Pizza Week! – Day 4: Brick Oven

This came with the apartment as a "BBQ pit."  It hadn't been used in years, and the landlord was happy to let us utilize it for something else. Those metal bars hold the weight of the bricks that cross the gap. Nothing is cemented to the base. If you read directions for most brick ovens, the floor isn't cemented in anyways, so I thought this would be fine. The most annoying part of this process was smashing firebricks. You need the mortar to be able to withstand intense heat, so adding the crushed firebricks helps fortify it. The first night, it took way longer than we expected. After this, I did the smashing on my own the night before we planned working on the oven so that we could get right to it when the guys showed up. The mortar is made up of equal parts standard mortar mix, crushed firebrick, sand, and a half part hydrated lime. I'm no expert, but I mixed all the dry ingredients before I added the water. I sort of used my cooking experience when mixing the concrete. Just like making pizza dough! We didn't cut any corners making this oven! Well, we had to cut some corners of the brick so that when it was angled they all could fit. If that sentence doesn't make sense, keep loking at the pics and you will understand what I mean later hopefully. What you can't see in this picture is a huge cliff right behind where Gareth is perched. We used a lot of mortar to basically prop the bricks at an angle. This is a few weeks later. As you can see, we used extra bricks underneath to support the arch.   It is important to soak the bricks for a few minutes before using them. This helps the mortar suck into the brick. A few pieces of styrofoam that Gareth found in a closet somewhere. I thought I would be nervous pulling out the supports, but I was actually confident because we did pretty well and I knew it wasn't going anywhere. This part was a bit more tricky, but I did a lot of puzzles as a kid, so we figured it out in no time. I look out my door at this beauty every day.   There is a slight gap behind those 3 front bricks to serve as a chimney to deflect smoke from your face. Puzzle Solved. I put the doors in when I first place a pizza in the oven so that it gets cooked enough that I can spin it easily and it doesn't stick.  The pizza that is. Lighting this thing was tough at first, but after 4 lightings, I'm a bit more confident about it. I first light a fire up front by the opening. To get it going, I use a few scraps of wood and 4 or 5 pieces of paper under 2 larger logs. Sometimes it is tough here because it is so humid the logs you buy can get soggy just from being outside for a day. I really get it cranked up and start adding bigger logs and also pieces of coal. After about 45 minutes to an hour, the ceiling of the oven changes from black back to the actual color of the bricks. This means it is almost ready. When most of the ceiling isn't black anymore, I rake the coals down to the floor to get that heated. At this point the fire might go out but that's fine. The embers are glowing strong. They are really hot. After 20 minutes, I push the coals to the back of the oven. I do a quick wipe of the floor with a slightly damp rag. I check the digital thermometer and hopefully get a reading of about 650 on the oven floor. I place a fresh log onto the pile of coals way in the back and within seconds it bursts into flames. I think to myself "gee, I am awesome" and go inside to grab a freshly stretched pizza to throw into the oven. Hmmmm what's that smell? Just my hair burning, no big deal. I wasn't kidding earlier. That's burnt hair folks. I need a bellow... is that what it's called? The thing to blow on the fire like an accordion. Look how much this rose from the last picture! Yea I burnt it a little, but it's the first pizza! This pizza wasn't that good even though we started with the inaugural margherita for good luck.   Here we go. This is actually from the fourth lighting / third time cooking with it. Decent upskirt. Not as good as my grill-oven, but improving. But the endcrust...words fail me This one had a decent bottom crust. This was a 3 and a half minute pizza. 1 minute and a 1/3rd turn, 3 times.