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Sponsored by GastroProdukt - In case you need a commercial oven, with no plans to build your own!

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brick oven step pizza build pizza oven clay Make place cook pizza dome base sand fire kg sand start

How to build a pizza oven in...
my pizza oven
CONSTRUCTION GUIDE
10
steps!
My name is Renato and i am a pizza fanatic!
Everything started at the architecture university in Bra-
zil, where i learned how to build and enjoy pizza ovens!
I decided to start a movement called Mypizzaoven where i 
can spread and share the knowlodge and pleasures of hav-
ing your own pizza oven!
Maybe it’snt the best way of build ovens or the right way 
following the italian 2000 years traditions, but it’s my 
way of building it...and i can say it works just fine:)
People say i am crazy on sharing this kind of informa-
tion...that i could be rich if i keep it secret...like the 
Coca-cola formula! 
But i can say that is not being rich that move’s me making 
ovens...or even keeping secrets...is the pure happiness 
of closing the dome, firing it up and drinking a beer with 
dirty tasty pizzas! That makes me RICH!
The only thing i ask you in exchange for this “precious” 
information is if you could send me a picture from the 
oven, so i can post it on my website:) Yeah!!!!
I believe in people more then bricks,
I also believe that bricks can bring people together!
P.s...you can contact me if doens’t work!
3
Hello Everyone
step 1
Finding some friends
step 10  
Cooking pizzas
step 2
Graving the foundation
step 3
Building the base
step 9
Finishing the oven
start
Way to do it
step 4
Making the bed 
5
step 5
Setting up the oven 
step 6
Making leem 
step 7
Starting the dome 
step 8
Arch and chimney
You will need them...or at least one of 
them!!!
They will be handy not just for building 
the oven or moving all the materials, but 
for sure for eating the pizza! They will 
help you doing stupid jobs like breaking 
bricks, making cement, bringing sandwiches 
and drinks... 
They will tell you are crazy, but in that 
important moment where you will be closing 
the dome, their hands will be priceless! 
First grab your phone and look after some 
really nice people how is willing to join 
you in a three days construction adventure!
After that, call them and let them know they 
will never forget this next three days...
and tell them they should not stress about 
life or further problems, and building a 
pizza oven is once in a life time experi-
ence you will be talking about to your own 
grandchildren! 
If your friend already got grandchildren, 
maybe he can arrange them for the building 
as well:)
step 1            Finding some friends
Materials
contact list
agenda
phone/e-mail/facebook 7
Everything starts from under! But before 
graving the foundation whole, choose care-
fully the location. Take in consideration 
these important aspects:
A - Wind
The main wind direction is important for 
avoiding smoking problems... try to place 
the door of the oven and chamine aligned 
with the wind
B - Position from the base
Pizza ovens are not barbecues...normally we 
punish someone to cook the barbecue plac-
ing him(of her) away from the party! The 
pizza oven should normally be part of the 
party...so locate it wisely:)
C - Distance from your kitchen:)
When cooking pizzas we are normally in con-
stant connection with the kitchen...plac-
ing the oven to far from the kitchen will 
cause you unecessary exercise! The pizza 
oven is your outside kitchen!
9
step 2   graving the foundation
step 2   graving the foundation
After choosing the location for you oven, 
you can start graving the foundation whole!
Size : 1200 mm x 1200mm x 300 mm
Compact the soil with your feet or some-
thing heavy and try to put it on level!
Spread 15 kg sand ( it could be the graving 
sand) uniformly and spread 5 kg cement
Add +- 2,5 liter water to the soil/cement 
mixture and place the 8 concrete blocks.
Make cement and add under the edges placing 
the last 4 blocks.
 
After that build the 4 tiles at the corners 
from your foundation.      
Check the level and cover the foundation 
with earth!
Materials
12  
concrete blocks( 1000mmX300mmX100mm)
50  
kg sand
25  
kg cement
4  
concrete tiles (300mmX300mm)
11
Hum... the base! The main concept of the 
base is bringing the oven on a certain 
height!
So actually there are no recepy for the 
base, just a lot of creativity and sense of 
construction...
BUT, if you are not willing to think and 
experience on the field of architecture, 
here goes the most basic and nice base I 
already did! The Gaudi concrete tiles ver-
sion:
On top of your foundation make four col-
lumns on a 1000 mm  range from each other
Start pilling them up with some fine con-
crete in between the tiles! (Make the tiles 
wet, so they will absove better the con-
crete)
13
step 3                 building the base
ready
brazilian base
gaudi collumn
twisted c
ollumn
step 3              building the base
Turn every tile the same distance on his 
axe...the bigger the turn, bigger the twist 
on the collum.
Always check the level between the col-
lums...correct it with the amount of con-
crete between the tiles!
Normally i make ovens with 1100 mm height...
for achieveing this height you will place 
+- 18 tiles per colum!
When achieved the top of the collum, place 
4 concrete blocks between the collums
After that, place 5 concrete blocks in the 
opposite direction, making a really stable 
table:)
Materials
76 “stoeptegels” (300mmX300mmX50mm)
7 concrete blocks( 1000mmX300mmX100mm)
25 kg cement
75 kg sand
15
fundation
base tiles
gaudi collums
concrete beams
concrete table
Once the base is finished, is time for build-
ing the Bed of Bricks where your delicious 
pizza will lay!
First of all we should isolate the base...
normally I use wine bottles for the job! 
Air is one of the best isolation material 
for it.
Build a small wall in the edges of the 
base and lay the bottles in a thin layer 
of sand. 
Afterwards full the empty spaces with hy-
drograins and sand till a brick space from 
the edge of the wall. 
17
step 4                    making the bed
bed crossection
step 4                    making the bed
Materials
40 liter isolation balls
75 kg sand
50 fire bricks 
+- 50 wine bottles
The best is use the same kind of bricks 
for this part, avoiding unregularities in 
your bed!
Settel the bricks on a fishnet pattern and 
try to place the brick without any space 
between them.
Pay attention on the entrance and on the 
middle of the base. The bricks should lay 
on the same level otherwise you will have 
problems with the pizza padle later on:)
When all the bricks are on place, you can 
start sanding the bed with a half brick for 
reducing the sharp edges of the bricks...
...and voila’...your bed is finished:) Sweet 
hot dreams for you Marguerita!
19
slicing the bricks into the bed
From now on you can set away all fear of 
getting intoxicated by the chemistry prop-
erties of the cement and set fully your 
hands in the mud:)
But first, we need to set up the oven and 
produce some useful instruments!
First of all...the door: It’s 400mm wide 
and 200mm heightand 100mm deeper! It could 
be wood or steel!
Then is time for the compass...this instru-
ment will help you making the dome! It’s a 
mobile piece of wood with one center point 
and it can rotate on the base and in the 
height for placing the bricks.
Set up the bricks circle with the compass 
and place the door. Pay attention the en-
trance bricks should be placed middle of 
the brick circle.
step 5         setting up the oven
21
wooden door 100x200x400mm
wooden compass 400mm
From now on you can set away all fear of 
getting intoxicated by the chemistry prop-
erties of the cement and set fully your 
hands on the mud:)
The nicest thing about a clay oven is that 
you can build it with your hands...besides 
being fun the mud is really good for your 
skin:)
Normally i manage the clay with three basic 
materials: River clay, sugar and sand!
When i was in Brasil, i could take earth 
clay from our soil...but here in Holland is 
quite difficult beacuse the ony thing i can 
find in this land is sand and water!
The proportions are really important...the 
clay will bring resistence and warm coefi-
ciency, the sand will add volume and the 
sugar will keep it all together...the meas-
ures are:
10 kg clay / 25 kg sand / 4 kg sugar
It’s important all the three ingredients 
should be well mixed for the best results!
When the clay is done...is time for build-
ing!
step 6                        making clay!
23
Materials
40 kg river clay
100 kg sand
16 kg sugar
too dry
too wet
perfect!
First row above the door
Renato and the compass
Paul at work!
First brick for the door
getting the dome angle,
always 90 degrees between the 
compass teeth and the brick
Is now or never! Get a full hand of clay 
and start settling the first brick!Yeah!
The best way of beginning is by the arch...
place the two extrems brick from the door 
and then start making the first brick row.
Use the entrance wood arch to guide you on 
the exact brick angle(figure 08) and the 
compass for placing the dome bricks (figure 
09)!
Always try to intersect the bricks...It’s 
really important for the structure from the 
dome!
Don’t save clay...this is one of the last 
time which you will be able to reach some 
places from your dome.
25
step 7           starting the dome
Marjolein at work!
for the round door keep sure the 
axe of the bricks are perpendicular 
with the wooden frame.
step 7           starting the dome
27
A great tip whick i learned is to lock your 
arch bricks with the dome row...like that 
your door will participate on the structure 
and bring much more resistance to the oven.
Another tip is to place small bricks/pieces 
of brick to fill in the empty spaces created 
by the brick angle from the dome...they 
lock the structure (figure 10)
How far you gets...how small and narrow 
will be the rows... It helps to have 3/4 
bricks or 1/2 bricks at your disposable...
with them is easier to make the top layers.
Materials
+- 200 bricks
1 steel pipe for the chimney
One of the most exciting moments of build-
ing a pizza oven is closing the entrance 
arch. After doing that you will realize 
that your oven is a brick structure!
The top brick from the arch is called the 
Key stone...you can recognize it in old 
building and ruins...is always the most 
detailed brick from the arch. This brick is 
responsible for the resistance of the arch.
The best way of closing the arch is ham-
mering the brick into his final position. 
It helps if the brick is in a “V” shape, 
falling easily into his place. 
Realize that you can use small pieces of 
brick to fill the empty spaces and reenforc-
ing the arch.
step 08            arch and chimney
29
The keystone,
fit it to close the structure
First option, chimney at the back.
Really important is the height of the pipe, which should 
be equal or bigger then the diameter of the oven.
Second option, chimney at the door
It will need a bigger door then usual, 
but it will give you the possibility of 
cooking bread.
Once the arch is ready, is time for making 
the opening for the chimney!  
There are two options for it:
1- at the door itself
2- at the rear from the oven
The first option give you the possibility to 
close totaly the cooking chamber for making 
bread, but it have some consequences for 
the power of the fire.
The second option is better for cooking, 
but it looses more heat then the first one.
In Brasil i’ve learned the second option, 
but after speaking with some winter proof 
experts from the north I realize the cli-
mate conditions influences a lot the per-
fomrmance of the oven, ledding me for the 
option one:)
  
The size of the opening is 15% of the in-
side measuremt of the oven, and the height 
of the chimney is the just a little bit 
bigger then the diameter of the oven.
step 08            arch and chimney
31
opening of the chimney located at the 
first row after the door
Yeah...now we came to the Wow phase! Clos-
ing the dome is always my favorite part! It 
feels like i am an architect:)
Here you will need some help from your 
friends...specially from their hands! How 
far you goes with the oven rows, how narrow 
the structure gets! Try to use the compass 
as far as you can. It will assure you get 
a round oven in the end! 
Another thing the compass does is keeping 
the bricks in their original position, but 
i think you already know if you arrived at 
this phase:)
At certain point it will be impossible to 
use it anymore, so take it out and try to 
lock the dome. Normally there are several 
keystones for the dome. The idea is that 
the bricks lock themselves and creates the 
dome!
Try to place them at such way that i will 
be impossible to the bricks to fall into 
the structure. After that use small bricks 
to fill in the empty spaces between the key-
stone bricks. Use the hammer!
And voila...you have build your own pizza 
oven! Now you just have to give him a name 
( really important) and add the isolation 
layer!
33
step 09          Finishing the oven
step 09          Finishing the oven
The isolation layer will define the per-
formance of your oven. In tropical coun-
tries this layer is not important as in 
cold countries, due the fact that the out-
side temperature is higher. That also helps 
cooking pizzas in the summer then in the 
winter.
Once the oven is ready we will have to make 
the stro-clay misture. First of all make a 
clay mixture with more water then usual.
At this step you will need a half stro-
bale. Pick one hand of stro and mix it with 
the clay. Turning the stro inside the clay 
bowl trying to make “bread” from it.
For covering the hole oven you will need 
a lot of bread. Is kind of a hard job, so 
lot’s of friends and drinks needed for a 
smooth task:)
After the stro-clay layer is ready, is time 
for finishing up the oven. The last layer is 
quite important...it will protect you oven 
from the rain, wind and cold. 
Clay and rain are actually not so good 
friends...i’ve tried lot’s of things for 
solving this problem, but i still didn’t 
find up the master solution. My best shot 
was a mixture between clay - sand - kalk on 
the proportion 10 - 25 - 5. Another good 
solution is building a roof...your choice!
35
Materials
1 strobale
40 kg river clay
75 kg sand
8 kg sugar
5 kg kalk
All this work will pay off at this step...
first of all, relax and take a drink!
Now, let’s fire this baby up! The first fire 
is quite important! I always fire my ovens 
at the same day of their construction...
it have two simple reasons, one that i am 
hungry and the other is that i am not so 
patience! 
I’ve learned that the best option is to 
wait some days until the clay is dry, then 
you can fire your oven. Like that it will 
reduce the sizes of your cracks! 
When you fire your oven up, you will realize 
that the outside skin will crack. This is 
a property from the clay. It reduces size 
when it got warm up. There are a few tips 
for trying to avoid this stuff like waiting 
to fire the oven up when he is dry, or using 
calk on the top layer!
What i do is pretty much accepting the 
fact that it happens...this doesn’t have 
so much influence in the performance of the 
oven, and the work trying to avoid it is 
quite frustrating! If you want specific info 
about it, you can consult this webpages and 
memos:
37
step 10                 Cooking pizzas
step 10                 Cooking pizzas
The first fire should be the one who nobody 
will forget...imagine how hell should look 
like, them you got it the level of fire you 
should do at your first fire:) Using dry wood 
helps keeping the smoke levels acceptable 
and building a  high chimney would provide 
you the exact fire!
For cooking  pizzas, you will have to move 
the fire aside! The best spot for your heat 
is in the opposite side of the chimney! Af-
ter that you can blast the dirty residues 
away with you steel pipe and start cooking 
pizzas! 
You soon will realize is not so simple 
how it looks like...but i can assure you 
will cook better and better with the ex-
perience...it’s like riding a bike, you 
will fall in the beginning but will manage 
in the end! Don’t worry about the burned 
extremes from your pizza...sometimes they 
can be healthy!
That’s it folks...i hope it’s enough! I can 
say that building pizza ovens and cooking 
pizzas are this kind of things that eve-
ryone has their own way...and who is me 
telling what is right or wrong? What i do 
can say is the way i do my things...and it 
definitely works:) And i hope you can build 
it too!!! Let’s go for it and build this 
world a better pizza place! YEAH!!! 
39
“We believe in people more then bricks,
and we also believe that bricks can bring people together!”
Renato Jeuken 
info@mypizzaoven.nl
0614446411
Many thanks for Paul and Marjolein for the pictures, Jan van 
Schaik for the helpful inspiring experiment, Kiko Denzer and 
Hannah Field for writing “Build your own Earth Oven”, it was 
my source of inspiration. And special thanks for the mypizza-
oven community...without you guys it was impossible to start 
this project! 
YEAH!!! 
24-12-2013