Daniel Chant
Daniel Chant's terracotta pot inspired Pizza Oven
Admit it! when you looked at the picture above you were drawn to the cool pizza sign. It is those simple finishing touches that make it.
So here is another exciting Pizza oven build, this time from Daniel Chant. What makes this one so interesting is Dan built his oven around a terracotta pot. Something I have looked at before, and I know from your emails something your have been interested in as well. The thing that has always stopped me is finding a pot large enough and at a reasonable price. Well Dan got a stonking good deal, and brought his beauty for just £12 off gumtree. So let’s look at the pot first, but make note that the opening you see in the pictures is not the size Dan went for. As always start small, test, and if you are not happy you can increase the size of the opening. Dan actually made the opening both higher and wider.
Lets add the key facts in Dan’s own words:
- The brick perimeter is 900mm wide by 1200mm long. This is because largest council slab you can purchase is 900 X 600. I did the brickwork with no experience. Just a lot youtubing vidoes and trial and error. It did take a lot of dedication. The key is just making sure you are checking things are level and straight in ALL directions. I ended up knocking down and re doing a corner 3 times
- The council slabs are just four 900 X 600 put together to form two layers. Cemented on top of the bricks. On the second layer, I cut a 54cm circle into the layer (I bit in both slabs) to match the diameter on my pot. I filled this with fire cement which the fire bricks sat on top. I let the fire cement dry first so the fire bricks are loose.
- The terracotta pot is frost proof and 54cm in diameter. I found it for £12 after lots of gumtree hunting
- The clay method is same as yours in terms of ratio. I did one mixed with straw, one mixed with wood chippings from pet store, then just one normal. For the entrance and chimney I built this around sand dome, one normal clay, 2 insulation and one normal again. The chimney I just formed with my hands. Building bigger and thicker with every layer and was worked really nicely.
- Fire bricks are just loose, I cut so diameter was just bigger than my pot. So weight of pot and clay around keeps them all tight together.
- As a door I just wedge the bit I cut out of the terracotta pot into the entrance. This works well as slightly ajar. My entrance is roughly 55%-60% the height of my dome
So another novice DIYer with no bricklaying skills who just took on the challenge, and you can’t help but be impressed. Just go back to the picture at the top – WOW! The next pictures show Dan doing the clay mix and creating an entrance using a classic sand dome.
Next he created an insulation layer by mixing clay and straw which he covered the oven with, followed by lighting a fire to dry everything out. Notice the cool little chimney he formed, and also the firebricks he used for the floor.
Now my favourite bit, lighting a big fire and cooking pizza.
During this burn the walls got to about 520C after 2 hours and the terracotta pot on the inside has survived numerous fires now.
Now don’t worry about cracks in your clay, as these can easily be repaired, just make the most of your oven and get cooking.
Once again special thanks to Dan for sharing his pictures and passing on his experiences. So all you people asking can you build a pizza oven from a flower pot – the answer is yes.
I hope you have been expired by this build, but if you are still not convinced you can do this, keep exploring the website and pick a pizza oven you can do. But let’s be clear, you can make any of the ovens you see here or on the blog, as they have all been made by amateurs like you.
Dan also said if you have any questions on his build he is more than happy to help. Contact me via the website and I will pass it onto Dan. What a top guy!
Finally my favourite two pictures:
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