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I, too, recommend the ceramic tiles for pizza and pitas.
A neighbor/friend just built a wood burning oven, and it takes ‘ages’ to heat up enough to bake anything…Sue and Chris: Yes there is quite an industry for backyard wood burning pizza oven kits and preconstructed models ready for use. My friend from near Seattle just bought a fully constructed pizza oven for his patio. It is about 3 feet square at the base and almost 3 feet tall at the top of the dome. He gets about 800 degrees F and does a great job of theright bubbling and charing of the crust. It came on a pallet and weighed about a ton! You can google ” wood fired pizza oven kit” and find suppliers from California to Italy. One fun site is Frank´s pizza
[quote=”sueandchris”]I am just wondering if anyone has built (or had built) a true outdoor, wood-burning pizza and bread oven. I would lo-o-o-o-ove to have one!!! I have seen them at a couple of restaurants (one near Atenas) and would love to have one at our new house. Thx![/quote]
Thanks everyone for the cautionary note about granite slab cooking. I appreciate the concern. At my house in the U.S. I have a Mario Batali granite piestre that I use on the Weber grill for pizza as well as Italian/Korean BBQ stone recipes. It is marketed by the U.S. kitchen chain Sur La Table:
http://www.surlatable.com/product/596262.do
I have used ceramic tiles and commercial pizza cooking stones (ceramic). The ceramic tiles tend to crack and even the commercial pizza stones don´t seem to store enough heat even if there is a extended period of preheating (outdoor grill or kitchen oven) for an hour or more to get the pizza underside the right crispness. The Batali granite slab seems to store and conduct heat better to get the right pizza bottom.
Like Toyota, Sur La Table may be recalling Batali granite slabs for health/safety reasons at some point in time in the future. I understand that there may be some radon risk from granite, but at this point I tend to be willing to accept that risk in favor of a good pie. In a similar vein, I have known for a long time that high temperature wood fire grilling of beef and pork to get the desired charring and crust (and grill master Reichlin´s “killer” grill marks) can create carcinogenic risks that are not negligible. Like being a pedestrian in downtown San Jose, some risks seem worth taking for the pleasure in return. Living in the fast lane Bob
[quote=”costaricafinca”]I, too, recommend the ceramic tiles for pizza and pitas.
A neighbor/friend just built a wood burning oven, and it takes ‘ages’ to heat up enough to bake anything…[/quote][quote=”maravilla”]oh, great. i’m now going to bulldoze my house and build a grass shack![/quote]
Well enough, maravilla. Just be sure that the grass wasn’t fertilized with mineral fertilizers as cautioned against in the article I quoted.
Thanks for reply on the “kit” pizza ovens. I have looked at several of those, but think that it would be very difficult to get/find one in Costa Rica. That is why I am hoping to find a great brick craftsman there. I am going to try to scare up some plans for an oven before I leave for CR in July.
BTW: On the debate about radon, I have been reading recently about the over-testing, over-worrying that Americans do about possible health risks. Oddly, our life expectancy in relation to other similar countries is still lower. Here is what I know as an absolute, FOR SURE fact – I am going to die. I am headed that direction right now and so are we all.
Too much worry and too little pleasure will shorten my life and decrease my daily enjoyment. Is there a slight chance that an occasional charred, rare cut of tenderloin might give me cancer? Possibly and….oh well!
While an outdoor oven looks nice on a patio, you should really consider how many pizzas are you [i]really[/i] going to eat….:lol:
Costaricafinca: I laughed so hard (at myself) after I read your reply! This is exactly the excellent sort of question I always ask my clients……”how often are you REALLY going to USE that sauna/1,000 square foot kitchen/dog grooming studio/formal dining room for 30?” etc.?
Thanks for the wake-up call! I keep hearing about a couple of excellent pizza places….think we’ll just drive!
Although I do say so myself…:D…[i]I do make some pretty good pizzas[/i] in my gas oven.
But, truthfully, many don’t take into consideration of the type of wood available for use in their ovens. Coffee wood which is used throughout Costa Rica for the [i]rotisserie chicken[/i] and is very tasty, but if you only use ‘cut off pieces’ from your garden trees, it is definitely ‘not as good’.[quote=”sueandchris”]I am just wondering if anyone has built (or had built) a true outdoor, wood-burning pizza and bread oven. I would lo-o-o-o-ove to have one!!! I have seen them at a couple of restaurants (one near Atenas) and would love to have one at our new house. Thx![/quote]
You are in luck, my son in law builds them. He built one in Esparza. Contact me and I will send you pictures and the email of the satisfied customer. mingo425@yahoo.com
Here is an interesting link that might give you some ideas:
Good luck. Bob in Bello Horizonte
[quote=”sueandchris”]I am just wondering if anyone has built (or had built) a true outdoor, wood-burning pizza and bread oven. I would lo-o-o-o-ove to have one!!! I have seen them at a couple of restaurants (one near Atenas) and would love to have one at our new house. Thx![/quote]
Just got back from Costa Rica and wanted to pass on a recommendation for an EXCELLENT little pizza restaurant I found by accident. It is Restaurante Natura’ and it is located near the Poas Volacano exit on the pista. (Just opposite that big facility where the gas trucks fill up.) Oh my gosh, the pizza here is so outstanding and the two young brother/owners Tito and Patrick are just great! Their phone number is 2434-2472 (in case my directions are screwy).
Now I can save myself about $2,000.00 on that pizza oven!
Here’s a book that I found on line that is a step by step to build your own earthen over.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/shopping/detail.aspx?itemnumber=3917
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