As a starting place, can we all agree that pizza is the perfect food? Depending on your ingredients, it’s an ideal balance of carbs, fat, and protein. It’s easy to make and easy to share, and it’s universally enjoyed. One survey found 98 percent of Americans eat pizza, and 54 percent say they “love” it. Millions even claim they’d want pizza for their last meal.
You know what else Americans love? Entertaining and backyard barbecuing. Now imagine that instead of burgers off the grill, your next gathering would serve Naples-style woodfired pizza straight from an oven in your backyard. You can do it. San Luis Obispo residents Chuck and Amy Maxie did, spending about $300 on materials to create their own backyard pizza oven.
There are a few steps and some drying time for materials to harden, but it’s easier than you may think. Step one is to find a flat place you can build a base from cinder blocks, which the Maxies bought locally from Air Vol Block on Suburban Road in SLO.
Next is to acquire an inflatable exercise ball, probably the 65 centimeter size, though the standard 52 centimeter will work—about $10 to $20. You’ll need to build a frame for the ball, which acts as the form for your oven’s dome. The frame should be something flat and rigid but easy to cut, like 3/4-inch plywood.
“You just measure and cut the frame to rest the ball in,” Amy explained.
Use a string and pencil to draw the correct diameter circle, one the ball can’t fall through. Drill a small pilot hole at the edge of the circle and use a jigsaw to cut it out. Use your cinder blocks to hold the frame up so the bottom of the ball is hanging out of the bottom of the hole.
You’ll also need to build a little rectangular frame for the opening of the oven as well as a chimney to vent the fire—the Maxies used a coffee can. Once you’ve got the frame for your oven, cover it all in plastic wrap to keep the outer material—in this case a mix of vermiculite and cement—from sticking to the ball, and then wearing plastic or rubber gloves, mud it up.
“We kept popping it on until it was thick enough,” Chuck said.
At this point you might be thinking, Why? Why go through all the trouble.
“We wanted to have a project and thought it sounded like a good idea to be able to make pizzas in the backyard. We experienced real pizza ovens in Europe and loved it,” Chuck said.
Both are teachers at Crestview Elementary on Vandenberg Space Force Base. Amy teaches third grade and Chuck teaches physical education. They have two daughters. Summers off means projects around the house, and this seemed like a great addition to their backyard space. Doing it yourself is also a lot less expensive than buying a commercially made wood fired pizza oven, which can run from around $300 for a cheapo one to $7,600 for the Piccolo 65 Italian Brick Pizza Oven that can be installed inside your home. It weighs 900 pounds, but don’t worry. Shipping is free.
For those without 7.6K to burn, the Maxies’ project might be a good alternative. Once you have the oven shell all covered with the cement mix, it needs to dry for a couple of weeks. The Maxies studied up for their project by watching YouTube videos. Once the dome is dry, you simply deflate the exercise ball and remove it and the plastic wrap, coffee can, and the box frame for the oven opening and voilà, a pizza oven.
So what would they do differently?
“I’d get better plywood to hold the ball and I’d make the base wider,” said Chuck. They used thin particle board, and when they were removing the dome from the ball, they discovered the base had warped under the weight, leaving the bottom of the oven dome uneven.
On top of the cinder blocks, the Maxies used two sheets of fireboard and a layer of fire bricks, which is the surface the pizzas will directly cook on. They purposely didn’t mortar the base together in case they decided to disassemble and move it later. All told, the Maxies’ oven used 20 cinder blocks, two sheets of fireboard, and between 50 and 60 firebricks.
Once they transferred the dome to the base, they needed more cement to adhere the dome in place (and fix any uneven spots). After curing again, they started with a small fire to look for places other than the chimney where the smoke was escaping, and they filled the holes with more cement. It’s a process, but if you do it right, your oven should last for years and years.
Once your oven is done and ready to fire up, it will reach temperatures of up to 800 degrees and bake a pizza in two to four minutes. Getting the fire right is the “hardest part,” Chuck admits. “You know when the fire’s ready when it’s so hot it won’t smoke. It’s wild.”
Oak, hickory, ash, maple, olive, beech, alder, pecan, and cherry wood are good options, especially kiln dried. Most sources list oak as the best.
When you’re ready to go for it, place a couple of logs leaning upright in the very back of the oven and start a small fire near the front opening under the chimney. Once the front fire is really going, push it to the back of the oven, and the logs should fall into it and start burning. Add wood as necessary to get it really hot, and as soon as it stops smoking, slide in your first pizza and give it a go.
“It’s not pretty, but it works,” Chuck joked. He wants to eventually finish their oven with marbles or tile, but for now, it’s time to eat.
The OG of Neapolitan pizza
Dough for two 10- to 12-inch pizzas
2 cups of “00” flour
1/8 teaspoon of active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon of granulated sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons of salt
3/4 cup of 110-degree water
Toppings
3 medium San Marzano or Pomodorino del Piennolo del Vesuvio tomatoes
2 balls of moist fior di latte or mozzarella di bufala cheese
12 leaves of fresh basil
olive oil drizzle
Simple, fresh, and delicious, the Margherita pizza is the classic pizza created in Napoli, Italy, and if you’re making backyard woodfired pizzas, it’s a must-try.
To do it right, make your own dough using soft wheat “00” flour from Italy. You need two bowls. In one, lightly coat with olive oil and add the warm water (110 degrees), dry yeast, and sugar. In another bowl, combine the flour and salt. Make a well in the flour and pour in the yeast mixture, and use a fork to pull the dry into the wet, then mix. As the dough starts to rise, knead until it’s a little tacky, then cover it in the oiled bowl and let it rise in a warm spot until it doubles in size in an hour or two. Divide it into smaller balls, cover them in a damp cloth, and let them rest. Overnight in the fridge is A-OK.
When your oven is hot, use your fingers to make a dough ball into a roundish flat shape, and now it’s time for the pizza toppings. Margherita is made with fresh ingredients: straight from the vine pureed San Marzano or Pomodorino del Piennolo del Vesuvio tomatoes, moist fior di latte or mozzarella di bufala cheeses.
Take your peel, slide the pizza in your oven, and watch it closely. It shouldn’t take more than a few minutes to be a bubbling, browned, beautiful culinary delight, and if you suffer from gluten intolerance, many people report the Italian “00” flour doesn’t bother their stomachs. After baking, add just-picked basil leaves and a drizzle of olive oil.
Build it yourself shopping list:
One 52- to 65-centimeter exercise ball
One sheet 3/4-inch plywood
One roll of plastic cling wrap
One 3- to 4-inch diameter can
One 60-pound bag of Portland cement
One 4-cubic-foot bag of vermiculite
20 cinder blocks
Two sheets of fireboard cut to size
Between 50 and 60 firebricks
This article appears in Get Outside – Summer/Fall 2023.