Have you dreamed of building a simple wood fired outdoor pizza oven and making delicious pizzas or breads in your backyard? It is totally doable: here’s a super detailed DIY wood fired pizza oven tutorial to help get you started!
People have been building ovens for centuries in all parts of the world. You don’t need high tech pizza oven kit or any expensive materials to build an effective outdoor pizza oven.
This simple DIY wood fired outdoor pizza oven uses easy to find natural materials, and it works amazingly well ( see it in action below! ) and costs 1% of a pizza oven kit.
This type of oven is called earth oven, or cob oven. They are made with readily available and often free materials, and a proven technique that has been used for hundreds or even thousands of years. No special tools are needed, it is also great as a group project to create with friends!
In this DIY wood fired outdoor pizza oven tutorial ( with a free ebook at the end ) I will share:
Step by step process on how to build a simple and effective pizza oven
Helpful tips and resources, including a free ebook with lots more details on each step, DIY wood fired pizza oven design variations, etc.
By the way, if you are adventurous enough to be reading this, you HAVE to check out our easy and AMAZING no knead bread recipe, made with 50% whole grain, YUM!
Easy and AMAZING no knead bread recipe
Recently I attended an Earth Oven (aka Cob Oven) building class taught by one of the best teachers in this field, Kiko Denzer. ( Some of the helpful resources are affiliate links. Full disclosure here. ) Years ago, I was greatly inspired by his book : one of the best on oven building .
During the 6 hour long class, we built 2 portable earth ovens, which were auctioned the next day. I learned so much about building with earth and other readily available materials. There’s such simplicity and beauty to the process that I find deeply inspiring.
You are probably wondering –
What can you make in a simple DIY earth outdoor pizza oven? Does it really work?
These 3 pictures are from our friend Bill, who bought the earth pizza oven made by the class last year. He loves it so much and decided to join our class this year so he can build another one!
Bill has been using his DIY wood fired pizza oven almost once a week for a year now. I asked him to share what are his favorite things to make, here’s what Bill said-
” you do get a long cooking time from each firing if you think of cooking along the temperature curve with pizza first, bread, then braises of all sorts.( pulled pork,beans, rice of all ethnic cooking styles) pies and cookies and then overnight meats like carnitas. the end temp. in the cob oven is long in the 250 f range and is great for drying fruits, toasting nut’s and great grilled cheese. those are my favorites … really it works for everything that you can imagine as long as you understand a dish’s temperature requirements.”
“Here are a few shots of a fun Sunday bake. 3.5 hr fire, coals burned out and got 900 F dropping to 600 after coals out. Baked pizza, bread at 500 F then cooled to 400 F and did the bean casserole and still the next day(24hrs) oven still at 250 F for any drying of fruit!!”
OK, is this enough temptation for you to run out there and start building yet?
Step by step tutorial on how to build a DIY wood fired outdoor pizza oven with simple materials.
Below is a summary of each step. Download the ebook at the end for more details in each step!
Step 1: Create sand-clay mix for the earth oven
For each part of clay soil, we mix in 2-3 part sand. More sand if using pure clay. Make sure the mix does not have any sharp rocks or debris. If unsure, wear rain boots!
Put everything on a large tarp, add some water, and start singing and dancing – which means, mixing!
Folding the tarp is a good way to get everything mixed more thoroughly.
You will know that your mixture is a good consistency and ready to go if you can form it into a ball about 3″ diameter, drop it to the ground, and the ball holds its shape with little cracking. How fun it is that our work is to dance in the mud?
Step 2: Make a base with insulation for your outdoor pizza oven
The cob ovens we made in class had a base of sheet metal bolted onto a wood frame ( pictures below ) to be portable, then placed on a sturdy foundation at their new home.
If you are building a wood fired outdoor pizza oven directly in your backyard, then consider the following keys to a foundation: stability, height, and insulation.
1. stability: a foundation can be built out of any sturdy materials such as broken concrete, brick, masonry block, stone, rocks, old tables or even wooden pallets, as long as it can hold an oven (which can weigh 300 to 600 lbs depending on size) without sinking and shifting.
2. height: the foundation should support your oven at a height that allows you to work comfortably!
3. insulation: there should be a minimum of 4″-6″ of insulation between the fire brick oven floor and the masonry or wood foundation. The insulation will prevent the masonry from absorbing all the valuable heat we want for cooking, and protect the wood foundation from burning. The glass jars and vermiculite provide insulation. The fire brick hearth is set on top of that.
Related article: Staying at an Earthship: a unique home that produces food, cleans water, and turns trash to treasure!
Step 3: Build a sand form size of the cob oven interior
Just like building a sand castle! The sand is scooped out after the next 2 layers are built.
Step 4: Build the thermal layer for an effective wood fired outdoor pizza oven
The purpose of the thermal layer is to hold heat in its dense mass. Use the clay-sand mix we made earlier, take one handful at a time, and press it down to form a 2″-3″ shell outside the sand form. Be careful not to press into the sand form, which would cause the form to shift.
We also made a “molding” around the earth oven door opening using strands of straw dipped in clay, and formed it around the door opening to give it a more finished look and as a starting place for the next layer.
The final steps are adding insulation and finish layers.
Step 5: Insulation layer for the earth / cob oven.
The difference between this layer and the thermal layer is that the mixture here has more air, which is great for preventing heat loss of the thermal layer!
When coarse saw dust or wood shavings are mixed with just enough clay to hold the shape, and when they are exposed to the high temperature from the thermal layer, a new material- clay foam – is created. It’s sort of a light weight charcoal-clay which is airy, thus conducts heat slowly.
And of course, don’t forget to take a nice break and show off your muddy hands!
Finally step: the finish layer for your wood fired outdoor pizza oven!
An earthen plaster is applied to the final layer to give the cob oven a smooth finish and decorative sculptural details!
Here’s a beautiful book Using Natural Finishes: Lime and Earth Based Plasters, Renders & Paints with ideas and recipes from many cultures
Helpful resources on building a wood fired pizza oven !
- Here is one of the best books on oven building by our teacher Kiko Denzer, Building Your Own Earth Oven. It offers lots of valuable information from planning, site considerations, to foundations and roof options, as well as many variations on materials and designs. And Kiko’s website, where you can find great articles on building with earth, as well as his future workshops. You will not only appreciate his knowledge, but also his wisdom on how to live life more simply and more fully.
- another of my favorite books on earth building: The Hand-Sculpted House by the great pioneers Ianto Evans(Kiko’s teacher) and Michael Smith. I took a week long class from Michael and built a cob / straw bale room at a Waldorf School – one of the best weeks ever! Michael’s website, lots of great natural building methods, and workshops!
- if you love natural finishing, here’s a beautiful book Using Natural Finishes: Lime and Earth Based Plasters, Renders & Paints with ideas and recipes from many cultures
- The Bread Ovens of Quebec is an exquisite book. It’s out of print, but available as a free ebook via the Canadian Museum of History. It’s possible that it might be back in print soon.
First, you can download the free Ebook with lots more details here:
Once you get your hands DIRT-Y, you will fall in love with earth building. It’s a magical way of building that connects us with our essence, with the elements of earth, fire, water and air, with makers across centuries and continents, and, with one another.
Now you can bake this easy and AMAZING no knead bread recipe!
Easy and AMAZING no knead bread recipe
Download the free Ebook with TONS of more details and photos:
Happy building!
Lynn
Cool! No doubt there will be one in your yard one day!
ananda
and our darling jeff makes the best pizza =) xoxo
Lorie
I am signed up for your newsletter but cannot access the Ebook for “Simple Wood Fired Pizza Oven ( Easy Earth Oven in 2 days! )”. That Ebook hyperlink only sends me to the sign up page for the website newsletter.
Any assistance in accessing a working link for the Ebook on “Simple Wood Fired Pizza Oven…” would be greatly appreciated.
Lorie
My20Croft15@aol.com
BTW: The hyperlink for the Ebook “The Bread Ovens of Quebec ” located at the Canadian Museum of History website works beautifully. The book is historically fascinating; thank you for the link to it !
ananda
hi lorie, there’s a big button at the bottom of each weekly newsletter, that takes you to all downloads. if you added our sign up email address to safe list, you should get it every thursday or friday! =)
Angelic Sinova
This is AMAZING! I’ve always wanted to build a wood fried oven but I don’t think I have the patience to ever finish it <3
ananda
thanks angelic! =)
Fi
Wow, this is amazing!
Sam
How cool! I love food cooked in a wood fired oven. It is fabulous that you made one.
Nancy
What, whoa! This is crazy cool. If I owned a house, or wanted to build my own oven from scratch (omg), I’d be all about it. But instead I’d prefer hanging out with other friends who’d have this hahaha. IMAGINE the pizzas. Ugh, good lord. I bet they would be heaven… on…earth.
ananda
thank you nancy! the pizzas from wood fired ovens are heavenly, and always a fun party! =)
Melissa
That is the coolest thing I have seen all day!
ananda
thank you melissa! =)
The Accidental Mama
I can’t even comprehend that you did this… So amazing! As much as I love the tutorial, there is no way I am as motivated as you are 😉
xoxo
The Accidental Mama
http://theaccidentalmama.com
ananda
you never know dear friend! xo
Erica
This is amazing but I think my husband may kill me if I “ask” him to “help” me with another project! 🙂
ananda
trade cookies with him! =)
Maryann
OMG– SO COOL! The pizza looks divine!
Lily @ From Lily With Love
This is so cool!! I have never seen a blog post even remotely similar to this. This would be perfect for summer cooking so it wouldn’t heat up your house! When I get a house of my own, this is first on the list of outdoor necessities. GREAT post!!
ananda
thank you lily! you will have so much fun using it one day!
Chelsea
This is seriously amazing! My boyfriend tried to make one once.. it definitely didn’t look like this hahahah.
ananda
haha that’s sooo awesome he tried to make one!!
Andi
This is so awesome – I can just taste a salmon smoked in one of these!
ananda
wow andi, smoked salmon sounds so good!
Amy
this is so cool. I never thought about making an oven like this.
Brenda
This is so cool! I must figure out if it can fit in my little outdoor patio! 😉
Amanda Love
WOW! This looks like not only would it be fun to make but fun to use as well.
Amby Felix
WOW! My jaw literally dropped when I saw how cool this was! I would TOTALLY be down to do something like this. Oh man, pizza… I used to work a pizza station at an authentic Italian restaurant, and though it’s very hot, I never got tired of that bubbly charred pizza aroma! ^_^
ananda
thanks amby! can’t wait to see your pizzas one day! xx
Jessica Doll (@teamwiking)
This is so cool. I know they probably aren’t that similar, but my friend had a wood fired oven in her backyard and the pizza was always SO delicious.
ananda
thank you jessica! we just went to a pizza party and ate way too much! =)
liv
You always share the coolest stuff and I am here for it! I bet the pizza’s in the earth oven are good! That’s def a big project to do with friends!!! I could totally see myself trying to jazz it up!
ananda
thank you dear liv! xx
Lucinda Carroll
Hi. I’m int process of building a cob pizza oven. And I like the idea of not needing a chimney however council requires a chimney. So do I need the door to be the required height of the dome. Or can I mke it any heirght thank you.
Jemma Andrew-Adiamah
This is such a cool idea.
Neely Stoller
Ummm OK now I want one
ananda
me too neely! =)
Kristi @ Inspiration Kitchen
Gahhhhh!!! Now you’ve got me wanting to play in the mud! What a great class! I’ve never taken a class anything like that, but it looks like a blast! Love all the pictures too!
ananda
just imagine the divine goodies coming out of your oven kristi! xo
Carly Anderson
This is such a pretty oven! I would love to have one of these!
Sarah Shermann
I’ve seen these done before, I’ve always felt there just amazing and the bread I’ve had bake in one of them was brilliant, just wish I had the space to have one 🙂
kendall
Are you kidding me? This is AMAZING! It turned out great!
Raewyn
Oh my gosh I love this! I would love to have one but we aren’t technically allowed to burn wood in certain areas of California
myrabev
Seen these around the sphere but never really taken in how they are made and what you can use them for. Thanks for sharing x
Ayana Pitterson
These ovens are the best for baking breads as well! In my home country, Trinidad, the best breads were made like that. YUMMM!
Thrifting Diva
http://www.thriftingdiva.com
ananda
now i must visit trinidad! x
The Daydreamer
I would love to be able to make this or even attend a class! I only need the right garden/backyard 😉 I can only imagine the satisfaction of cooking in this oven after having built it from scratch.
ananda
hi donatella! it was a magical experience, you will love it! xo
Avie
What a great learning experience! I love learning new things, especially when its hands on!
Nikki Rae
What a cool idea?! I’m sure the minute I show this to my dad, he’ll want to make one.
Cam | Bibs and Baubles
That is seriously the coolest thing I’ve seen in a while.
Samantha
That is seriously one of the coolest and most unique things I’ve ever seen!! How fun!
Jessica
How COOL! I had no idea you could make one yourself.
Jenn Pilgrim [The Newlywed Pilgrimage]
What a cool experience! I would love to build one of these.
Steve
i’d love to have one of these, but how do you use it?
ananda
hi steve, I’m no expert, but it’s like any wood fired ovens, deserves another book on this topic! =)
Seema
wowwww, awesome clay oven. seriously I need it. I want to bake different kinds of yummy naans.
ananda
wooo i LOVE naans! =)
maggie
Are these safe to use? Will there be possibility of blowing up from over heating?
ananda
hi maggie! these ovens won’t blow up, but if the mixture is not well proportioned, it may crack! =)
Adrian
I do not understand one essential thing: you can make fire but not cook at the same time..? So once you made the fire, you must wait for it to consume and then get it out and then clean the base and then cook a pizza?
ananda
hi adrian, the very first fire is to cure the oven. when you cook with it in the future, the oven gets hotter as the fire is almost burnt out, so when you clear out the ashes and coals, the inside surface of the oven releases heat and cook the pizza. people get to know their ovens as to how much wood to burn and when to stop the fire to cook! =)
Steve
what kind of clay? Can I use red clay from the yard?
ananda
yes you can!
Enendore
Great, but it doesn’t seem to have any space for cooking things.. there is space only for fire and wood, isn’t it?
ananda
hi! the fire and wood is to heat the oven. the coal is pushed to the sides when cooking starts! =)
Murry
What a wonderful idea, I would love to print out the plans and make my own oven, included in the new BBQ area I’m working on.
Chamoise
Waouh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What i would love to be able do build one! It’s fantastic to make bread,pie! In garden with the flowers,lovely friends and cats ! A dream!
Thank’s Ananda…
Woodburner spare parts
Great article. You can’t beat a pizza cooked on one of these.
Selina
Great instruction. But How to make the base frame for the pizza oven?I couldnt figure it out.
ananda
hi! many ways to do that. there are more details in the free ebook and some books in the resources!
Michelle Leslie
Ooooooo I’ve always wanted one of these and the hubby will only eat pizza that has a “wood burnt” base. I can’t wait to show him the tutorial. Thank you Ananda
Jody Barker
Do you have info on the class?
ananda
hi jody, look up kiko denzer, there are others that teach cob oven classes too. 🙂
david
How long do you think an oven like this would last before breaking? (In canada, outdoor with a tarp covering it in the winter)
ananda
hi david, there are ovens like this properly protected that lasted hundreds of years in rainy climates, so if it is protected, i would say a very long time!
Lorelai
wow lovely project, we are so on it to make our own pizza oven very much inspired by you. there would be tho some questions about the building process which i would like to ask u! please let me know how can i get in touch about these subject.
cheers and keep up the great work and inspiration!
ananda
hi, you can ask questions anytime in the comments section of a project, this way it can help others who might have similar questions. have fun building the oven! 🙂
Lorelai
ok great than i will go on with my first question which is about the clay. for example i use normal sculpture clay and i wanted to know if i should put in the mix also some earth clay and sand or just the sand. and for example for the above oven which quantities should do? thank you and sorry for my delay but i was around meanwhile.
Mary Sportegan
Wow, thank you very much for the material you provided, this information will be very useful to me as a pizza fan