

Got in a couple of hours in this afternoon after work and finished chains 2 and 3.

I will be completing the entry door into the oven next.

Progress Pics below:


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## Law Dog

Very cool project, great idea!


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## snapperlicious

Heck yea!


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## metal man

Thanks for the info , I'll check it out.
Keep up the good work and keep us posted. I like a lot of mushrooms on mine.


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## Crow's Nest

metal man said:


> Thanks for the info , I'll check it out.
> Keep up the good work and keep us posted.* I like a lot of mushrooms on mine.*


Actually, my favorite things to cook in a Wood Fired oven are Steaks and Redfish.

I put Redfish on the Half shell in an aluminum foil boat and drizzle with Olive oil, butter, garlic, lemons and Tony's. Takes about 6 minutes to cook.

It is incredible!


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## Crow's Nest

Entry Arch completed this evening.

Probably will not be able to do any more on it until Saturday as rain is expected to set in tomorrow evening.


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## Re-Rig

*mortar*

Crow's Nest what type of mortar do you used with the fire brick? I am building a fire pit and need some advise. Nice job on your oven construction.


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## Crow's Nest

Re-Rig, I'm not sure what I would recommend for a fire pit. The mortar I am using is a 'Homebrew' mixture of 1 part portland, 1 part Lime, 1 part Clay and 6 parts Grog ( finely crushed fire bricks)

The problem with outdoor fire pits is the exposure to moisture. The chamber of this Pizza oven is protected and is always dry. With a masonry fire pit, when the brick get wet and hold moisture, a fire in the pit will create steam and can crack, and in some cases literally explode, the brick work. If you can manage to keep the brickwork always dry, it will work well.

That said, if you go to a masonry supply house, they should have a pre-set mortar in a 1 gallon bucket specifically made for fire brick setting. I think they call it Fondue.


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## Crow's Nest

I got another 3 chains in and I am now over the door. As you can see, the slope is starting to get pretty aggressive. The last several chains will be tricky.


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## Ready.Fire.Aim

I am impressed! Keep the photos coming .

I have just the spot for an oven like this. Retirement project number 17 !


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## Crow's Nest

And the hole gets smaller. Got two more chains done after work today.

It is getting really tricky now with the slope of the current chains.


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## SwampRat

That looks really cool...great job.


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## jaycf7

Looks really cool!
cant wait for the food pics once finished!


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## Crow's Nest

Thanks Guys!

I got two more chains done tonight. I'll post Pic's tomorrow. If things go well, I'll be cooking the first of June. It takes about 30 days to slow cure the oven before building a big fire.


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## Crow's Nest

Pic's from yesterday's progress. I am close to closing it in!


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## Crow's Nest

Finally! Got it closed in.

Now I will begin the Entry and Flu. I should be ready to put stone on it in two weeks. I'm going fishing next weekend.


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## Crow's Nest

Started on the outer Arch and Flu.


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## sotexhookset

That's really badass. Cool thread.


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## Jay-Tex

That's awesome

Â«jÂ»


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## metal man

looking goooood


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## Law Dog

Looks great!


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## Crow's Nest

Law Dog said:


> Looks great!


Thanks, with the weather and having to travel on Business lately, the project has been at a standstill.

Weather permitting, I will be back at it this weekend.


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## Crow's Nest

Got a chance to work on my oven yesterday between the rains. It rained quite a bit early this morning as a matter of fact. But, it is starting to clear so, maybe I can get my last coarse of block done.

I started my firat fire in the oven yestrday as I worked on the outside. There was quite a bit of steam being pushed out of the masonry. Luckily, I have witnessed no cracks on the inside dome.


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## Fishdaze

That's really cool!


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## Hookless

A+ and awesome. Makes me want one just looking at it. I am not sure how I would use it as we do not eat pizza nor bake much. Still very cool.


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## jdusek

Very nice; when you done please come to my house and build me one


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## nojuca

wow that looks so cool, amazing idea i would of never thought of doing that (plus it must take a lot of hard word to do and get it to a perfect circle) i can only imagine


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## Crow's Nest

nojuca said:


> wow that looks so cool, amazing idea i would of never thought of doing that (plus it must take a lot of hard word to do and get it to a perfect circle) i can only imagine


Getting the 'perfect circle' was not difficult at all. Using the wood guide that rotates around the center of the oven helps maintain your circle and angle of each brick.

Of coarse, being a middle aged fat boy that does very little with regard to outdoor work, it has been challenging. I try to keep my work time to 2 to a max of 4 hours at a time.

When I was your age, I did this type of work almost full time.( I was going to School then) I would have finished this project in half the total time I have currently spent on it.

I almost considered doing the stone work to finish this project. Almost.

I have my masons lined up to get that done as soon as the danged rain gives us a window to complete.

It has been a fun project and I can't wait for it to end so I can start getting the return in the form of incredible foods.

I'm close!:brew2:


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## Crow's Nest

Well the rain has finally ended, for now. The Sun is shining and Jose my Maso will be here tomorrow to hopefully complete the stonework on my project.

I have already had two good firings and it is holding up very well with no cracks in the dome. Next weekend the cooking will commence!

Here are a couple Pic's of how it stands as of today. I will update with Pic's as the Stone is applied.


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## GT11

Great project....I wanted one but will settle for the green egg in my outdoor kitchen.


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## Crow's Nest

Jose and Hose B came out 3 weeks ago and put the stone on my oven to give it a finished look. I still need to put some plaster on the Chimney section and I may include some decorative tiles.

Weather permitting, I plan to do some cooking tomorrow. Not sure what I will cook but I will probably do a Ribeye, some Redfish, Pizza and whatever else sounds good and serve as a sampling with my family.

The last pic is fire that I built burning all the scrap 2x4's and such. As you can see, it got very hot. In fact, it got too hot. It ended up cracking the the dome in two places from the heat. These cracks actually have no impact on the structure or performance. They just look bad. Luckily, you have to really look close to see them.


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## ChaseB1991

That's pretty cool


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## w_r_ranch

My wife & I have always wanted one (being a **** & all)... maybe in our next life.

I have been following this project from the start & really appreciate your posting it!!!


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## Crow's Nest

w_r_ranch said:


> My wife & I have always wanted one (being a **** & all)... maybe in our next life.
> 
> I have been following this project from the start & really appreciate your posting it!!!


Thanks Ranch, I appreciate your comments.

I really enjoy cooking out of these ovens. I'm glad I am finally done and can now cook in it.

If you ever decide you want one, in your current life, I can put you in touch with the only guy in Texas that really knows how to build these correctly. That is, other than me.


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