Since light weight was such a design driver, you have a reduced cooking area due to the short tunnel into the small diameter of domed area. You must use smaller pieces of wood fuel, or better yet, use natural wood charcoal. Close the door and allow the fuel to turn to embers with no flames, before you start the cooking process. Immediately before placing the pizza into the oven, push all the embers as far back as possible along the rear of the dome. This preheating of the cooking area will give you a better result. This allows the entire oven to heat up prior to starting the cooking. Also, it might improve the cooking result if you replace your door with one with no vent holes.

When I was a child, my grandfather purchased a farmhouse, between 2-3 hundred years old. It had a 'beehive oven' built into the kitchen. It had NO smoke stack in it. We built the fire in the fireplace, took the red-hot coals and put them into the beehive oven, closed the door and let it sit a while. Then, we pushed the coals to the back and took a pizza pan with cookie dough on it, put it into the oven and started turning the pan in a circle. When we got to the beginning, all the cookies were baked, some a bit too much, but they did not taste burned! We loved cooking in that oven, but not in the summer, it heated up the whole area. Great memories! Thank you and blessings on your efforts!

Use a pizza stone and drill a hole in the middle put a bolt through it so it spinns much easier to rotate. Great oven !

Once your oven is up to temp, scrape out all but a few embers near the back. This should keep the oven temp at cooking temperatures for quite a while, while avoided the burning associated with live flame in the cook chamber. Also, once you remove the majority of the coals, mop the floor of the chamber to reduce the floor temp and add a bit of steam. This should work well for any bread based product cooked directly on the stone. That is the way clay and brick ovens were used for centuries. Good luck, and good cooking!!

UKposts has been recommending a lot of pizza oven builds to me lately for some reason, and I end up watching them all (maybe that's why UKposts keeps recommending them). This is the first one I've seen that I'm actually tempted to build. Thanks!

Regarding the problem of burnt crust...my suggestion would be to make your fire with really small wood, like 1 -- 1 1/2" cubes. Build your fire, and let it burn until the cubes are ashy knobs, just as you would if they were charcoal briquettes. Then shove them aside and insert pizza. I know tiny wood for a tiny oven sounds like a cliche, but I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Bro the dark edges are synonymous with woodfired pizza, and it’s delicious! 🍕😋

1:18 isn't it amazing that so many UKpostsrs make their projects out of material that they "just happen to have lying around" that works perfectly for the project in that video.

That's a great looking little oven. You should do an update in a few months to see how well it holds up. I'm researching a larger stationary build for my courtyard and you gave me some ideas, thanks.

Great job. Nice build. Let fire burn for longer to heat up the oven. Wait until you have only coals to radiate heat. The Pizza will then cook more evenly.

I loved the progression from the first construction to this one! It's beautiful and it works well! You will be invited to many parties! What I love most is your ability to take the "constructive" comments of others and not respond in a negative manner! Class act mister!

In an oven that small where it is hard to get far enough away from the coals I suggest making your pizza square or rectangular. The edges will brown more consistently across each whole edge.

One of the best pizza oven builds I've seen on UKposts. It was descriptive and right to the point. Step by step videos might take long to watch but in the end they are with it cause they are detailed instead of trying to figure out what you need to do in 2-3 minutes.

I absolutely love your videos. I've been meaning to start some DIY stuff of my own- mainly a desk- and my tools are more limited like yours versus the crazy stuff I see on bigger channels. You kindle my DIY spirit and show me that it is possible to make beautiful projects no matter what. Subbed, and thank you for your inspiration!

I'll tell y'all what I built my dad one for fathers day about 9 years ago and it is a little bigger then this one and he still uses that thing religiously to this day he loves it best fathers day gift he could ask for from his adult son. He also makes some amazing pizzas even before the wood oven I made for his backyard grilling kitchen area. The best wood we have found is a combo of apple and cherry so good on pizza

just a note, concrete is NOT food safe especially at high temperatures. ceramic or clay is necessary for the interior parts of the oven to make any food inside actually edible, and i’m glad you added it towards the end

thats a great build....if i saw that at a store for sale i would buy it! I have cooked in wood fired pizza ovens and turning them is how it is done. You will get your technique soon enough

It is always a pleasure to watch you build, construct, cement, etc... Once I saw the Bike build, i was hooked.. yummy pizza now.. 🍕🍕👍😎

You did a great job man. I never would’ve thought that you could go that small but it worked excellent.

My late Dad would have LOVED this! He made a Sheep hearders stove out of a length of iron pipe from a job, and various other bits. It was a great stove for camping.

Awesome build my man! Just great! Nice detail and a workable product at the end. Love it!

Glad u took the feedback in the first video such as moving the chimney to the front, and made a second revision. This version looks cute and compact. Also some tips with making pizza. I would recommend heating up the oven for at least 40mins to allow the base to heat up. Wood chunk Charcoal burns hotter for longer. Also prior to launching a pizza put a piece of wood in. The flame from wood will cook the top. Good luck with your pizza cooking journey

Dude!! I love this!! I've been wanting to make one. Yours came out badass. I love the detail with the little bricks. Nice job. Thanks for sharing.

From one Drew and homemade pizza lover to another,, you're living my dream. Thanks man!

this is one of the coolest and candidly fun videos i've watched in a very long time. congrats, dude!

As always, great vid. Was cool to see it all put together and then the finishing touches with the bricks made it look great.

You have surpassed all hopes and expections on all levels. Kudos to you, Drew!

Oh my goodness. Yesterday, watched Drew Builds Stuff for the 1st time discovering his channel.. Today, I was watchimg a favorite video channel of mine, The Indie Project. Theo and Bee are restoring an amazing stone home, house and property on Miracle Mountain. This couple who bought and built out their first small house, then are now building their dream home in Portugal. And next thing I see this video of someone building a pizza. I am a fan of rocket stove and cly, stone and backyard oven builds. I did not realize it was Drew Builds. As soon as the video began his signature film making 'pizzahzz' piqued my interest. I then realized this video and his tiny house build on a triple tire axel wheel trailer, were one and the same 'builder'. Algorithms are at work delivering a top of the class video.. Nice work.

Never seen a pastry bag for cement before, very cool idea. Great video!

I WISH I could do this!!! You make it look so simple. I love videos like this but I never know where to start or how to make things like this actually work.

Besides the other tips of preheating the oven, you can also use a damp cloth on a stick to clean the surface of the oven before putting in the pizza.

I love it! I’m feeling pretty inspired to make one of my own. Great work! You did such a good job.

Amazing build, Drew! cornmeal is actually really good for moving the pizza on & off the peel when you have to rotate it. Thanks for sharing the build with us

Great idea. In the second version you just need to get the fire further away from the pizza, either by making the back deeper or by making the fire smaller. Charcoal briquettes might even work better for this, since they dont produce huge flames like this wood did, allowing for a slower cook. Overall nice job.

What an awesome video. The cinematography, voice over, really everything was such a pleasure to watch.

This pizza oven is totally awesome! Thanks for sharing the video.

Well done! I learned much from watching this. I especially like the idea of using the sander to remove the bubbles and settle the cement.

Beautiful job! Brilliant idea. Would love a follow up pizza cook-off once you tweak the fuel etc.

I agree with Michael Saunders. Preheat the oven somewhere around 400° to 500° The Embers and the heated masonry will sustain the Heat and give you a nice even bake. The pizza Cooks as the oven cools down. I would think you could do multiple pizzas in a row before you need to reheat the oven with more fuel. The design and workmanship of your creation is bellissimo!

You can really tell u care a lot about the quality of the stuff you put out, not like a lot of people who just rush crap out for their ad sponsors.

Hi Drew! I just found your channel :) Really cool build :D ! I also like building grills and ovens and what not and many people scared me that the concrete will blow up, some with really scary stories of what had happened to them/they witnessed so I actually took the time and did the research. Turns out there are 2 concrete "explosions": The first one happens when the outside of the concrete is set and there is still water on the inside. That water turns to steam that cannot escape, the pressure builds up and yes this is the dangerous exploding one. It may be possible to get the same effect if a slab of concrete is left in the water for hours so it soaks up to its center and then when the outside dries it's a similar process. Big holes inside the concrete for water to collect make this happen even more. Having left the oven for about a week as you did... I was completely unconcerned :) The second one is when there are air gaps in the concrete. The process is similar, but the air does not have the same force as the water steam and does not need as much to seep out. Usually if there are air holes in the concrete... after a few burns it will just crack. Still bad, but not nearly as dangerous. I really like your builds! Keep it up you are an inspiration!

I need to do this on my channel! Awesome build man! I wonder how many people walked away from this video craving homemade pizza cause I know I am lol 😆

Really, really great design. The coloured brick really adds to the appeal. All the best with perfecting this & plse keep us updated

What an awesome build!! I have built my own monolith of a pizza oven (it is 1.2 x 1.2 meters or 4 feet x 4 feet internally and over a foot thick of brick and insulation on the outside) now I think it is time for a mini monolith!!!

Great job on the build! One small, but very essential mistake happend to you, during the build of the base. The pieces of rebar MUST be connected to each other with a wire, otherwise they will not be abled to fullfill their job. This is because concrete can't take much force of tension, before collapsing. Therefore steel gets put into the concrete, to take the tension off the concrete. If you don't connect the rebar, the resistance against tension is, what one single bar in the exact spot can take...not to much.

Awesome project! I might take some inspiration to build one myself... But pizza oven needs hours to warm, this one is small so let's say 1 hour. You can't just make pizza after 10 minutes... The pizza is baked from the heat that is "reserved" on the walls of the oven. The fire should be almost completely out and the charcoals thats left of the wood moved to the sides to make room for the pizza. As a builder and pizza lover (and maker) it was painful to see you work so hard just to make a simple mistake like that. Pls pls pls heat up this oven for at least one hour next time you make pizza 🙈

Great job, I’m going to suggest putting L-shaped brackets about 3/4 of the way up that you can put a grade on or supports for pizza stone to cook the pizza on so I would use grate 3/4 of the way up all the way around and then you can slide the pizza stone in there to get warm and take the pizza in and out off of the pizza stone. You’ll be able to get more even cooking because it would be above the fire and you could have the fire directly in the middle underneath it. Most of the pizza ovens like you have there’s a fire box underneath it heats stone in the oven up has all holes that come up to warm the concrete or brick and that cooks and that in the wood smoke passes on top of the pizza for flavor. Some do not pass the fire smoke through the pizza oven part because they’re using coal and/or gas and just put hickory sticks for for wood smoke flaver in the pizza cooking area

can i just say that's brilliant! the crispy edges may be due to pizza size/oven size/fire mass

Hi . First time to your channel. . One of my takeaways from this episode is that your mother must really love you 🍵...also this channel looks very interesting. I'm impressed. Thank you.

You should build a mini 3” tall wall/barrier between the fire and the pizza, it’ll prevent it from burning the crust.

ABSOLUTLY LOVE THIS LITTLE PIZZA OVEN. 🍕 ❤

I can't think of a worse time than being the "pizza guy" at a party. I've done it plenty of times and it's just you cooking the pizzas while everyone else is having a good time

I have no idea why this channel isn't bigger! You're doing such a great job! Amzing content, bro

I appreciate your honesty not easy online props 👏👍🏻💪

Thank you for a very educational video. I got some great ideas from your concrete mold building and then pouring the concrete mix. Carry On Sir.

One of the most practical pizza oven builds I have ever seen! Not to mention it turned out looking like a fine work of art ! Living on a farm I am always in search of projects to build in the shop during the winter months. This one just made my list !

You just got a new subscriber here, with the river table !!! And it’s growing the views !! You are amazing !!!

Great prototype pizza oven, design can only get better from here 😊

Great build. Thank you!

Totally and utterly BRILLIANT tutorial...am SO trying this. THANK YOU. X

This portable pizza oven build turned out beautiful. I think your fire was a bit too hot; you should've let the fire burn down to coals and then add in your pizza; it would've still cooked in about the same time maintaining the heat and not be so burnt on the edges. A great video overall and I enjoyed watching.

This is 100x better than those 5minutescrap videos!

thank You Drew for the tutorial and your great Naration and woodworking skills keep the passion alive and happy eating : )

very cool project!! question about the refractory paste that you used, what exactly that is? is it safe for cooking ?

You could have used mortar mix . It contains clay . Then add perlite . Also , poultry wire would be easy to use for reinforcement. You could add a 1/4 - 1/2 inch layer of perlite with just enough cement to hold it in place , to the inside walls and floor. I think your earlier design was maybe a little short in height and could use a few inches in depth as well. Though a flat spot on top could be usable for boiling water and such .

Great video, I think I prefer this commentary video instead of the last pizza oven video he made. 😎👍

Drew, these builds you do are great. I don’t see any value to the criticism in the comments. I think people are just jealous of your creativity. Or they’re just miserable. Carry on. You have some great ideas.

I love what you did, but there are two problems. First is that your vestibule is too long. Second is that the area under the dome, where cooking should take place, is completely used for fire. You might try bringing the temperature up for residual heat cooking and either eliminating the fire altogether or reducing it enough to use the baking surface for the pizza. But Hey! Great build!. Edit: Drew, you are amazing. You clearly know exactly what you are doing. I have a bettter idea of the dimensions now, and I was thinking that you might consider using a small cake pan as a "fire box" once the oven is up to temperature, you could use your peel to remove the pan and you would be able to bake with residual heat. Again, you know better than I Yrs, Bill

I liked how you lined the dome with refractory cement. How is it holding up? The perlite mix lots of people use is a nice light weight insulator but I think their pizza cooking suffers from not having that heat reflected down on top of the pizza.

Portable! Great idea...nice build. A few modifications and you'll be rid of that burnt crust. Bravo!

In spite of my previous query, I think your oven is very good - very inventive!

For higher temperatures and lower cooking time. Try adding a pizza steel, raise it a little from the ground. Also, to not burn the crust that quick, you need to let the flames calm down

Recently got into doing diy'ish stuff some time ago and recently saw your channel.......man this is damn quality content and holy shit is it inspiring!!!!

Awesome build! Loved the beautiful chill music in the background as you worked. This video was a pleasure to watch.

I think you have to wait till the flame dies down, Just cook with burning coal. I love it well done. You are very clever.

Coals are your friend, make sure it's more coals then logs

Great build! I only recently found your channel (from the bike camper build) and didn’t realize until I was a few videos deep that you live pretty close to me! Keep up the great work, looking forward to the next one 😁

I recommend using wood charcoal. It will free up space within as its more fuel dense material. You could also pour the charcoal in a half moon charcoal basket which you place at the back of the oven. This will push the heat source more towards the back which reduces the direct heat exposure which burns the pizza on 1 side.

I think you did a wonderful job. All you need is a rack with a rotating disk rack on top possibly attached with a rivet in the middle so you can just open the door and turn it without removing every time

Since you’re using plain paving concrete, are there any chemicals outgassed when it heats up? I’ve heard there’s food safe concrete at some point but I’m no expert on it

I enjoy your videos but I watched both the pizza oven builds. Your trying to make a small pizza in a mini oven. It just won't work. Try making smaller pizzas use a cookie cutter so they won't burn. Or maybe build a bigger oven.

There are many expensive tools, but when the user's knowledge is not up to par.. 19th century farmers who built ovens by hand "Hold my beer mug! 🍕"

Always love your videos! Keep up the awesome work man!

This is a labour of love✨

I really enjoy the way you think…… i have watched several of your videos……. If more young men your age developed these skills that you are working on…… the world would have a really bright future…… building things is something the world needs a lot more of!! One suggestions….. get some Zinsser cover stain and a sponge and white wash the entire oven….. it would be beautiful - you could also use a plaster of Paris type mortar…. Give it that Greek Isles vibe!! Cheers!!

Super cool! What a great build! Thanks for sharing!

love this! ... just no flames, only hot coals and shall be sweet.

Y'know, I was trying to learn more about masonry and you're vid sure helped out a lot!

Love the burnt edges, great job

Ex mason commenting here. If you do this again use a heavy lava rock chip mix into Portland cement. Onto a wood form. Then refactory cement on the outside to stick your thin cut fireplace brick onto. Also, buy a real striker to clean up joints. Then clean it up with some muriatic acid. Well done first prototype tho. Keep up the content 🎉

I honestly don’t think you need so much wood to get it going the more you use it the better it will seal the heat. Great job love the idea.

Drew! I watched your other pizza oven you ended up shooting 😂 this one ROCKS!!! Just love it ❤

Great job on the oven! I had a pizza oven at my prior home and I was baking bread and the Italian wheat biscotti every week! Believe it or not, I never made a pizza in it though!

Pickup or make yourself a turning peel. It will help a lot with getting an even cook on your crust. Love this video.

are you kidding me?! love the burnt ends! this little thing rocks!!!

Wow! I love it!!!

Ou meu Deus, que lindeza, uma obra de arte. Aplausos.

I'm building one of these for ny lab now! thanks for the great build ideas.

I just love your creativity. I am always curious to see what you will build next.

This is really cool! You can cook more than just pizzas in that, too.