What is the best way to get an outdoor kitchen with a pizza oven?

People in France and Italy have traditionally cooked outdoors in freestanding wood-fired ovens, in contrast to our American custom of barbecue. You can bake, high-heat roast, and even add a rack to grill within them, depending on the temperature inside and whether you’re cooking with the door open or closed.

One such woodfired oven is a pizza oven. A pizza oven is an igloo-shaped structure composed of heat-resistant materials like fire brick. It’s made to endure high temperatures of up to 900 degrees Fahrenheit and maintain that temperature for lengthy periods of time, which is why most come with a thick layer of insulation.

Although these ovens are traditionally heated with a wood fire, you can buy a gas pizza oven with gas burners which will save time on building and stoking a fire.

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) recently conducted a survey that found that homeowners who have an outdoor kitchen consistently rank it as their favorite space. Their biggest regret in terms of an outdoor kitchen feature? No pizza oven.

You can start making authentic brick oven pizza in a gas or woodfired pizza oven in your own backyard any night of the week. All you need is one of these three ways to get your pizza oven ideas actually done, and a fourth one that’s instantaneous.

DIY Wood Fired Pizza Oven

For those who are somewhat handy and want a diy pizza oven, this is the least expensive option to get a true masonry wood fired outdoor pizza oven for your outdoor space.

Instructions to build your own DIY woodfired pizza oven.

Do you want to make your own wood-fired pizza oven in your backyard kitchen? Here are some step-by-step instructions to help you build your own outdoor oven. While this is not the only method to build a pizza oven, it will give you some idea of the steps involved to determine if you want to expend the time, and have the DIY skills, to accomplish the build.

1. Gather your supplies.

The following are the items you’ll need to construct brick pizza ovens:

Brick tile
Mixer for cement
Mixture of concrete
Trowels
Shovel
Measurement tape
Angle iron
Welder
Rebar
Cinder Blocks
Grout
Gloves
Safety glasses
Plywood
Kit for the oven (dome elements, base elements, thermal blanket, and metal door)
You must also choose the dimensions of your oven.

2. Lay a solid foundation.
Construct an L-shaped structure out of cinder blocks large enough to hold the oven and provide counter space. Fill the holes with a slab of concrete and pile the blocks on top. Place rebar in each hole to help support the concrete.

Allow the cement to cure after you’ve finished smoothing it out on the base.

3. Assemble the oven’s floor.

The hearth or floor of the oven should be composed of two layers of bricks, the first of which should be set just above the cement board on the other side of the upper layer. The second layer is applied over the first using water and silica so that it may be easily removed if any of the bricks become damaged or cracked.

The floor of the oven is a cooking surface and it should be safe and sterilized for food because food can come into direct touch with the hearth.

4. Construct the oven’s roof
This process entails three steps: determining the roof’s height, establishing the roof form, and constructing the roof itself.

Choosing the height of the roof

Calculate the difference between the height of the opening and the ideal height for an outdoor oven. Make a 6-inch mark on the width of the opening, the center point, and the center point to the 6-inch mark.

Constructing the roof form

To make your form curve, use a stiff and flexible metal. Locate the initial angle of your roof using a movable T-bevel and slide it to the next bricks that will support the rest of the roof and carry its weight. Now, using a wet tile saw or a masonry saw, cut the form curves. Secure the oven’s wall with two pieces of angle iron that are bolted and rodded together to keep it from falling apart.

Putting up the roof

Continue to construct the roof using the rectangle brick, trimming any surplus bricks for a better fit. Using refractory mortar alone won’t make the roof sturdy; you’ll need to combine it with ground-up fire brick. For roof strength, this will result in several layers between the large joints.

Finally, clean up the refractory mortar joints that are masked by the form inside the oven. This activity will take you about an hour to complete.

5. Construct the chimney.

Use your roof form to create a chimney that is identical. Finish the chimney’s base with the leftover refractory mortar.

6. Create a facade.

The refractory mortar will be protected by this watertight framework. Mineral wool or ceramic wool, which can maintain as much cooking heat as possible, should be used to fill the space between the actual oven and the façade.

7. Put the door and handle in place.

You can have a custom oven door constructed out of two layers of corrosion and heat-resistant metal. Then, on the entrance door, install a handle. Now you can bake pizza, pies, bread, and whatever else you want in your outdoor oven.

Wood Fired Pizza Oven From a Kit

If your DIY skills are a bit rusty, and you are looking for a quicker option to get one or two pizza ovens going on your patio.

Cooking using a wood-fired oven transports you to a simpler time when food was probably a little better. Wood fire ovens produce an authentic manner of cooking that allows you to develop a strong bond with the food you prepare; they restore the joy of cooking.

With pizza oven kits, you’ll have a project that’s both doable and pleasant to do, as well as an amazing finished product. Kits are simple to put together and save you money compared with professionally built ovens. Modular pizza oven kits are a simple method for you to take charge and contribute your experience, allowing you to tailor your oven to your area and cooking style. Some pizza oven kits allow you to finish the oven with your own creative materials to blend in with the rest of your outdoor kitchen ideas.

Each component of most kits are made by hand reflecting a modern update of centuries-old Italian techniques. Many kit companies engineer their ovens with the finest raw materials to be as near as possible to the classic Neapolitan oven – with a few current technology advancements for a unique spin on a centuries-old culinary tradition. As a consequence, you’ll have a simple to operate and maintain wood-fired pizza oven that took days, not weeks, to build yourself.

Professionally Designed and Built Wood Burning Pizza Oven

Custom pizza ovens are built on site to fit exactly into your outdoor kitchen space and design.  Custom kitchens often include the services of a kitchen designer who will translate your needs and vision into actionable blueprints for construction.

A pizza oven is often built at the same time as the rest of the outdoor kitchen and can include an outdoor fireplace.  They can be located in the hot zone near bbq grills or smokers or as a separate structure.

A custom wood fired pizza oven is constructed with the most durable materials including brick, stone, stucco, plaster and tile. Pizza ovens are quite heavy and engineered footings are required to support the structure if not already installed.

Most contractors will install extra insulation both in the oven dome and the floor of the oven to retain heat. Naturally, a full masonry surround will be constructed on site to finish the oven with an architecturally pleasing design.

Custom wood fired pizza ovens are large and can overwhelm a landscape unless they are designed to complement, not compete with, the existing outdoor kitchen design. Because of their size, they can be paired with an outdoor fireplace or on their own outdoor kitchen islands. Because of the intense heat level, a wood fired oven is typically located away from where family and friends gather and away from where children or pets might be playing.

Buy a Freestanding Al Fresco Pizza Oven

There are two types of ready-to-go outdoor pizza ovens you can buy.  Both options are available to cook with wood or gas depending on the model you choose.

• Ones that are small enough to be mounted on the counter of one of your outdoor kitchen islands.
• The other type is free standing and comes with a stand to elevate it to a comfortable cooking height.

Countertop models must be located on a surface that can withstand the high heats that a pizza oven produces.

The advantages of a manufactured pizza oven are:

• A high-quality, long-lasting oven with a simple setup.
• The ability to relocate the unit anywhere on your property.
• Units that match your budget and your needs in terms of size and shape.
• Virtually immune to the weather.
• The opportunity to use your oven just days after ordering it, rather than months after deciding to build your own.
• The option to take your oven with you if you decide to move or host an offsite event, extending the oven’s usefulness.
• The ability to mount your oven on a mobile or permanent cart, or to mount it permanently on a permanent surface as part of an outdoor kitchen.