ChefSteps is a team of chefs, writers, and food lovers who develop recipes, techniques, and guides to help people cook better at home.

ChefSteps

You can put together this pizza oven with minimal effort and money. It took us about 30 minutes to build, and the grand total was just over $40. (Our shopping list didn’t include firewood, because we had plenty on hand.) 

A note on brick types &amp; sizes: 
In the interest of cost and convenience, we used clay bricks and concrete pavers. The dimensions listed below are for the exact bricks that Grant used. These are guidelines. Use whatever bricks you find. If the pavers are slightly wider, for example, you can make your footprint larger and have a bigger deck for baking pizzas, or you can build it to the same dimensions we did with some overhang on the sides. If your pavers are a little bit thinner or thicker, that’s okay. Keep in mind that they may heat up faster (thinner) or slower (thicker), and will retain heat slightly differently. Use an infrared thermometer to check the temperature, and bake your pizzas once it hits 750 degrees Fahrenheit. 

If you really want to upgrade this oven, you can use firebricks and a <a href="https://www.homedepot.com/p/Hallman-24-in-Clay-Pizza-Stone-PIZZASTONE24/305137727">thick, clay pizza stone</a> for the deck. These are often wider than the pavers we use here, so you’ll need to widen your oven’s footprint (or keep it the same dimensions as our oven with some overhang on the sides). 

BUILDING BASICS 
Essential shopping list: 
– 47 clay bricks (or firebricks), recommended 8&quot; x 4&quot; x 2&quot; 
– 2 paver stones, recommended 16&quot; x 24&quot; x 2&quot; 
– 1 bag of sand or crushed rock (gravel) 
– 2 to 3 bundles, or more, of firewood (or bags of charcoal) 

We recommend two bundles to get the fire started and build that heat, and then one bundle per hour of pizza baking to maintain optimal heat. So, if you’re going to be cranking out pizza for hours, or want to bake additional dishes with the oven, buy more wood as needed. 

Optional, but helpful: 
– Line or <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RC8MSX7/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B07RC8MSX7&linkCode=as2&tag=chefsteps02-20&linkId=051c2a1beba941e84139e50ce1fa77a3">stick level</a> (to ensure a level foundation) 
– <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00002N5O8/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00002N5O8&linkCode=as2&tag=chefsteps02-20&linkId=9c83d615318608312f55782c47bbfcaa">Framing or carpenter’s square</a> (to keep your corners square and your inner perfectionist happy) 
- 7 extra bricks to increase the “oven” space for <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/recipes/wood-fire-crusty-rosemary-focaccia">baking bread</a> or broiling <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/recipes/butter-baked-wood-fire-lobster-dungeness-crab">lobster and crab</a>.

PREP YOUR PIZZA 
Before you start building, have your <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/recipes/life-changing-pizza-dough-with-joe-heffernan-of-seattle-s-independent-pizzeria">pizza dough</a> ready and resting in the fridge. At a minimum, the dough should be made a day in advance, but 48 to 72 hours is the real sweet spot that yields a silkier, more delicious dough. 

At your own risk
A brief moment of legalese brought to you by our lawyers 

If you try this yourself, you are doing so at your own risk. Adult supervision is required. Consult a physician before performing any physical activity. Do not get burned—surfaces are extremely hot. Ensure that you do not use fire irresponsibly or in areas that are susceptible to combustion. You may wish to consult with your local fire department. Ensure that you have immediate access to fire extinguishment equipment. Do not consume materials that are not intended for consumption, cut yourself with sharp objects, cook on surfaces that are not intended for food preparation, ignite materials that are explosive, or ingest food that has not sufficiently cooled down.

Before we begin

Building Blocks

Great pizza ovens not only need to achieve a high temperature—which gives your pizza great flavor and those desired dark leopard spots on the crust—they also need to hold a lot of heat. It&#39;s the heat, not the temperature, that cooks your pizza quickly and all the way through, ensuring a crisp crust and moist interior.

The fire (temperature) heats up the bricks, which store the heat as thermal energy. This stored energy cooks the pizza through thermal radiation and conduction. The temperature also heats up the air, which is pulled upwards through the vent and flows over the top of the pizza (convection). 

The more thermal energy you can store inside the oven, the easier it is to reduce swings in temperature. The mass of the bricks stores large quantities of heat energy, and can either release it to prevent the temperature from falling too quickly or store it to prevent the temperature from rising too fast.
{activity:7dpjuhghBQVuDDuSSIumCY}

Types of Heat

How temperature and heat move through this oven

With minimal materials here, a safe and stable foundation is essential. First, pick a spot where you can safely have an open fire. (A sandy beach, gravel driveway, or open space in the yard.) If you’re in a spot where the ground isn’t naturally level, use sand or crushed rock (gravel) to even everything out before you begin building.

Build the Foundation

Build the base up to about 16 to 24 inches high—roughly four bricks. This gives enough room for a live fire to burn hot. A vent is critical for airflow, so make sure to leave a gap behind the deck so the hot air can flow upwards from the fire into the oven space.

Build the Base, Deck, and Vent

You can easily adjust different parts of this oven to cook more than pizza. It’s all about controlling those three factors discussed above: temperature, heat, and air flow. The oven as we’ve built it here hits that sweet spot with a hot fire and the right-sized oven space to reach the right temp for baking the perfect pizza. By adjusting different elements, you can dial in the right temperature to bake bread, sear veggies, and more. 

Control the temp 
Reducing the intensity of the fire is one way to change the oven&#39;s temperature. Baking <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/recipes/fully-loaded-focaccia">focaccia in a cast iron pan</a>, for example, requires a more mellow fire than what you need for pizza. This would be a good item to bake while you’re waiting for the fire to come up to temp to cook your pizzas (or you could simply build a smaller fire). 

Maximize or minimize oven space 
You can adjust the height of the deck (the oven space) by using more or less bricks to build the walls. We found that using only one brick created a very hot oven—too hot even for pizza, but excellent for searing meats and veggies. Three bricks high will create a cooler oven space, which is great for items that need less intense heat to bake. If you want to experiment, remember to add more bricks to your shopping list. 

Fine-tune the air flow 
Just like a barbecue grill, you can also adjust the vent in the back to control the flow of air through the oven. If you find your pizza (or other foods) are cooking too quickly, close the vent a bit to lower the temperature of the air in the oven. (Keep in mind that the deck will remain very hot because it’s directly heated by the fire and that brick will continue to hold on to heat; keep your <a href="https://www.thermoworks.com/IR-Food-Safety?tw=CHEFSTEPS">infrared thermometer</a> handy to track the temperature change in your oven.) 

Go forth and customize!

How to customize your oven

To build the oven space, stack bricks along the sides and back of the deck—about two bricks, or eight inches, tall. This leaves enough room on the deck for pizza and tools but keeps the lid low enough that the radiant heat will broil your pizza nicely.

Top the oven space with the second paver (the lid) and light your fire. The fire needs to burn for 45 minutes to an hour to really heat up those bricks and make sure the deck is hot enough to quickly cook your pizza. (Your oven is ready when the deck reaches around 750 degrees Fahrenheit, or hotter. We recommend using an <a href="https://www.thermoworks.com/IR-Gun?tw=CHEFSTEPS">infrared thermometer</a> to determine the deck temperature.)

TIP: Increase the oven space by adding a third layer of bricks below the lid (top paver stone). This extra space is essential if you want to <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/recipes/wood-fire-crusty-rosemary-focaccia">bake focaccia</a> or <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/recipes/butter-baked-wood-fire-lobster-dungeness-crab">broil shellfish</a>. It’s also helpful, though optional, when <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/recipes/wood-fire-basted-tomahawk-steak">firing a tomahawk steak</a> or <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/recipes/wood-fired-juicy-chewy-tomato-jam">slow-roasting tomatoes</a>.

Build the Oven Space and Light Your Fire

We won’t be tossing pies into the sky in this guide, but this method will produce reliable results for consistently good pizzas. 
{activity:5foVMy2OfSUIXivUrnLznK}

With this recipe, Seattle’s best pizza maker, Independent Pizzeria co-owner Joe Heffernan, shows you the secrets to incredible homemade dough.

Neo-Neapolitan Pizza Dough

It’s time to stretch, toss, and top your dough!

Rotate for even baking:
Keep a close watch! Since this oven is inherently hotter in the back by the vent, you’ll need to rotate your pie after about a minute. Use your <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009LPDMWI/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B009LPDMWI&linkCode=as2&tag=chefsteps02-20&linkId=34f8cf89f907cebc16d9bc138da26326">pizza peel</a> to pull it out, carefully rotate it, and then slide the peel back in the oven.

Broil the top:
If your crust looks perfect but your toppings aren’t quite done, you can use your peel to hold the pizza closer to the lid and broil for a few seconds until everything is crispy, crackly, hot, and delicious.

A Few Quick for Cooking Pizza

What if you can’t find the exact same size bricks and pavers that we used? How do you regulate the heat? Grant tackles these questions and more in this video below.

Got Oven Questions? We Got Answers!

Once you’ve got a flat surface safely away from anything combustible, this whole process is just stacking blocks.
{pdf:3vP3fqpAu5MkwHaurDlvwi}

Brick Pizza Oven

Build Instructions: LEGO Style

The things we love most about perfectly cooked Neapolitan-style pizza—thin, chewy crust, puffed and perfectly toasted edges, and leopard-spotted underside—are the products of a precise balance of conduction, convection, and thermal radiation. Translation: you need a really great pizza oven to make really great pizza. A Neapolitan pizza crust is so good because it’s cooked quickly (no more than 90 seconds) in a very, very hot oven (typically around 750, and as high as 1,000, degrees Fahrenheit). Most non-pizza ovens can’t achieve anywhere near those temperatures, which means pizzas need to bake longer. The results are good, but they’re not nearly Neapolitan-good. From compact and ultra-efficient pizza-making machines, like the <a href="https://www.breville.com/us/en/products/ovens/bpz820.html?ecid=|ChefStepsContent||referral|||bpz820pdp|US|Ovens|All||CTW||All|||||||">Breville Pizziaolo</a>, to super spendy custom hearths, high-end pizza ovens are engineered to effectively generate, store, and move super-heated air to cook pizzas perfectly in minimal time. But when you understand the relationship between temperature, heat, and airflow, you can build a pizza oven anywhere with minimal materials. We didn’t want to just make a pizza oven—those already exist. We wanted to create an effective, powerful, pro-level pizza oven with no special tools, no mortar, and no big budget. You could spend months and tens of thousands of dollars building an epic pizza oven, and you still might end up with bad pizza. Or you could build this oven for about 50 bucks (or less). Have fun and get the hang of making delicious wood-fired pizzas without breaking the bank. Now that’s amore.

It’s Not Delivery—It’s Your Own High-Performing Wood-Fired Pizza Oven