How to Build an Outdoor Pizza Fireplace

Make your own oven and bake wood-fired pizza frequently.

Constructing an outdoor pizza fireplace from scratch is a time-consuming, but relatively straightforward project that just about anyone can accomplish with patience and preparation. With some simple materials, including clay and sand, create a domed clay oven capable of heating up quickly and effectively enough for pizza. Assemble the necessary materials for your oven, and enjoy wood-fired pizza every day.

Things You'll Need

• Wood pallet
• Red bricks
• Sand
• Newspaper
• Water
• Clay
• Utility knife

Instructions

1. Assemble the base of the pizza oven. Place a standard wooden pallet on a flat surface where you would like to have your oven. Lay bricks in rows on the pallet so that they cover the wooden surface.

2. Moisten the sand and form a spherical mound to act as the support for the clay. You should make the mound as large or as small as you would like the dome of your oven to be.

3. Moisten newspapers and lay them over the surface of the mound.

4. Assemble the clay onto the dome. Try to use large pieces of clay as opposed to several smaller pieces. Smooth the seams with moistened fingers. Allow the clay to dry for three full days.

5. Cut an opening in the front of the dome for the oven's door. With a utility knife, cut an arched opening that is about 2/3 of the way up the dome and remove the pieces of clay.

6. Remove the sand structure. Through the opening in the clay dome, retrieve all of the sand and newspaper and dispose.

7. Fill in cracks in the clay surface with extra clay. Smooth into the cracks evenly and wait three full days for them to dry.

References

• The Thoughtful Bread Company: Build Your Own Clay Oven