Pizza Oven / Wood Fired Outdoor Oven

[Mikey]

Good afternoon peeps,

I'm in the process of building a wood fired pizza oven in the back garden at the moment. I've almost finished the plinth, and am looking ahead to the actual dome itself.

So my questions is if you have one did you build yours out of clay or brick, and if the latter did you use standard bricks or fireclay ones?

Muchas gracias.

[Snadger]

Pigletwillie built one from clay if I remember correctly! He had a thread on here about it somewhere so it may be worth having a troll?

[VirginVegGrower]

Oh yes - would love one of these. I found plans for the Jamie Oliver one somewhere when I googled. Good luck!

[chris]

check his blog out, MW - I think its pigletsplot.blogspot.com - a good read, but there's an article in there about his oven

[chris]

... also bramble poultry (mike) built one too, althought they've not been around recently.

[Mikey]

Cheers Dude.

I'm hoping the rain will hold off this evening, as the stone work really needs some time to dry out without it lashing down.

I'll post some piccies later, to show some work in progress shots. The chickens are very bemused by it all!!

[VirginVegGrower]

I remember in Turkey they cook pizzas with cracked egg on the top - can't remember what it is called but sounds like you could make it

[VirginVegGrower]

Pide

For the dough:
2 cup all-purpose flour (to start, will probably need a bit more)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 ½ tsp instant yeast (if using active dry yeast, increase to 2 tsp)
1 cup warm water

For the sauce:
2 red bell peppers
olive oil
salt
freshly ground black pepper

For the topping:
1 lb ground lamb
1 onion, chopped finely
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp pimentón (smoked paprika) or paprika
½ tsp ground cumin
small pinch of ground cinnamon
salt
freshly ground pepper

For garnish:
3 eggs (optional)
lemon zest
fresh mint leaves, chopped
red pepper flakes

Make the dough: (If using active dry yeast, combine the warm water with the sugar in a small bowl. Sprinkle in the yeast. Wait about 10-15 min until foamy. Proceed with recipe but remember that you already added the sugar to your yeast mixture.) Add all the ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, mix on low speed until well-combined.

On a well-floured board, turn out the dough which will look clumpy and messy. Flour the board and your hands liberally and begin gathering the dough into a ball. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 min or so. Sprinkle with flour as needed to keep from sticking. If the dough starts looking too dry, drizzle in a tiny bit more olive oil.

Oil a large bowl and place the dough ball inside, then flip the dough ball upside down to ensure that the whole surface is covered by a film of oil. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 2 hours.

Make the sauce: Using a broiler or gas stove, thoroughly char the skins of the red bell peppers until blackened. Place the peppers in a large bowl and cover to allow them to steam for 15-20 min. Carefully remove the blackened skin as well as the stem and seeds. Roughly chop the roasted peppers and place in the bowl of a food processor. Drizzle in a healthy glug of olive oil and puree. Season with salt and pepper.

Make the topping: Heat 2 Tbsp of olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add in onions and cook until softened, about 5 min. Add in garlic, pimentón, cumin, cinnamon and saute for a few more minutes until fragrant. Add in lamb. Saute until lamb is cooked through, about 10-15 more min. Taste and adjust seasonings with salt and pepper. Drain in a colander and let cool.

Assemble the pides: Preheat oven to 500F. If using a pizza stone, that should be in the oven during preheating. Sprinkle a peel with a pinch of cornmeal. If you don’t have a peel, use an inverted baking sheet.

Divide the dough into three pieces. Keep the other pieces wrapped in plastic while you work with one piece. Use a floured rolling pin to gently roll out the dough into a long, oval shape (see photos). Once you have the dough rolled out to your preferred thickness, transfer to your prepared peel or inverted baking sheet. Spread a few spoonfuls of sauce on the dough, leaving a thick border, then add the topping.

Fold the border up over the meat to create a frame. I like to make a boat shape by pleating and pinching together (see photos), similar to how I wrap dumplings except on a bigger scale. You can also just fold the border up without pleating. At each pointy end of the dough, pinch together the two sides and give the “tail” a twist to secure the fold.

Carefully slide the pide onto the baking stone (or stick the whole baking sheet into the oven if not using a stone). Bake for 8-10 min, until the dough edges are nicely browned, the red pepper sauce is bubbling slightly, and the bottom is crispy. Carefully remove the pide from the oven. Repeat with the remaining two pieces of dough.

Finish the pides: Top each pide with a fried egg. Add on a sprinkle of chopped mint, a pinch of red pepper flakes, and a bit of lemon zest. Slice and enjoy.

[VirginVegGrower]

My other half suggests fire bricks - I don't think he knows why, but apparently when I suggested we made one, that's what he was looking at.

[Aberdeenplotter]

Fire bricks won't crack with the heat. Simple as that but then I think you also need to use fire cement.

[Florence Fennel]

Don't know how to build the oven, but that recipe looks delicious VVG and well worth a try. Thanks.

[scott78]

River Cottage Bites - 4oD - Channel 4
hope this helps

[VirginVegGrower]

Don't know how to build the oven, but that recipe looks delicious VVG and well worth a try. Thanks.

Pide is lovely - it will work in a normal oven on a stone or pizza tray. Enjoy cooking!

[vicky]

I built 2 earlier this year (one at the school, the other for me). Both out of clay mixed with sand. They have both cracked to some extent, the school one was rendered in cement but that still has cracks. Ours we might render in lime mix next month as that should have some give in it to cope with the expansion etc.
You have to have a cover of some sort over the clay ones to hold out rain and insulate, probably brick ones would last longer too if you cover them.

They are great to cook in, get VERY hot, lots of fun and don't use a great deal of wood either

[vicky]

The school has free range chickens too and the Head was rather amused one morning to find a chicken roosting in the oven...it scrambled out rather sharpish, maybe realising what it was sleeping in?