[Jilly Pickles]

We have an old bread oven in the garden it was onced used for making the village bread.

It looks good but we have never tried using it.

Sorry can't download a photo as we only have very slow dial up

[Trillium]

We recently watched 2 Jamie Oliver Christmas specials and in both he was outside baking stuff in his outdoor oven. I'm truly envious as I'd be using that oven a lot more than my electric one. I believe his was the traditional beehive style.

[Faz]

Jamie Oliver's oven is a precast refractory one with a bricked exterior.

See here : http://www.orchardovens.co.uk/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=147

[cannyfradock]

Thanks Lesley.  Unfortunately one of the links didn't work and the forno bravo one requires you to give them loads of details before they will give you the download.  Didn't like the sound of that.

It's surprisingly difficult to find actual plans that don't have a catch.

Ice......Although the plans from Forno Bravo are not straightforward to download, It is only a case of registering with them. You then shop for the plans, but they are free of charge. I would recommend your brother joining the FB forum as there is a wealth of imfo on there, and the members are only too pleased to help people with their build.

I built a wood-oven in Sep -09, but had a problem in finding refractory suppliers in my area.I have since started compiling  a list of fire-brick suppliers up and down the country and am always looking for new info to add to the list so as other people wishing to build a wood-oven, can benifit from my research. I shall contact the Moderators here before putting a link on

I wish you/your brother every success in your wood-oven build.

Terry  (C.F)

[Rangerkris]

Im going to join up wit hte site above and see whats what. My better half likes the idea as much as me.

[Rangerkris]

After looking around at the other site, i dont think im going to get one of htese made up 

It was a nice idea tho, while it lasted

[Faz]

You can make a very simple one out of clay - it won't last forever but it can be built in a few days or so. Pile the wet sand up in a dome shape, squish a decent layer of clay over it. Let it dry a bit, remove the sand from the inside, light a series of small fires to dry it out, then once it is dry all the way through, insulate the outside with whatever and start a big fire in there. The smake will come out of the door, rather than a separate chimney, but once it is hot you can make some grub in there, though I expect you'll get occasional bits of sandy clay dropping in your dinner!

[grafted]

Hello Ice - I know its sometime since your original post but I just spotted it on my first visit to design & construction looking for ideas for fruit cages.

Being a little obsessed with wood, fire, & bread, I felt compelled to reply, so to cut a very long story short, (ish) in April 07 after a quadruple heart bypass I had a bit of time on my hands whilst recuperating.

During my rehab I made a few resolutions including applying for an allotment and treating myself to a wood burning pizza oven as soon as I was back on my feet, so I set about searching the net for suppliers and/or plans to self build.

I soon realised a pre made oven was out of the question, (far too expensive), so that left self build but most plans I found seemed to be too complex for me, although I am quite handy I'm no builder. Then I discovered what for me at the time was a life changing book by Kiko Denzer - 'Build your own earth oven', which is a low cost oven made of....well basically earth. I read and re-read it from cover to cover and encouraged by the author to get stuck rather than worrying about making mistakes by July I was ready to go.

Apart from some dense, (heavy), firebricks which I was fortunate to have donated, (but can be bought for approx £2 each), the oven can be made from scrap bricks, empty wine bottles sand and sawdust, plus  clay dug from the garden - the only time I've been glad we have heavy clay soil. The skill required is well within the capabilities of your standard allotment holder, (although I wasn't at the time!).

Three years down the line the oven is still going strong and as I opted to insulate, (with clay and sawdust), it can cope with bread and slow roast joints as well as pizza. I keep promising to build a better model but to be honest it works so well and apart from the odd repair, (with clay of course), the only reason I'm considering it is that I enjoyed building it so much.

So my advise to anyone considering a wood burning oven but don't want to fork out hundreds or thousands of pounds and don't mind a bit of work - try this route!

I tried to attach pic but don't really know what I'm doing yet and lost my 1st attempted reply. 

[Ice]

That's really interesting.  I'll wait for you to get a picture on here.

[grafted]

I think I've cracked it now - this is a pic of one of my early attempts, (file was too big before!). Since this pic was taken and I've got to know the oven and how it behaves I'm a tad more adept at churning stuff out. To anyone interested in wood burning oven I strongly recommend having a bash at one of these - it's cheap and if you make a mess, most, (if not all), of the 'ingredients' are recyclable - simply knock it down and start again - but I doubt it will come to that.

[Ice]

I want one of those grafted.  I've got loads of old bricks laying around and the clay just below my soil seems good enough to make pots with.  If I wait for my brother to build one I might just be 150 years old.   Any chance of borrowing the book?

[Snoop]

Hi grafted,

Is this the book?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Build-Your-Own-Earth-Oven/dp/096798467X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1273739999&sr=1-2

And can I ask, do you have any problems with flames or burning cinders emerging from the chimney?

[grafted]

Yes snoop that's the fella - I don't have any problems with flames or burning cinders emerging from the chimney.....but there again I don't have a chimney!

I decided not to build one into my design as it was my first go and it made the construction easier - so the oven, (flames and all), vents through the opening - which isn't a problem for me.

Possibly things are a tad drier in Tereul so this might me more of a problem for you.

I don't really experience burning cinders coming out of the oven to be honest even though  I often get the oven started and up to heat with scrap pallet wood - which does spit a bit - but this is usually confined to the oven.

When the oven is up to heat I use something a bit less palletty, (apple, oak etc), if I'm cooking with live fire as for pizza etc - for bread you let the embers die down, empty the oven, and plug the hole with the door - mine is made from scrap wood and just lift in and oou, (it's not attachd). Having a chimney makes plugging the oven a tad more difficult as you have to plug the chimney as well.

With regards to the efficiency of the oven, (look at me I sound like an expert), my limited experience suggests that it isn't neccessary - the import thing is that as long as you get the ratio correct between the hight of the dome and the top of the opening, (sound complicated but it is all, (very simply), explained in the book, (and achieved with the help of a stick!).

So to get back on track whether you build a chimney into any design would, (in my humble opinion), depend more on the intended location of the oven.   

[greenun]

Go to the INSTRUCTABLES page. Just about got everything.

Try free pizza oven plans. Or- diy bread oven plans
The first word on a search engine should be the word FREE

[Snoop]

Thanks for your extremely helpful reply, grafted. Lots of the old stone houses round my way have bread ovens, most of them now collapsed. We'd make good use of one: in the winter when we get cut off and in the summer when it's too hot to have the oven on indoors. But I've been worried about setting off a forest fire!