thinking of a new project, and what could be more stw than this? (well, besides vintage razors and sheds) 🙂

had a look for old threads first, but theyre a few years old now and closed, and there may be new ideas about now. a mate told me about a recent ‘jamie oliver and his mate’ programme that showed how to make one with terracotta planters inside each other or something like that but from what i could see it didnt have a chimney which i thought would be essential?

ive read a website too which shows how to do a proper job but i dont fancy that as much, all mixing clay and ‘puddling’ it with your feet etc. i see that as a big chance of messing the whole thing up, clay too dry/too wet/too messy etc.

a bit of a ‘cheat method’ using planters suits me best i think, or can you buy bags of ready made clay to use at your leisure?

most satisfaction would come from making something that works as well as ‘the real thing’ for a fraction of the cost.
im also a little confused about how youd clean them out with only a small opening at the front, and also about all the sh1t from a wood fire landing in your food.

ideas, pics, tips, methods all welcome. may not get round to actually doing it but you never know, if i see something i think i could have a good go at i might.

thanks

If you want to do it properly, have a look on the Uk Wood Fired Oven Forum

You can make it out of old bricks, but proper fire bricks will work so much better.

most satisfaction would come from making something that works as well as ‘the real thing’ for a fraction of the cost.

I’m not advocating complexity here, but I think something that works as well as the real thing is likely to be the real thing.

That’s not to say that the Jamie Oliver/Jimmy Doherty version won’t be enjoyable and make good pizzas. And if you just want to make decent pizzas, then you could do far worse than an Uuni.

But that said, I’ve seen the superb job you’ve done with your shed – I’m pretty certain you’d be able to make an ace clay oven. Go on go on go on go on…!

We used the method described in one of the River Cottage books.

Essentialy shape the oven in sand, build oven on top, dry, remove sand and bake. It’s worked a treat.

I wanted to built one for ages, but when I actually did the sums the DIY savings aren’t that great. By the time you have sourced the correct fire bricks, messed about with a dome etc etc it can be better to buy one. Ours is a Primo 60 from the Stone Bake Oven Company. We had a big discount on the price as it was a cosmetic second and had a few flaws in the casting. Still works a treat though!

I did plan on making this –

Here

And I may still, but in the meantime, I’ve sourced some stainless from work to make one of these

As I already have the weber. Just need to get my finger out.

thanks for the replies so far, ill have a look at that forum when i get a bit of time tallpaul.

as a rough estimate, how much do you think it would cost to make a proper one? i know the shop ones seem to be a bit spendy to me….

oh and thanks for the vote of confidence OMITN 🙂

ta

You *can* build them for nowt – scrounged materials and a cob dome – but even if you’re using reclaimed bricks etc, you’re going to be looking at £500 to a £grand to do a proper job with a brick dome.

You need to insulate your dome with vermiculite mix and fire blankets, and you need to pour a decent solid base to act at a heat sink.

Do it properly and you can have fresh pizza, a few loaves and a slow-cooked leg of lamb from one fire.

There’s an ebook that you can download FOC from Forno Bravo, well worth getting.

(I’m planning to start mine this summer)

you’re going to be looking at £500 to a £grand to do a proper job

ooooooooh *whistles sharply through teeth 😯

maybe a nice idea then but i think thats a bit too rich for me at present.

thanks for the info, ill still have a read up on it out of interest anyway.

I’ve built two (nearly second still needs render). Both threads are on the ukwfo forum linked above.

First was a cob oven. Though at the time i didn’t have a good source of clay so bought terracotta to use. This was built using the sand former approach. The oven worked well but had lots of cracks (too hot to quick i think).

Second one was going to be a brick dome (had loads of old bricks at new house). However under marital duress i was persuaded to buy a cast dome (stone baked mezzo 76). I’ve built the rest (base, arch etc). Again works really well but i have a hankering for the asthetic of the brick dome and tiled floor (not that I’ll be changing it now).

They are way more versatile than just pizza. We have done bread and roasts in ours and haven’t even touched the surface of what can be cooked in them.

Councilof10 the base should not be a heatsink! It needs to be insulated from the oven floor.

Sadexpunk, you don’t clean them out really. Remove the ash but other than that they are self cleaning. Ash in the food is not an issue.

Cob

Cast

I’ve not built it myself but I’ve used one that was made basically for free and it worked a treat. God knows why/how you would spend a grand doing it.

One I used was made something like this I think:

http://garden.menoyot.com/assets/blogAssets/garden/how_to_build_a_cob_oven.pdf

Like anything, Time Vs money. Spent more on the second oven but it has taken a lot less time. Puddling clay is tedious and slow.

good work nixie, look great.

and thanks for that link grum, thats also interesting to read.

I planned to build one and went to get some stuff for it, place had an Esse oven in the showroom, fella did a massive deal to get rid of it and I had it put in the next day ! Great thing, we do roasts and bread and tikka in it !