Dear Rado,
Eventually my budget just could not include a brick walled oven. I settled for a clay dome. I dug the clay from the bottom end of my own property.
I also used straw mixed with clay and sand for insulation. But as I did not want to add a separate roof I broke with the clay oven tradition and gave the oven a concrete outer skin to protect it against rain.
The entire thing cost me around R2000 = AUD$250 – today’s currency exchange for 2,000 South African Rand is exact 217.72 Australian dollars.
So far we have had numerous pizza baking sessions. Even more special than what we hoped for! My oven is quite small. The internal dome space measures 720 mm diameter, but I am able to easily bake pizzas for up to 15 people. 2 or 3 pizzas for each.
Lovely oven build for less
Everybody is most impressed by the quality of wood fired pizzas as well as the great social atmosphere it creates when we just place the ingredients on a table and everybody builds their own pizza.
We have also baked some bread, veggies and similar things with great success. I have just yesterday went and bought some lamb shanks as I want to try some Lamb Kleftiko next!
Attached is a picture of the finished oven.
* I would do at least two things differently if I have to build the same oven again:
1) Use Perlite or Vermiculite for insulation and
2) build a better flute (flue)/chimney system.
My current one is far too small at the bottom and does not draw well at all. But none of this is stopping us from having great fun!
Best regards,
Jaco M
Centurion
South Africa