
Photography by Mike Senese

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For the pizza aficionado, a wood-fired brick oven is the pinnacle. Nothing else cooks a pie the same way, with the 800°F–1,000°F temperatures needed to get that thin, crisp layer of smoky char covering a moist, airy crust. Unfortunately, these types of ovens are usually large, expensive, and complicated to build, leaving most of us to keep making dry, boring pizzas baked for 15 long minutes in our kitchen oven set at a disappointing 375°F.
Here’s a brick oven design that overcomes those hang-ups. It’s as simple as stacking blocks, and with a couple of helping hands, you can put this together, cook amazing pizzas, and tear it apart in an afternoon. Brick sizes vary, so modify the layout as needed. I first built one during a weekend course led by Michael O’Malley at Machine Project in Los Angeles, and have since helped inspire others to make their own.

I built this oven a couple weeks ago. It’s still in my back yard, getting regular use.

Illustration by Ron Nance
1. Pick a location
The weight of the bricks is considerable, so make sure you start with a strong workbench on a firm, level surface. We used a metal welding table — look for used ones on Craigslist — but you can also create a sturdy 4′ by 4′ platform of cinder block topped with 2 half-sheets of ¾” plywood.
2. Lay the pavers and firebrick floor
Make a 4′ by 4′ insulating base with the cement pavers on top of your platform. Centered on top of that, make a surface of firebrick, laid flat, roughly 10 bricks wide and 5 bricks deep. Keep the bricks tight together — this is the floor of the oven.
CAUTION: Don’t use standard red bricks, as they may shatter explosively when heated to high temperatures. Use Firebrick.
3. Stack the walls
Begin with the back wall, 4½ bricks wide by 5 bricks tall, laid flat. You’ll need to split some bricks in half; do so by scoring a line and hitting with a chisel and hammer, or use a masonry blade on a circular saw. Save the chips. Offset each layer by half a brick, so the seams sit in the middle of the bricks below. Center 5 more on top, in two levels.
To build the sides, first drill two 3/8″ holes in each 48″ angle iron, 1″ from both ends, in one leg of the angle. Lay 2 angle irons front-to-back on the platform, facing inward so that bricks can sit in the inside corner. Slot threaded rods through the drilled holes and tighten a nut onto each end.
Build the side walls by standing 13 bricks on end inside each angle iron, starting from the back wall. If already mixed, run a line of clay mix (Step 6) on the inside bottom edges. Cap each side with 3 bricks laid flat, then place the remaining 48″ angle irons on top, facing down. Add threaded rods and nuts.
4. Make the arch
To make the roof, build an arch-shaped jig of plywood screwed to two 2×4 legs. The arch length should be just shorter than the distance between the side walls — mine is about 32¼”. The height should be about 5¼” tall, with a radius of about 27″. Cut 2 matching pieces with a jigsaw, then affix to the 2×4s so that the legs extend about 9¼” below the plywood — you want this jig to stand a bit taller than your first row of standing bricks (Figure A).

Fig A
To assemble the arch, place the jig against the back wall, on top of the ¼” risers. Stand the bricks on edge, pointing forward (Figure B). Keep an even space between the bricks by filling the gaps with brick shards. Remove the jig by sliding out the risers, then shimmying the legs forward to tip it backward. Repeat 2 more times to get an arched ceiling 3 bricks deep.

Fig B
5. Build the entrance and chimney
On each side of the front of the oven, stack 2 layers of 3 bricks on edge, running front to back. These will frame the oven’s mouth. Bridge the top with a 24″ angle iron facing up and in. Place 3½ bricks across the front of it, on edge. Add 4 more on either side extending back to the arch.
Place the last 24″ angle iron against the arch to bridge the gap, facing up and out. Center the clay flue insert over the gap, with its edges resting on the bricks and the angle iron (Figure C). Cap any gaps with bricks.

Fig C
6. Cover in clay
Smoke and heat will escape this oven unless you seal it. Mix the refractory clay with water and sand and generously coat all outside brick seams and gaps — go heavy on the arch. It won’t be pretty, but you won’t mind when your belly is full of amazing wood-fired pizza. Your oven is now ready to be fired up — no curing needed (Figure D).
To disassemble, let the oven cool down at least a couple hours before dismantling. Then spray the clay off the top and sides with a hose, and simply unstack the bricks. Store in a convenient spot, or pack into a trailer for mobile deployment. Or replace the refractory clay with a hardening mortar and make this a permanent fixture in your yard. Buon appetito!
Nice oven. I wonder if you would have built it if you had set your oven to 550 instead of 375. One of these days I’m going to try one.
John, yes — even 550 in a home oven gives pretty pedestrian results — I actually find 375º to be a better temperature when baking in my kitchen to give the toppings and dough a more even cooking. There are a few changes to make when you start using fire — a wetter dough is helpful, for one, and letting the dough warm before shaping it so the gluten provides some air pockets internally. It’s a fun journey.
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FWIW, I’ve always baked my homemade dough crusts on round pizza stones. I roll the dough out (and I wish I’d learned how to toss pizza dough but I never have) in a circle on a board on plenty of corn meal so it won’t stick. The stones are preheated 15 minutes or more in a 425 degree oven. Slide the dough circle out onto the stone and center, prodding and pinching the dough to get it to drape over the stone’s rim sides. This makes for a perfect crust handle for the pieces. Because after about 8 minutes (varies, I make it pretty thin), the crust will be baked enough to flip over using a pizza peel or wood paddle. You steady the “up” side with your hand in an oven mit. You now can put on toppings and cheese either with the crust on the paddle or on the stone resting on the stovetop. Return the topped pizza to the oven to melt the cheese and heat the toppings to your taste. It’s not wood fired pizza oven good, but it’s pretty good.
I also use a pizza stone. If I am dealing with my electric oven with an unshielded heating coil on the bottom, I put the stone upside down in the lowest possible position in the unheated oven. Make sure you have another rack ready in the middle position. Turn the oven on to the highest temperature, usually about 550 degrees. After about 15 minutes that stone is really hot, both from the oven temperature and from the heat radiating from the coil several inches below. Then turn the stone right side up on the middle rack and slide on the pizza. If you don’t have that lower heating coil, just keep the stone in a 550 oven for about half an hour. You want that stone as hot as it can get. You shouldn’t have to flip the pizza at 550 degrees. All that said 700 degrees is better.
Here’s a good tip that took my pizza making up a big notch.
First of all, don’t use a rolling pin! It kills the airy structure of the dough.
Instead, a couple hours before baking, separate your dough and make measured dough balls (I usually do about a half pound) — roll them and fold the dough into itself so a nice skin stretches out over the top. Put each ball into a bowl with a drop of olive oil inside, cover with plastic wrap, and leave on the counter. It’ll warm up, soften, and rise a bit.
When it’s time to make the pizza, carefully flip the bowl over and put the dough ball onto a well-floured surface. With your fingertips, press around the edge of the ball so you create a rim that will become your crust edge.
Once that’s pressed out, lift the dough onto the back of your floured hands, on the back side of your fingers. Slowly stretch and rotate the large inner dough mass so it stretches out evenly. Keep rotating, and use a lot of flour to keep it from sticking. Get it thin but not too thin that it tears. Should be easy to stretch if it’s warmed up nicely.
The rim you pressed out at the start will stretch a bit but largely stay intact. This will poof up when you bake.
Follow this and practice it a few times and you’ll be making amazing, light, doughy pizzas.
Who knew there was so much to know about pizza crust. Mike, I think you need to write a book!
Where is the best place to get fire bricks? The big box home improvement stores look at me funny when I ask about it?
Do a search for masonry supply stores near you — they’re pretty easy to come by outside of the big box stores. Good luck! Keep us filled in on your build.
Nice post, thanks! If it was hardening mortar, what would you recommend? Doesn’t most hardening mortar break down under heat? What about rain, would this work in a Northeast location where it rains, and/or would it need a shed roof over the whole thing?
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There are a few notes online for making a mortar with fireclay, for high-temperature uses. But also, make sure to minimize how much you use to help avoid breakdown issues.
A roof over the construction for rainy climates isn’t a bad idea. If you’re making this permanent, you might also look into tiling the exterior surface…
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It looks very deep. Is it very hard to start the fire inside? How to you remove the ashes and if you ring them out the door, wouldn’t there be lots of ashes under the area where the pizza bakes? Thanks
It’s not too deep really — there are some standard ratios that effective pizza ovens use, and this fits in them. Starting the fire is as simple as setting up some paper and kindling, putting a couple logs on top, and then lighting it. Put this in the middle of the oven to help get the floor temperature nice and toasty. Takes a little over an hour to get up to the heat you want for cooking. Once the fire is going, you push everything to the back corner; try to keep a log flaming there so the fire curls along the arched ceiling and helps bake the top of the pizza.
As for ash removal, most of it burns down so there’s not too much to remove. I bought an oven brush that helps keep the oven floor clean from ash while cooking. It’s this one: http://amzn.to/2cViGgu
How much did this cost you to make? Thanks
This cost me about $400 — would be less by sourcing some used supplies for it.
If I put that much effort in building the oven, I would build a metal roofing product roof over it in an arch and put maybe a metal can over the chimney to keep out the weather. You’d have to hold a gun to my head to get me to tear it down.
Effort-wise, it’s actually pretty minimal — Once you have the materials, it’s just a couple hours to assemble. I’ll even be pulling this apart to do an on-site build at the upcoming East Bay Maker Faire later in October. But yes, as soon as that’s over I’ll be rebuilding it again in the back yard and maybe using some mortar to make it permanent.
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How does this work with adding a door? I want to build a pizza oven with this specific door https://vurb.eu/products/square-door-with-glass-at-485-x-485
I have seen all kinds of tutorials on how to build a pizza oven but they never bring up the aspect of building one that fits a specific door. Can anyone help with this?
Haha — I took the opposite approach re: a door. When I discovered that I had the oven up to temp two hours early, I used this as an improptu door :-) https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e9250b21afb78848a2c256c698e3e5ad204019568c5e5a83f002e03827fe94fc.jpg
Haha Joe, I’m just seeing this for the first time. Clever!
Thanks so much for the inspiration and directions. My daughter and I built this oven in a day and ate delicious pizza that evening. (We built a super strong platform the day before). It truly is a one-day project, once you have a base. My suggestion would be to provide a little more guidance about what to do once you have this great oven: how to build a fire, how to cook with fire, how to make a crust, tools that are helpful, etc. We are at the beginning of a fun learning curve. BTW, I was surprised that several days of hard rain didn’t wash away much of the clay. Thanks again!
Fantastic!! Please share photos — you can email me, [email protected]
Building the pizza oven is the easy part — how to use it is a lifetime journey that you’re just embarking on! I’ll compile some notes from what I’ve learned over the years and make a post about this. Thanks for the idea.
Here’s a photo of the stand we made. It is way overkill, of course. I wanted it strong enough to move around without any issues. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3d5e2e87a21f9ba83e3c8333fe6dd739ff836191b2a5b33937695594f95f786b.jpg
How did you make this? Is there a plan you started with?
Here’s a photo of my daughter tending the first fire. Note the round chimney — that wasn’t a design preference, but the result of not being able to find a square one. Also note the use of “slotted angle iron” with holes already in it. I thought this would be a good idea because I wouldn’t have to decide exactly where to drill holes, but it was too weak: it bowed out from the weight of the roof. Don’t copy my bad idea…
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/800b590191a22ab171cbbd7f09bca465945e5ebcc37c8f99706b238aece34110.jpg
An alternative is to build a traditional pizza oven using clay and sand. Lots of fun to build and really work well. https://clayoven.wordpress.com
Ohhh I want one!
Has anyone ever made bread in this oven?
heres the link for firebrick from Home Depot, order online and choose free store pickup…http://www.homedepot.com/p/US-Stove-Firebrick-Universal-Fit-6-Pack-FBP6E/206137338
Is it necessary to make the entire oven from fire bricks? I’ve seen other designs that use fire bricks for the floor and other bricks for the rest.
I have the same question!… esp. since firebricks seem to be very expensive…
How many bricks does this design require? Also what size of a pizza will this make/educate me about the inside clear dimensions needed to make a certain size pizza.
it seem very nice but i can´t understand it properly can you please send to my email or my whatsapp a video i will be very greatful.my email:[email protected]
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