Pizza oven

[tim_n]

I'm definitely doing the moot this year and I have the option of building a pizza oven.

To do this, as we found out last year, there's no clay (even after I walked all the way down to the river - whilst I found 'clay' there would have been no mixing, we'd just have to have taken a 1:1 mix of river mud to build it.)

However I now have an a) plan and a b) plan.

a) plan is that I've found a source of clay in London. It's a very high grade of pottery clay - it is infact the offcuts, so depending on how much I need I'll put in my order. It's free - but requires a fair bit of transport (ie dumping it off in central london and picking it up!

b) plan is I'll ring up the local pets at home in Bridgend and ask them to order in some nice clumping kitty litter.

I will probably have to put a charge on this because of either the cost of transporting the materials or buying them in.

With this in mind, is there anyone out there that fancies that sort of thing? Last year I had a lot of disappointment so it seemed we had a lot of interest.

 

[widu13]

Coleman folding oven and a fireblanket as insulation- job done and permanent.

 

[tim_n]

Can it go to 900'c?

 

[widu13]

No idea! 900c, really?

 

[Tadpole]

I'm still keen to try, even if there is a charge.

 

[tim_n]

Yes - my steel pans come out dark/cherry red after a couple of minutes, so probably high 800's

Pizza cooks in about 30 seconds. Very tasty. Nice crisp base

 

[widu13]

and doubles up as a forge!

 

[Tony]

Yeah, pizza oven will be cool Tim, go for it

 

[Parbajtor]

and doubles up as a forge!

Certainly ok for heat treat, possibly not up to welding temps.

 

[rik_uk3]

Yes - my steel pans come out dark/cherry red after a couple of minutes, so probably high 800's

Pizza cooks in about 30 seconds. Very tasty. Nice crisp base

800c oven temp? About 580c more than you need for a Pizza!!! I must have misread this thread!

 

[crosslandkelly]

View attachment 28626....

 

[Gray]

Great idea but isnt 8-900 c a bit extreme for a pizza. I would have thought it be crispy but not cooked through. Or does it cook through because its thin? I get the heat treatment thing too.

 

[Midnitehound]

Does anyone know any traditional Medieval theme pizza toppings? Can we build it up at the NC? It would be nice and get plenty of use.

 

[tim_n]

I was thinking of the NC to build it. It'd get more use and it's a blighter to build.

I was actually hoping Mad Dave could chop down a tree and make some logs so we can build a stand for it. It's a bit of a pain to get on your hands and knees.

 

[tim_n]

800c oven temp? About 580c more than you need for a Pizza!!! I must have misread this thread!

pfff.

You really want to get the pizza to cook in about a minute or two. Any longer and you're drying out the crust. My wife rolls out wafer thin pizza sheets and they cook incredibly quickly.

Granted, if you want to put a frozen pizza in the oven, you can wait until its cool down cycle. It'll be plenty hot until the next day when it's properly fired.

With a really hot oven, cook the pizzas first, then do a few loaves of bread, follow up with a nice slow cooked stew overnight. Sounds about right for the naughty corner as everyone finishes up for the night.

Great idea but isnt 8-900 c a bit extreme for a pizza. I would have thought it be crispy but not cooked through. Or does it cook through because its thin? I get the heat treatment thing too.

Yes, very thin bases - not thick at all. You want everthing sliced very thinly. My favourite is garlic butter, cheese and fresh rosemary and mushrooms. Delicious.

 

[plastic-ninja]

Hi Tim.
Just a thought.Have you tried the Flemish version of pizza?
Flammekuche, very popular in the north of France , and like pizza, traditionally used to take the edge off a wood-fired brick oven before the breads went in.
We used to like onion and lardons on ours.The "pizzaolo" sauce is made with egg and milk/cream; they make a nice change from pizza now and then.
Cheers, Simon
ps. really going to make an effort to get down to the Moot in 2014
Bakery will probably get in the way again like it usually does but one has to have a dream.

 

[tim_n]

No, but you're welcome to make some!

 

[Midnitehound]

Looks like we may need to tweak the NC theme to Italian Medieval with olives, pasta and tossed salad too!

I think we are going to have to have a pizza night one evening and a Medieval Banquet another.

All sounds good to me.

 

[Madriverrob]

Tim , I'm in the process of building a pizza oven in my back garden , what's the score with the cat litter ? is it to mix with the clay instead of using sand ? what are the benefits ?

 

[tim_n]

Tim , I'm in the process of building a pizza oven in my back garden , what's the score with the cat litter ? is it to mix with the clay instead of using sand ? what are the benefits ?

Cat litter is clay, so mixing clay with clay will give you, errrr... clay! Where the moot is the sand dunes makes sand easily found. Clay is in very short supply. I only found patches an inch or less in depth.

You actually want a very sandy mix. A solid clay mix will not be very flexible and will crack very easily. Big cracks = lost heat.

Sand makes it more flexible and cracks less. I can't remember exactly the mix - it depends on your area.

My last build was here:

http://www.waark.com/tag/earth-oven/

Clay experiments:

ascertaining the amount of clay in my soil:

http://www.waark.com/2013/05/clay-content/

making bricks to dry:

http://www.waark.com/2013/05/further-clay-experiments/

And when I dried them:

http://www.waark.com/2013/05/clay-bake/

Some of my friends have mixed in a bit of straw as well. Finely chopped it really adds a lot of reinforcing to stop it cracking so much.