My WFO Build

Epicurean Exploits - Food and Recipes
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Thanks Russell and Suzanne! …but please don’t take anything in this thread as an example of my photography Tempered Light - Fine Art Photography by Lawrence Piggins

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Man throw a brisket and a pork butt in there on Day 4 along with a couple of very small chunks of apple and cherry. Love to see what comes out of that.

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If the apple and cherry you mean for smoke, I think I’d need to get them smoldering somehow first. Day 2 there’s still some glowing embers but by day 4 it’s all just residual heat in the bricks. There is a fellow, you can find his build on youtube, who built a cold-smoker off the side, and uses an empty channel in the cinder block courses to route smoke into the oven. A really fascinating and creative concept.

We did do an all-day pot of chili on a day 3, worked out really nicely:

I’m going to try a Detroit-style pizza tonight after firing for Neopolitan last night, but I don’t think I’ll have 500º after a very chilly night.

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Yes just to add some smoke. You could do just a small fire of small kindling and just let it go when you seal things up. Would give things a light “seasoning” smoke not a heavy cooking smoke.

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That is an amazing piece of work Larry. I have wanted a home pizza oven for years and am getting close to pulling the trigger. You obviously went through a mountain of work to create that thing of beauty, I will more than likely cut a few corners but am curious how much you spent on materials?

Also with all of your research, how much different do you see your finished product compared to a pre fabbed oven? I am a home builder and have installed many pizza ovens and have always gone this route. The pre fabbed units have increased in price tremendously over the years.

Thanks and congratulations!

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Thanks Tom!

There were two things that caused me to not go pre-fab. First - cost. For the size I was shooting for (36") price of just the oven will be in the $4K-$6K range, not including the stand or any finishing. For mine I haven’t added up the cost, but roughly off the top of my head, metal fab was ~$1100, firebricks ~$400, refractory mortar ~$180, refractory insulation ~$400, chimney ~$250. So, under $2500 before considering the stand or any finishing. Any prefab oven under $4K is in the 24"-28" range, which is not really practical IMO. The second was, getting the low dome. No prefab oven really has the profile you typically see in Neopolitan ovens.

The third issue was, just wanting to do it myself.

If I was going prefab, this oven would be the top of my list, Four Grand Mere 950B:
https://www.breadstoneovens.com/products/oven-950-c

I like the brick finish and it has a very low dome. I know a couple people in the bay area who have one of these and it’s quite nice. They also make a raised version if you’re concerned about fitting things like roasts or turkeys. If you’re not interested in low dome, then there are several manufacturers in California (like Forno Bravo) who make cast refractory domes, I’m sure you’re aware.

Good luck to you, and please follow up here with your decision!

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I think it would work. Actually if you close the door with an active flame, it gets really, really smoky (I learned) so you could probably take advantage of that. From what I’ve read (Forno Bravo also has a cooking section on their site) best practice seems to be put a sear on the meat first. Otherwise going into the low heat cooks similarly to sous-vide. For maintaining a consistent, low temp, it’s rock solid.

Here’s the video of the guy who did the smoker box off the side. Really creative concept! This is a long video but he’s really detailed about the design, which is great. There are a couple things I don’t like about his oven, but that’s the beauty of it (he’d probably say similarly about mine). Everybody who builds their own puts their own fingerprint on their design. Some things like his insulation aren’t considered state of the art anymore, although they were at the time he built his.

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Hard Core. Really nice work.

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Thanks Scott!

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[worship.gif]

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Thank you sir [cheers.gif]

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Just thinking about what I could cook if I had the competence and the energy tp bulld that.

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Indeed. I should mention, what most sane people do is have a contractor build or install the oven. I’d warn though, most masons will say than can build an oven, but they fail on many important details. Best, if hiring a contractor, get someone who builds ovens. Make sure they’re using firebricks, refractory mortar, and refractory insulation. Read the Forno Bravo instructions just to get a primer on what someone who knows what they’re doing should know. Or, get a prefab like the Four Grand Mere mentioned earlier, and have someone install it.

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Last weekend I stuccoed the walls on the oven base. Nice to not be looking at cinder blocks and angle iron anymore. Still waiting on the special-order tile I’ll use to finish the dome.
image_77153.jpg

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You should be able to fire your own now [wink.gif]

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And now you’re gonna tile the thing too?!! Just killing me. I will not be competing with this by a long shot. Holy mole, Man. Way to set the bar.
Tiling means naming the thing, I presume? I propose “KONG.”
What the zoning like over there? You could have em lined up the sidewalk and around the corner.

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Spec mix scratch n brown I presume?

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I just used “quickwall” which is a fiberglass-reinforced scratch & brown coat, which eliminates the need for lath. I’m shopping for cultured stone now, which will partially or fully cover the base.

My choices, El Dorado Stone Capri Country Rubble:

…or El Dorado Tuscany Country Rubble:

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I’m going with Vesuvius. And just wait till you see the tile [training.gif]

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That’s funny I’ve actually seen some WFO owners contemplate that very thing. Makes my DIY ambitions seem kind of lightweight. But the truth is, it costs too much in wood to be economical.