How to Build a Pizza Oven With Boulders
If you've always wanted to cook pizza like the pros do, you don't have to look any further than your own backyard. If you have a variety of rocks and stones taking up space in your yard, it's time to put them to work and build them into an outdoor pizza oven. The oven can also be used to cook a variety of meats and breads, and you can use items around your yard to built the oven in its entirety. If you don't have large boulders in your yard, ask a local construction site if you can use some of theirs, and they will most likely have a few you can use. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- Gravel
- Clay soil
- Green foliage like leaves and grass
- Large tub or basin
- Shovel
- Water
- Boulders and smaller rocks
- Smoking barrel (barrel with both the top and bottom off)
- Two metal oven racks
- Wood
Instructions
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Dig a 4-foot-by-4-foot trench that is 6 inches deep. Fill the trench with gravel to provide a strong foundation for the boulders.
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Starting at one corner of the graveled area, dig a 4-foot-by-6-inch trench downhill from the foundation. Repeat and dig another trench on the opposite corner of the graveled area. Fill both trenches with gravel. These will serve as your drainage holes.
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Using a large shovel, scoop approximately 10 scoops of clay soil into a large tub or basin. Add approximately two scoops of green foliage clippings and add water until you get a thick, uniform paste. Let the the mixture set in the tub for about one hour.
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Using boulders that are flat on the bottom, build the first layer around three sides of the gravel square. Leave one edge of the square open so you are building in a "U" shape. Use your mud mixture to bind the boulders together on each side. Allow the first layer to dry completely before continuing the next.
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Continue adding one layer at a time and allowing it to dry. Place mud on all four sides of each boulder to bind. This process may take several days, up to a week.
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When you have reached approximately two feet in height on all three sides, place a metal oven rack across the three sides. Balance the smoking barrel on top of the oven rack and continue to build with boulders up to the height of the smoking barrel, but leave the top of the barrel open. Place the second oven rack on top of the smoking barrel, which should be level with the boulders. This is where you will place your pizza.
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Continue building up to your desired height, which should be approximately another two feet. Place a large boulder on the top of the oven. Make sure you have approximately six inches open in the back of the oven to serve as a chimney.
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Light a fire in the gap underneath the smoking barrel with wood. Let the wood burn for at least two hours, which will cure the oven and get it ready for cooking.
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To cook pizza, light a fire under the smoking barrel for at least 10 minutes, then place a pizza on the top metal oven rack to cook.
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Tips & Warnings
You can cook anything you would cook on a grill in your boulder pizza oven.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit http://www.sxc.hu/profile/atwista
