DESIGN YOUR OWN OVEN
Want to build your own design? Great! Use our free plans as a guide to help you with your build. There’s quite a lot of information available for building Wood Fired Pizza Ovens, and while we’re sure they’re well-meaning, some of those plans aren’t great. Any instructions that don’t advise you to use refractory insulation over the oven dome and underneath the floor should be avoided.
Our plans have been developed over the past seven years by the company owner, Ben Guilford. Ben graduated from Monash University in 2008 with Honours in a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering, and a Bachelor of Aerospace Engineering.
He won an internship with GKN Aerospace who specialise in the design of aircraft structures. He then won an internship with BAE Systems, developing a tool that they still use to this day to accurately analyse the thermal handling characteristics of UAV control systems. Graduating in the midst of the GFC he took on a role as a Civil Site Engineer, beginning with Fulton Hogan where he gained valuable experience in structural concrete before moving to Abigroup, where he managed production of the Precast and Prestressed concrete elements for all of the bridges in the multi-billion dollar Peninsula Link Freeway Project.
Why tell you this? So that you know that our plans have been developed by someone who knows what they’re talking about.
We hope they’re helpful to you in your wood fired oven building journey.
Free Instructions
Our Free Oven Plans
Like the look of our ovens but want to do the hard work yourself? Click on the links below to access the free PDF plans we have available for all of our oven sizes. The videos below were produced to compliment these written instructions, check them out too.
Building a Stand
To help you build a stand suitable to support our Brick Oven Kit, we've put together a detailed guide to walk you through the process. Our suggestion is to build stand walls using bricks, interlocking concrete blocks, or cinder blocks which are filled with concrete and reinforcing steel.
A suspended slab of reinforced concrete is then formed up and poured to create the benchtop to support the oven. The stand must be built on reinforced concrete foundations - if you're building on soft ground you may need to consult a builder to ensure your foundations are adequate.
Using a Wood Fired Oven
Whether you’ve just finished one of our ovens or one of your own design, the next step is learning how to use your oven to its full potential. On this page we will go through the final stage of the building process which is curing, we’ll then get straight into how to fire your oven, and show you a few tips and tricks that will help you begin your wood fired cooking adventure.
Installing a Flue
If your installation involves anything more complex than the basic setup that we provide in the kit, you must engage a suitably qualified plumber to supply and install the flue for you. Your local fireplace store will have several professionals they can recommend. Your oven can reach extreme temperatures, to the point where the flue glows orange.
This is extremely important. If you install your own flue system and your oven somehow causes a catastrophic fire, your home insurance cover may be null and void. Put this in the same category as working with high voltage electricity - the risks outweigh the rewards. Don’t risk it, use a licensed plumber.
OUR DIY OVEN KITS
If you’re keen on building your own brick oven, but would prefer a kit where all the hard work has been done for you, check out our PreCut Brick Oven Kits or our PreCast Oven Kits. They come with all of the bricks cut to size, with custom made tools, formwork and much more, as well as step-by-step plans to follow.
PreCast Oven Kit Overview
In this video we unbox our P85 PreCast Oven Kit, and take you through all of the inclusions. If you’re wanting to see a relatively quick overview of how our PreCast Oven Kit is put together, this is the best place to start.
PreCut Brick Oven Kit Overview
In this video we unbox our D105 PreCut Brick Oven Kit. If you’re wanting to see a relatively quick overview of how our Brick Oven Kits are put together then definitely give this a watch.
