Thanks for your inspiration. I've built an oven this way in spring this year and have used it a lot of time. A good thing was to put netting wire in the walls. What I had to change was the fundament. The sand was too hot and the bottom board begun to smoke a little bit. I used fermiculite instead of the sand and tiles as the bottom.
I've been watching a lot of videos lately to make my own oven and this is by far the most detailed, easy and best video so far. I'm will try this once I move to my recently bought house. thanks a lot..
Great video! Loved the creative use of the gym ball! For the inside of the oven if you could line it with an inch of fire clay mixed with fire brick aggregate it will last you a long time and resist cracking and heat loss.
I've made one a bit like yours and fired it up today for the first time and I made 4 home made pizzas,, it did them in no time I was real impressed in how they work
Pizza's don't work bro!! You have to work making /baking the pizzas and the hardest work... To eat them all untill you burst. 👍😊 For an oven - (any oven) it's important to accumulate heat. A very low density concrete doesn't do that well. That's why it proposed the 1" clay liner which heats up independently. Clay is a very good heat accumulator. Without the clay liner your baking will will be less Regards from Bert in Spain... It's almost 40 degrees C here.. Pizza's bake exposed to sunlight... Good luck with your pizza oven project
I watched this video a year ago and finally made one. I went with perlite instead of vermiculite because I heard it holds up more. I did a ratio of 5/1/1 perlite/portland cement/water. I went through 4 cubic feet (sorry for america non metric we're idiots here) of perlite and about 1/2 a bag of cement. I did a layer of perlite cement, put a fire insulation blanket, chicken wire and another layer of perlite/cement. It is in the process of drying right now. I let the first layer dry for about a week. I will build it on a stand with wheels so I can move in the garage when not in use. Thanks for the inspiration.
Well done! I've just made a Tandoori oven out of terracotta pots and vermiculite. Bit of an effort sourcing a grate for the coals.... Now you've got me thinking to build something a bit like this could fit over the top of it...
If you apply a clay liner inside the dome, you have better heat retention and a cooler shell. The clay liner will shrink when drying and a narrow cavity will occur between liner and insulating shell. After drying fire up. This will provide better Fuel economy, higher temperatures inside and better backing results. also increased longevity of the whole structure and no shell cracking. Remark: while drying the clay liner will crack a bit (this is normal due shrinkage and will not influence the integrity of the liner). Cracks can easely be repaired with clay slurry. After firing up, the clay liner is frost resistent. Alternativ for the vermaculite U can use perlite or expanded clay pellets or a mixture thereof. I made one of cheap expanded clay pellets ( the ones used in hydroponics) and cement and with a 1" clay liner and a steel door with adjustable air intake. I normally use olive fire wood which gives a delicious aroma to the pizza or sourdough bread. Cold or hot smoking of fish or meat is also possible and absolutely delicious. Regards from Spain
@@zennsx Form Several equally thick pancakes of clay and stick it to the inside of the dome. Close the seams with your fingers untill the whole inner surface of the dome is covered. Let dry the clay untill hard. Than start at small fire in the dome to drive out the remaining moisture. Thereafter make a bigger fire inside the dome to bake the clay. Repair eventual cracks with clay slurry.
Can u do this on one go... i mean cover the ball with clay then cover with perlite. Or do u have clay first, wait for it to dry then perlite shell. Reading your write up I guess it can be done in a single go. Also it is weather proof. I.e left in the rain?
@@tanwirkhan78611 I have not tried to make the liner +shell in one go. I made the clay liner after the cement was cured and the low density concrete dome installed on it's final position. Once that was done I applied the clay liner. Doing so I could keep the weight of the dome relatively low for easy handling/lifting by one person (me). I guess technically you can make the liner + shell in one go but the total weight of the oven becomes a headache. After erection the outer surface must be sealed with lime or cement slurry to avoid rainwater entering the porous concrete dome. Regards from Bert in 🇪🇸
I built mine 13 yrs ago, I think yours is a creative use of gym ball and materials, but I think you may need a refinement. The essence of a stone or clay oven is that the wood fire heats the surrounding rock, and the rock retains the heat, which cooks the bread (or crust).Vermicúlite, like perlite, is an insulator. This necessarily means that there will be little stored heat in the hardened mix. Your oven will heat fast, but I'm guessing it won't stay hot long. In mine I used a dense clay brick for the oven interiôr, and I put the perlite/cement mix over that. My intention was to keep the brick from sustaining heat loss from the outside. That way the heated brick retains the maximum heat and only loses heat through the oven interior. I think it might have been better to start with several inches thick of mortar, with a fire clay (refractôry)additive, and over that add several inches of your vermiculite mixture
Firstly great video, but I have to agree with this comment re the top. Your oven will cook pizza ok, but when it comes to breads and roast, covering the ball first with a layer of something more dense like refractor cement, will make the oven more versatile. I used fire bricks, but then that is a whole lot more work.
@@frankhoffman3566 Hello Frank, i'm glad you are still with us. Can i ask something? I was told that white cement would be great for the interior alongside clay brics. What do you think about this? I intend to do one somewhat yours soon, any new knowledge to share?
@@juliosalgado956 ... Hello. Just to clarify, I don't do concrete as a profession. I have done quite a bit of research and have had successful concrete projects. My research indicates that white portland cement is the same as the usual gray stuff. It isn't better or more heat resistant. If you are talking about coating or painting the red brick with a white portland slurry, I wouldn't. You'd risk chips of the hardened cement flaking off and finding a way into your food. I'd want the interior surface to be a good, dense red clay brick, (except for the oven floor which should be fire brick)and the mortar joints regular bag mortar, fortified with about a shovelful of fire clay per 90 lb bag. A method I didn't use to form the oven, which I would have, had I known, is using damp sand to form the interior, then laying strips of plaster of paris soaked paper over that. After it hardens, the bricks are laid against it, conforming the oven to its shape. After everything is finished and hardened up, you dig out the sand. Really, the only issue is getting the right shape to begin with.
Wow, that vermiculite was *_expensive..._* here in the states I needed some for an experiment in mushroom (the fun kind, for educational purposes only mind you) cultivation (fresh brown rice flour and vermiculite is a perfect growing medium) and eventually found a similar 100L bag *(way* more than I needed but all that was available) at Home Depot for $5 USD. Still, a *_very_* cool use for it and a wonderful project !!!
Whilst the vermiculite is a good thermal insulator, it has no mass and thus will not hold any heat. The idea on a wood fired oven is the bricks get hot and radiate the heat once the fire dies down and can cook for many hours. I doubt the concrete will do the job anywhere near as well, though if just pizza is you sole aim it could be ok.
Agreed, but I always get full before I worry about the oven cooling down too much, so it works for my needs, wouldn't work for a commercial applications for the reasons you've stated. Thanks
Great job....amazing. So simple Just a comment on the outer rendering cracks. It's most likely caused by the expansion differential between the two different substrates. You said the outer render gets fairly hot so there's a heat transfer through the Vermiculite which will expand at a greater rate than the rendering thus causing cracks. A layer of aluminium foil held in place over the Vermiculite then the render applied over this would alow movement between the substrates thus reducing any likelihood of cracking. Just my tuppence worth.
Hi John, thanks for the comments and thoughts, possible the most sensible suggestion and explanation anybody has made so far. I'm thinking of making another with Perlite, so I will try and incorporate that idea.
The funny thing is? 🤣 He probably got the best pizza oven there is, just setting on his patio. A Weber kettle or a Smoker " Folks don't let the pizza oven bug bit ya." Look b4 you build or buy. Even your home oven will make excellent pizza ~ So lets watch him work his ass off on this thing 😆
Fantastic work, thanks Mark. I'm not looking to build a Pizza oven, but I am looking to build a wood-burning fire bowl, and I would definitely use some of your methods. Two tips, if I may? Spraying the ball with cooking spray or using anything similar (including Vaseline) on the ball will keep the cling film from moving around when you're applying it - it's a cooking trick. Second, if the gym ball is expendable, as tip to skip having to build the frame for the ball you could mix polystyrene beads (bean bag filler) with PVA glue, cut a x into the ball, and half fill it with the mixture. Then duct tape the x closed and blow up like normal and leave to dry - cut the ball off and you have a form to use for the oven. Edit: A question if you don't mind - can the base be built using cement and vermiculite also instead of fire brick?
I was thinking about doing something very similar to this, although I was going to use a homebrew refractory concrete mix that I found on fornobravo....any ideas how much this would weigh approximately? I love the idea of building a stand out of wood rather than having to use concrete blocks and pouring a special foundation just for this.
This looks perfect! im thinking of making one with a clay inner layer and then an insulating material over it. Putting it directly on fire brick would be perfect. Would these combinations pose troubles with having different expasion rates?
Really great work, I like the video very much and I want to rebuild this oven. Is the Oven Outdoor and get wet from the rain or do you have a roof for the oven?
Hello, nice work. -All of these ovens I've seen have the chimney towards the front; apparently out of necessity (over the flame allows too much heat out). But I would prefer it towards the back. Have you seen any with a flue that transfers the heat to a chimney in the back? Is it necessary to have this simple short chimney in place at the front?
I'd say the wall thickness was roughly 5cm, thicker at the front around the chimney and opening (for strength) I let it cure over a week, using wet towels on the surface, so that it dried as slowly as possible.
I’ve watched a lot of these videos and there are aspects to your build that I think are next level like: full shopping list at beginning; the form table is just high enough off the ground so the ground supports the fit ball; the base build is very solid but not intimidating to those with basic wood working skills, and the firebrick base looks a lot easier to do than some of the other over-crafted ones. I’d be interested to know how this oven is holding up and if there are tweaks you would make?
Hi, thanks for the comments and feedback. It's now 3 years old, and the main casting has cracked around the metal chimney, somebody made a very good point on here about metal expanding etc. So next time I would change the sand in the base, to make that structure lighter, and therefore easier to move, secondly I will probably try making one from Perlite, and casting a chimney from the same material.
Mark, Could you please tell me the outside dimensions of the finished oven? I'm trying to figure out how deep the outdoor counter top it will sit on needs to be. Thanks!
So great idea, easy way of improving the adherance to it use paper closest to the ball and make small "hooks" out of paper that the concrete mix can stick to. The paper will burn away at first burn, and the whole thing could be surfaced prepped from the inside once its cured out.
I made a pizza oven using your technique, except that i made one extra simplifying chance that saved me a lot of time and money..... Instead of cutting out a hole in a board, i dug a hole in the ground and buried half the ball into the ground. Worked absolutely perfect....
Mark Cuthbertson i used a big Cardbox package and put the ball in there... Then formed the Dome and after it was dry i put it on my stand where i build the rest around it...
You are very geniuse, I have a question please,can i use the gym ball as a mold but I will be using the bricks building it intstead of the mixture of cement you did?
Nice work. I have a small doubt. The dome and the entrance are almost same height. I think the entrance should be around 60% of the dome height. Just my observation.
Nice job ☺ my compliments. Few questions to ask you, as I did 3 brick ovens and You know the work load time and cost. My intention to try a cast one in a new holiday house. 1. How much internal temperature you can reach ? 2. How long after using it holds hot its internal temperature ? 3. any cracks so far? 4. Do you know the external tempreture while it's working full please ? 5 do you still advice same ratio of mixture - cement or refractory please ? Thank you so much in advance..
Great Pizza Oven. Well done Mr C ! The best out there. Just a couple of questions...Can you paint the heatproof screed when its dry with an exterior masonry paint and is the whole thing weatherproof or do you need a roof over it outside Many thanks for the vid.
I've watched a lot of videos on how to build pizza ovens. Your's, by far is the easiest I've seen. Now that you've had it a while, do you have any additional tips, tricks or ideas? Thank you and great video.
thanks, there's a lot of video that have jumped on the idea since mine, but good to hear mines still clear. I'd make the chimney out of the same material as the dome next time, and I'll be trying perlite. I would also like to have the base lighter so it's easier to move round, the sand and firebricks are a really heavy combination.
@@cuthberm Hi mate, I'm looking to do this. Is there any reason you wouldn't go for the SS chimney? Also did you find 100l of vermikulite was plenty? Cheers
Tom Hodgson Hi, I used about 3/4 of a 100 litre bag, so you should be fine. It was pointed out to me by somebody in the comments that the flue would expand at a different rate to the dome, as they are different materials and expand at different rates, this could cause cracks. It was a really good point and if I did it again I’d try and make the chimney from the same material. Thanks
@@cuthberm good point about the chimney material being different i have made the dome without putting in a the stainless chimney yet.. I was going to cement in now im thinking ill use a fire caulk to set it in place, which should expand / contract
Hi, Thank you for an excellent film . You've got me to try and make my own oven. I'm thinking of putting the more heat resisting concrete (cement) on the top of the oven dome. Or mix it in with the ordinary concrete. What do you think about that? This would be the swedish version ;-) I've also bought a 75cm jym ball, So I will get a little more room for firering... Good or bad? One more thing, My vermiculite is in smaller bits than yours... does that make much differens? Good or bad?
This is an awesome idea, after watching a lot of wood burning overs DIY, this is by far the simplest one. However I have some comments/questions that I'd love to share: 1- Wouldn't be cleaner to line the interior of the oven with slim fire bricks? I feel that the Vermiculite mix would have a lot of pores where ashes and dust can hide and would be very difficult to clean. 2- Why didn't you use more insulation with the sand? doesn't the bottom of the oven get hot? 3- Same thing regarding the fire bricks on the bottom, probably the heat will transfer onto the outer bricks and someone would get hurt touching very hot bricks that are outside the oven. 4- The opening for the over seems a little large, is there any scientific ratio that one should follow, or did you just go with intuition? 5- How much do you think this whole thing weights? I want to build one and put it in my balcony but I am worried about the weight. Thanks so much for the video, appreciate the effort.
Hi, thanks for the comments. 1) I guess it would be cleaner, I sweep out the oven then use a small battery powered blower to force out the last of the ash and dust. 2) Yes the bottom of the oven get's hot, and you can feel the heat through the ply of the base, but it's not been an issue so far. 3) Not noticed the outer bricks getting hot, good point, need to check that, they will of course cool quicker being exposed to the air. 4) The opening is sized to take a standard pizza peel in width, that was my logic. 5) I can only just pick up one corner of it all assembled with the oven on top of the frame work, it weights hell of a lot, most of that weight is the sand and firebricks
Thanks for the info. I think I'm going to have a shot at making one. Just want to ask about the type of cement you used. Did you use anything special or just standard cement? Thanks
I had a go at this but it cracked into loads of pieces when I removed the door. I think a) my mix wasn't wet enough and b) I didn't cure it correctly. I am going to have another go. Another video shows a different ratio....3:1 vermiculite and refractory cement. So I'll try this mix and hope for better results. It was incredibly light. Anyway, great video, shame I messed it up.
Awesome. Do you know approximately how heavy it is? And if I add heavy duty wheels on the legs of the base table, will it work to make it somewhat portable?
tried this with the finer mix vermiculite and fondu ciment and it failed epicly, all was looking well until we took it off the mould and it fell to bits, am going to try again this weekend with a different cement.
I think most traditional ovens have a recess in the back of the oven for the ash and unburned wood. You need to use twigs that you have tied into a bundle, because they burn quickly and very hot. When it has mostly burned, shove everything into the recess, which should be lower than the floor of the oven. That way there will be pretty even heat radiating from the walls and floor, and you won't burn your food from the embers, which are much hotter. Also, make a door. It can be just a tile or sheet metal, but you need to stop the heat loss from outside. You wouldn't cook your turkey with the oven door open, would you?
Im going to try this, how did you know the size of the inner circle to cut out? I may use perlite instead of vermiculite. Is there anything else you would have changed after using your oven for a while now?
Awesome video, and thanks for replying to all the comments because it really helps others out there. I've ordered an 85cm ball - do you think the dome would be too big, and would I need much more Vermiculite than a 100L bag? Did you have much left over?
Thanks, I had a little over, maybe a quarter, I'd go for 2 bags, as you will want additional thickness over mine for strength, as thats a mighty ball your covering
Хобби
Thanks for posting. Now I actually know how to construct one of these amazing little ovens. The gym ball idea is sheer brilliance.
Thanks for your inspiration. I've built an oven this way in spring this year and have used it a lot of time. A good thing was to put netting wire in the walls. What I had to change was the fundament. The sand was too hot and the bottom board begun to smoke a little bit. I used fermiculite instead of the sand and tiles as the bottom.
I've been watching a lot of videos lately to make my own oven and this is by far the most detailed, easy and best video so far.
I'm will try this once I move to my recently bought house. thanks a lot..
Hi, thanks for the comments, appreciated
I agree ...i can see myself Building that ..
Hi There. I'm in the process of building this at the moment! In hindsight are there any stages you would tweek or alter? Thanks 👍
Great video! Loved the creative use of the gym ball! For the inside of the oven if you could line it with an inch of fire clay mixed with fire brick aggregate it will last you a long time and resist cracking and heat loss.
Love that you used a 10$ yoga ball for the mold! All the places selling 500$ molds just got played!!😂🤣😂
I've made one a bit like yours and fired it up today for the first time and I made 4 home made pizzas,, it did them in no time I was real impressed in how they work
Ricky, did you do it exactly like he did it... or did you modify it any at all?
How is yours holding up?
Pizza's don't work bro!! You have to work making /baking the pizzas and the hardest work... To eat them all untill you burst. 👍😊
For an oven - (any oven) it's important to accumulate heat. A very low density concrete doesn't do that well. That's why it proposed the 1" clay liner which heats up independently. Clay is a very good heat accumulator. Without the clay liner your baking will will be less
Regards from Bert in Spain...
It's almost 40 degrees C here.. Pizza's bake exposed to sunlight...
Good luck with your pizza oven project
I watched this video a year ago and finally made one. I went with perlite instead of vermiculite because I heard it holds up more. I did a ratio of 5/1/1 perlite/portland cement/water. I went through 4 cubic feet (sorry for america non metric we're idiots here) of perlite and about 1/2 a bag of cement. I did a layer of perlite cement, put a fire insulation blanket, chicken wire and another layer of perlite/cement. It is in the process of drying right now. I let the first layer dry for about a week. I will build it on a stand with wheels so I can move in the garage when not in use. Thanks for the inspiration.
Well done! I've just made a Tandoori oven out of terracotta pots and vermiculite. Bit of an effort sourcing a grate for the coals.... Now you've got me thinking to build something a bit like this could fit over the top of it...
Thank you for this! Looking to do this soon.
Definitely have a go doing this myself this summer!
Great job. It has enough space to cooking. Also portable. I will try. Thank you..
Awesome job .... looks great ...thank you for sharing !!
the thumbnail looks like you made a portal to another dimension
If you apply a clay liner inside the dome, you have better heat retention and a cooler shell. The clay liner will shrink when drying and a narrow cavity will occur between liner and insulating shell. After drying fire up. This will provide better Fuel economy, higher temperatures inside and better backing results. also increased longevity of the whole structure and no shell cracking.
Remark: while drying the clay liner will crack a bit (this is normal due shrinkage and will not influence the integrity of the liner). Cracks can easely be repaired with clay slurry.
After firing up, the clay liner is frost resistent.
Alternativ for the vermaculite U can use perlite or expanded clay pellets or a mixture thereof.
I made one of cheap expanded clay pellets ( the ones used in hydroponics) and cement and with a 1" clay liner and a steel door with adjustable air intake. I normally use olive fire wood which gives a delicious aroma to the pizza or sourdough bread. Cold or hot smoking of fish or meat is also possible and absolutely delicious.
Regards from Spain
How does one apply a clay liner?
@@zennsx Form Several equally thick pancakes of clay and stick it to the inside of the dome. Close the seams with your fingers untill the whole inner surface of the dome is covered. Let dry the clay untill hard. Than start at small fire in the dome to drive out the remaining moisture. Thereafter make a bigger fire inside the dome to bake the clay. Repair eventual cracks with clay slurry.
That's a great tip thanks. And olive tree wood is a great idea too!
Can u do this on one go... i mean cover the ball with clay then cover with perlite. Or do u have clay first, wait for it to dry then perlite shell. Reading your write up I guess it can be done in a single go. Also it is weather proof. I.e left in the rain?
@@tanwirkhan78611 I have not tried to make the liner +shell in one go. I made the clay liner after the cement was cured and the low density concrete dome installed on it's final position. Once that was done I applied the clay liner. Doing so I could keep the weight of the dome relatively low for easy handling/lifting by one person (me).
I guess technically you can make the liner + shell in one go but the total weight of the oven becomes a headache.
After erection the outer surface must be sealed with lime or cement slurry to avoid rainwater entering the porous concrete dome.
Regards from Bert in 🇪🇸
......and then he put it on a glass table! OMG!
Great project sir. :)
Fantastic video and workmanship
🍻
NICE job! You did beautiful work!!
Wow looks easy and fun to make would save a lot of money doing this
Thanks
Thanks for the video, i will be making my own!!
Thank you for this Video and great Idea
I built mine 13 yrs ago, I think yours is a creative use of gym ball and materials, but I think you may need a refinement. The essence of a stone or clay oven is that the wood fire heats the surrounding rock, and the rock retains the heat, which cooks the bread (or crust).Vermicúlite, like perlite, is an insulator. This necessarily means that there will be little stored heat in the hardened mix. Your oven will heat fast, but I'm guessing it won't stay hot long.
In mine I used a dense clay brick for the oven interiôr, and I put the perlite/cement mix over that. My intention was to keep the brick from sustaining heat loss from the outside. That way the heated brick retains the maximum heat and only loses heat through the oven interior.
I think it might have been better to start with several inches thick of mortar, with a fire clay (refractôry)additive, and over that add several inches of your vermiculite mixture
Im hoping you could help me
Firstly great video, but I have to agree with this comment re the top. Your oven will cook pizza ok, but when it comes to breads and roast, covering the ball first with a layer of something more dense like refractor cement, will make the oven more versatile. I used fire bricks, but then that is a whole lot more work.
@@marvincastro4206 ...If you have a question, I'll try to answer it
@@frankhoffman3566 Hello Frank, i'm glad you are still with us. Can i ask something? I was told that white cement would be great for the interior alongside clay brics. What do you think about this? I intend to do one somewhat yours soon, any new knowledge to share?
@@juliosalgado956 ... Hello. Just to clarify, I don't do concrete as a profession. I have done quite a bit of research and have had successful concrete projects.
My research indicates that white portland cement is the same as the usual gray stuff. It isn't better or more heat resistant. If you are talking about coating or painting the red brick with a white portland slurry, I wouldn't. You'd risk chips of the hardened cement flaking off and finding a way into your food.
I'd want the interior surface to be a good, dense red clay brick, (except for the oven floor which should be fire brick)and the mortar joints regular bag mortar, fortified with about a shovelful of fire clay per 90 lb bag.
A method I didn't use to form the oven, which I would have, had I known, is using damp sand to form the interior, then laying strips of plaster of paris soaked paper over that. After it hardens, the bricks are laid against it, conforming the oven to its shape. After everything is finished and hardened up, you dig out the sand. Really, the only issue is getting the right shape to begin with.
Great job, thank you so much
What great idea you have inspired me to build one for myself ,, I've started it, just waiting for it to dry now
How did it turn out?
Hi,!
-- Beautiful work and nice description.
Great job!!
Nice plan. Well executed.
Great job, thanks
Wow, that vermiculite was *_expensive..._* here in the states I needed some for an experiment in mushroom (the fun kind, for educational purposes only mind you) cultivation (fresh brown rice flour and vermiculite is a perfect growing medium) and eventually found a similar 100L bag *(way* more than I needed but all that was available) at Home Depot for $5 USD. Still, a *_very_* cool use for it and a wonderful project !!!
Whilst the vermiculite is a good thermal insulator, it has no mass and thus will not hold any heat. The idea on a wood fired oven is the bricks get hot and radiate the heat once the fire dies down and can cook for many hours. I doubt the concrete will do the job anywhere near as well, though if just pizza is you sole aim it could be ok.
Agreed, but I always get full before I worry about the oven cooling down too much, so it works for my needs, wouldn't work for a commercial applications for the reasons you've stated. Thanks
Great job....amazing. So simple Just a comment on the outer rendering cracks. It's most likely caused by the expansion differential between the two different substrates. You said the outer render gets fairly hot so there's a heat transfer through the Vermiculite which will expand at a greater rate than the rendering thus causing cracks. A layer of aluminium foil held in place over the Vermiculite then the render applied over this would alow movement between the substrates thus reducing any likelihood of cracking. Just my tuppence worth.
Hi John, thanks for the comments and thoughts, possible the most sensible suggestion and explanation anybody has made so far. I'm thinking of making another with Perlite, so I will try and incorporate that idea.
I was scrolling to see if I was the only one who wondered how two so dissimilar materials would react and how much cracking would occur as a result.
Awesome job 👍🏽👌🏽
Thanks i used the same prinzip.
Yep, I'm doing it tomorrow :)
How'd it go?
THIS IS THE PROJECT THATS WON ME OVER , GREAT JOB
VITTORIO AMIANO thanks very much.
The funny thing is? 🤣 He probably got the best pizza oven there is, just setting on his patio. A Weber kettle or a Smoker " Folks don't let the pizza oven bug bit ya." Look b4 you build or buy. Even your home oven will make excellent pizza ~ So lets watch him work his ass off on this thing 😆
Fantastic work, thanks Mark. I'm not looking to build a Pizza oven, but I am looking to build a wood-burning fire bowl, and I would definitely use some of your methods. Two tips, if I may? Spraying the ball with cooking spray or using anything similar (including Vaseline) on the ball will keep the cling film from moving around when you're applying it - it's a cooking trick. Second, if the gym ball is expendable, as tip to skip having to build the frame for the ball you could mix polystyrene beads (bean bag filler) with PVA glue, cut a x into the ball, and half fill it with the mixture. Then duct tape the x closed and blow up like normal and leave to dry - cut the ball off and you have a form to use for the oven.
Edit: A question if you don't mind - can the base be built using cement and vermiculite also instead of fire brick?
Great job
Fair play mate. Top job and you made it look actually doable even to me👍🏼
Also the dimensions of the opening as well.
Genius!!
I was thinking about doing something very similar to this, although I was going to use a homebrew refractory concrete mix that I found on fornobravo....any ideas how much this would weigh approximately? I love the idea of building a stand out of wood rather than having to use concrete blocks and pouring a special foundation just for this.
Great oven. Can you tell me what the outside temperature of the oven is?
Thank you
This looks perfect! im thinking of making one with a clay inner layer and then an insulating material over it. Putting it directly on fire brick would be perfect. Would these combinations pose troubles with having different expasion rates?
Thanks for the video. Quick question: What would be the very best materials one could use to make this structure?
That's...... Actually really smart
Nice build :D
Easy and very good job and idea man.
Really great work, I like the video very much and I want to rebuild this oven.
Is the Oven Outdoor and get wet from the rain or do you have a roof for the oven?
bravo, simple efficace :)
excellent!!!
I ordered a pizza and had it delivered while watching this.
Omg I'm doing this for my garden given me the inspiration 🙌. Going to get 75m ball. Wish me luck😊
Hello, nice work. -All of these ovens I've seen have the chimney towards the front; apparently out of necessity (over the flame allows too much heat out). But I would prefer it towards the back. Have you seen any with a flue that transfers the heat to a chimney in the back? Is it necessary to have this simple short chimney in place at the front?
Excellent job👍
Cheers
Love the video! I think I am going to follow this exactly! 2 QQs. How thick is the exterior wall and how long did you let it cure until you used it?
I'd say the wall thickness was roughly 5cm, thicker at the front around the chimney and opening (for strength) I let it cure over a week, using wet towels on the surface, so that it dried as slowly as possible.
it would be nice to see a list of materials if it is possible
Greetings from Greece, nice job, what about clay over vermiculite?
I’ve watched a lot of these videos and there are aspects to your build that I think are next level like: full shopping list at beginning; the form table is just high enough off the ground so the ground supports the fit ball; the base build is very solid but not intimidating to those with basic wood working skills, and the firebrick base looks a lot easier to do than some of the other over-crafted ones. I’d be interested to know how this oven is holding up and if there are tweaks you would make?
Hi, thanks for the comments and feedback. It's now 3 years old, and the main casting has cracked around the metal chimney, somebody made a very good point on here about metal expanding etc. So next time I would change the sand in the base, to make that structure lighter, and therefore easier to move, secondly I will probably try making one from Perlite, and casting a chimney from the same material.
Did you make on? If so how did it go?
right at the end when i was looking at that pizza i think I smelled something burning
Mark, Could you please tell me the outside dimensions of the finished oven? I'm trying to figure out how deep the outdoor counter top it will sit on needs to be. Thanks!
What could you use to cover the gym ball with first, to store and reflect heat before the vermiculite / perlite cement insulation render ?
So great idea, easy way of improving the adherance to it use paper closest to the ball and make small "hooks" out of paper that the concrete mix can stick to. The paper will burn away at first burn, and the whole thing could be surfaced prepped from the inside once its cured out.
Genius
very cool!
Just brilliant,thank you for the inspiration.
Great job. Love this video.I'll be making myself one this summer. One question, how long did you let the cement cure before cooking?
about a week, keeping wet towels on it during the drying process, then made a small paper fire, then just kindling, before going with a full fire.
I made a pizza oven using your technique, except that i made one extra simplifying chance that saved me a lot of time and money..... Instead of cutting out a hole in a board, i dug a hole in the ground and buried half the ball into the ground. Worked absolutely perfect....
great idea
Mark Cuthbertson i used a big Cardbox package and put the ball in there... Then formed the Dome and after it was dry i put it on my stand where i build the rest around it...
You are very geniuse, I have a question please,can i use the gym ball as a mold but I will be using the bricks building it intstead of the mixture of cement you did?
The dome is too low though. You'll lose heat and burn through wood like nothing. Usually, the golden ratio between the chimney and the peak is 60-65%
so you're saying he should have built a higher dome, and a more narrow neck? And the chimney - was it in the right place?
Great build. Question, if I was to use refractory cement would I still need to mix in vermiculite?
Yes as your structure would be far too heavy without I suspect
beautiful, congratulations, I wanted to ask the vermiculite did you buy in a agricultural cooperative?
thanks, I bought it from ebay
Hi tnx for the vid. Is it still alive? I am considering lava rock. Would that work?
How is the vermiculite concrete holding up Mark and did the metal flue expand more than the vermiculite when heated and crack around it ?
Feeling inspired. Cracking wee WFO! Just out of interest how much bags of vermiculite did you end up using for the dome?
Hi, thanks, about 3/4 of the bag shown in the video
Hi. Nice build and a great video. Thanks
What eBay store did you source your items from?
Is the ply cut into 3 x 1200x 800?
Cheers
Do you have the measurements for the opening?
great Job
Thank you for sharing! What is best perlite or vermiculite?
Nice work. I have a small doubt. The dome and the entrance are almost same height. I think the entrance should be around 60% of the dome height. Just my observation.
Hi mate great job...how did all the material cost to build?
Nice job ☺ my compliments. Few questions to ask you, as I did 3 brick ovens and You know the work load time and cost. My intention to try a cast one in a new holiday house.
1. How much internal temperature you can reach ?
2. How long after using it holds hot its internal temperature ?
3. any cracks so far?
4. Do you know the external tempreture while it's working full please ?
5 do you still advice same ratio of mixture - cement or refractory please ?
Thank you so much in advance..
Ha ! Ha! Bravo 👍 très astucieux le coup du ballon 😜
Great Pizza Oven. Well done Mr C ! The best out there.
Just a couple of questions...Can you paint the heatproof screed when its dry with an exterior masonry paint and is the whole thing weatherproof or do you need a roof over it outside Many thanks for the vid.
I've watched a lot of videos on how to build pizza ovens. Your's, by far is the easiest I've seen. Now that you've had it a while, do you have any additional tips, tricks or ideas? Thank you and great video.
thanks, there's a lot of video that have jumped on the idea since mine, but good to hear mines still clear. I'd make the chimney out of the same material as the dome next time, and I'll be trying perlite. I would also like to have the base lighter so it's easier to move round, the sand and firebricks are a really heavy combination.
@@cuthberm Hi mate, I'm looking to do this. Is there any reason you wouldn't go for the SS chimney? Also did you find 100l of vermikulite was plenty? Cheers
Tom Hodgson Hi, I used about 3/4 of a 100 litre bag, so you should be fine. It was pointed out to me by somebody in the comments that the flue would expand at a different rate to the dome, as they are different materials and expand at different rates, this could cause cracks. It was a really good point and if I did it again I’d try and make the chimney from the same material. Thanks
Mr C TV awesome. Thanks 👍🏻👌🏻
@@cuthberm good point about the chimney material being different i have made the dome without putting in a the stainless chimney yet.. I was going to cement in now im thinking ill use a fire caulk to set it in place, which should expand / contract
This is absolutely awesome! I have always wanted to make one. How heavy was the oven when you put it on the base?
I can lift the oven myself, it's not really that heavy, due to the light weight of the vermiculite
Well done, Mate...
Hi, Thank you for an excellent film . You've got me to try and make my own oven. I'm thinking of putting the more heat resisting concrete (cement) on the top of the oven dome. Or mix it in with the ordinary concrete. What do you think about that?
This would be the swedish version ;-)
I've also bought a 75cm jym ball, So I will get a little more room for firering... Good or bad?
One more thing, My vermiculite is in smaller bits than yours... does that make much differens? Good or bad?
I had the same issues did it work out wel for you?
This is an awesome idea, after watching a lot of wood burning overs DIY, this is by far the simplest one. However I have some comments/questions that I'd love to share:
1- Wouldn't be cleaner to line the interior of the oven with slim fire bricks? I feel that the Vermiculite mix would have a lot of pores where ashes and dust can hide and would be very difficult to clean.
2- Why didn't you use more insulation with the sand? doesn't the bottom of the oven get hot?
3- Same thing regarding the fire bricks on the bottom, probably the heat will transfer onto the outer bricks and someone would get hurt touching very hot bricks that are outside the oven.
4- The opening for the over seems a little large, is there any scientific ratio that one should follow, or did you just go with intuition?
5- How much do you think this whole thing weights? I want to build one and put it in my balcony but I am worried about the weight.
Thanks so much for the video, appreciate the effort.
Hi, thanks for the comments.
1) I guess it would be cleaner, I sweep out the oven then use a small battery powered blower to force out the last of the ash and dust.
2) Yes the bottom of the oven get's hot, and you can feel the heat through the ply of the base, but it's not been an issue so far.
3) Not noticed the outer bricks getting hot, good point, need to check that, they will of course cool quicker being exposed to the air.
4) The opening is sized to take a standard pizza peel in width, that was my logic.
5) I can only just pick up one corner of it all assembled with the oven on top of the frame work, it weights hell of a lot, most of that weight is the sand and firebricks
+Mark Cuthbertson Thanks for the info. Much appreciated 😊
Thanks for the info. I think I'm going to have a shot at making one.
Just want to ask about the type of cement you used.
Did you use anything special or just standard cement?
Thanks
Hi, just standard cement
Antonio Di Cappo ciao mi puoi dire che materiale e stato usato grazie
Antonio ma il cemento non tende a crepare?
I had a go at this but it cracked into loads of pieces when I removed the door. I think a) my mix wasn't wet enough and b) I didn't cure it correctly. I am going to have another go. Another video shows a different ratio....3:1 vermiculite and refractory cement. So I'll try this mix and hope for better results. It was incredibly light. Anyway, great video, shame I messed it up.
Oh no, gutted for you, but good to see your trying again
Just take it as an education. Sure the next one will be great.
Awesome. Do you know approximately how heavy it is? And if I add heavy duty wheels on the legs of the base table, will it work to make it somewhat portable?
It's very heavy, I can raise one side of it at a time, but yes you may be able to use heavy duty castors
John,
I plan on making a pizza oven exactly like yours, wish me luck !!
Rich from New York
good luck John
Rich B did u make your pizza oven working ok. thanks
How did it go?
Yes, sorry for delay.
Working great and enjoy using it.
When family and friends come over, they are amazed of it' s coolness!!!!
tried this with the finer mix vermiculite and fondu ciment and it failed epicly, all was looking well until we took it off the mould and it fell to bits, am going to try again this weekend with a different cement.
You need the courser vermiculite. The finer the agg the less resistance to heat it will have. Sand will also cut down the heat resistance.
im planing on using 3ver to 1 cement do u think this would be stronger or more prone to cracks when hot? im using fire cement. thanks.
I think most traditional ovens have a recess in the back of the oven for the ash and unburned wood. You need to use twigs that you have tied into a bundle, because they burn quickly and very hot. When it has mostly burned, shove everything into the recess, which should be lower than the floor of the oven. That way there will be pretty even heat radiating from the walls and floor, and you won't burn your food from the embers, which are much hotter. Also, make a door. It can be just a tile or sheet metal, but you need to stop the heat loss from outside. You wouldn't cook your turkey with the oven door open, would you?
Im going to try this, how did you know the size of the inner circle to cut out? I may use perlite instead of vermiculite. Is there anything else you would have changed after using your oven for a while now?
I think I just made it 1 inch smaller in diameter than the ball, you can play with the pressure in the ball to make sure it’s a tight fit
best if you mix some AR fibreglass into the mix, make the concrete really strong
Awesome video, and thanks for replying to all the comments because it really helps others out there. I've ordered an 85cm ball - do you think the dome would be too big, and would I need much more Vermiculite than a 100L bag? Did you have much left over?
Thanks, I had a little over, maybe a quarter, I'd go for 2 bags, as you will want additional thickness over mine for strength, as thats a mighty ball your covering
Did you make one?
big like. Thank you for sharing. Greetings from California