Pompeii Pizza Oven Construction w/ Argentine Grill

How did this project come about? Well, I went to a friends house for dinner (Paul Z.) and we made pizzas in their backyard. I thought..."I want that." So I researched the internet for ideas then designed & built a pizza oven - decided to add a prep table & argentine grill while I was at it. I had no idea how, I just figured it out as I went. I hope this collection of pictures helps someone build their own.
This is a 36" diameter oven.
-Inside dome peak is 18.5" tall
-Inside opening is 18" wide
-Inside arch peak is 12" tall
-Outside opening is 20" wide
-Outside arch peak is 14" tall
Bonus material: once I finished, I decided my yard needed upgrading...so I removed the old patio and installed a new one with trench & french drains. Bonus side note: I play drums for Brad Yaeger & the Night Terrors.
Background music by Brad Yaeger & the Night Terrors
/ bradyaegerandthenightt...
www.squatterrec...

[@StarLight-yk6es]

Mate , kicking back with a couple of beers , watching you create this gem of a pizza oven is bloody inspirational mate :) ! Well done , impressed ! Like the tunes , too :) ! Peace from Oz , sweet as :) I'm hungry !

[@sharonpeer4940]

One of the most beautiful I have seen on the channel!

[@rwagenveldqmesnl]

Beautiful construction 👏

[@kelleymcbride4633]

Beautiful work!

[@alexbor-is6qp]

Хорошая реализация задачи. Понравилось то что вы применили сферическую матрицу и то как сделали внешнюю изоляцию с кровлей. Спасибо.

[@joachimsudergat3924]

That is not a Pizza Oven and a grill, that is a dream. From the first to the last step a A+ for this work. One of the finest self made results that i have ever seen in my life. Very well done, my greatest respect to you.

[@elguapodelmonte215]

A MAGNIFICENT EFFORT, AND NOW THE BBQ IS WORTH MORE THAN THE HOUSE. IT'S NOT AN "OVER-INVESTMENT" IT'S A WORK OF ART.

[@Kranalif1]

Damn!!...... I was about to start my project until I saw your video. Now I feel I need to scrap everything especially when my wife saw it!...... congratulations mate! Thats a hell of job you did!

[@squirlboy250]

Don't scrap it use it as inspiration. You to can come up with something awesome, if you put your mind into it.

[@neliborba9030]

Beautiful work. I grew up with ancient brick oven in the kitchen, my grandmother used it to bake and roast. They are being demolished now in favor of modern kitchens where I come from, but I am thinking in building one for myself. Nice work.

[@tgchism]

You did a fantastic job all around with those projects!! Congratulations!!

[@philipeves3506]

Brad Yaeger... my new favourite band.

[@Ankhubuntu]

luv the sound too! Very good project! !

[@ReapWhatYouSeauxLeJeune]

That’s a absolutely beautiful build!!!

[@williamwilliams2505]

Dude, this is not... I mean... What... This is.... I've never.... I'm speechless.... And Jealous. This is simply Incredible. You should be seriously proud of this effort. Standing round of applause. Well done.

[@kennethmccoy8938]

You people go all the way don’t you. No half assed job here. Great work. Now I’m jealous AND hungry

[@CthuIhuu]

Oven.... beauty! 👍🏼

[@squirlboy250]

That is some Fine mason work!! I've been watching a lot of different videos to get a plan together to build mine. I landscape and have been collecting rocks of all different sizes shapes and colors to build something pretty close to this. Thanks for some of those ideas.

[@dizino]

Great, happy to help out some. For me the key was adding a scratch coat & using some masonry bonding agent to help with adhesion. Good luck!

[@tome5569]

It looks amazing! Exactly like what I had in mind. Awesome job!

[@alrice7319]

I've been a contractor for 40 years. Excellent design and construction. Let me know if you ever move to Florida. You could build all you want at a heck of a price.

[@ginopastore3989]

Great work and music

[@bcoutdoordadklasick6515]

Well thanks for this awesome video One of the best I’ve seen.... this has inspired my wife and I do finally make our own wood fire cook area, just north of you in BC. Great job man, you should be very proud.

[@dizino]

Thanks for the compliment & glad the build has inspired you! I'm originally from North Vancouver, BC. Good luck!

[@sickofliberals9403]

Now that's a pizza oven👍👍

[@summittaedae2323]

Very beautiful set up. I bet you and your familia have many amazing garden parties.

[@frankerdel8300]

Wonderful...Great...Respect 👍✊

[@naths1229]

Beautiful work

[@tgchism]

Very nice work!

[@chesterpuffington8368]

Absolutely sick, you guys did an incredible job!

[@juande4262]

Excelent! Goog job! The oven face is so beauty

[@zimbo9stry805]

Wonderful job!! Congrats on a first class build

[@jeffpiper4208]

Wow, labor of love for sure

[@SkylinersYeti]

Well done, I have been wanting one for years but one thing leads to another. My plans are for an out door cooking pavilion so I can cook out of doors year around, rain or snow!

[@nastyeddi3]

Thats dream right there simple amazing wow😍

[@peteclark5692]

Wow ! Fantastic job . 👍

[@gothamantiquities2595]

Man oh man, I felt like the biggest gangster with my small Pompeii oven on NY until I saw this! You guys did an amazing job and the end video at the 11 min mark was great looking with all of it in action! Happy Thanksgiving!

[@dizino]

Thank you! We had pizza last night & the turkey will be going in later today. Happy Thanksgiving to you too!

[@suenehring7252]

A drummer in a band? I would have bet you were a professional mason. Fantastic job!

[@afsharisohrab]

Hi! Very beautiful and nice work.

[@393strokedcoupe]

The oven and grill along with the stoneworks is beautiful, but I must say, you didn't do it justice with that roof.

[@joeturbo64]

Beautiful beautiful job guys

[@daleturner]

AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@OzzyManBeer]

Una Belleza ese horno Dean! Te felicito, como tiene que ser: con la parrilla al lado

[@hughjaynus4374]

Bangin'!

[@JJCGCAZ]

Thats bad azzzzz!!👍🏽😍

[@golperuano]

I bet the neighbors stop by all the time bringing a six pack or a bottle of wine just to see that oven/grill!

[@grassoft]

Also use square peel to put your pizza inside the oven, use the round peel to rotate and pull it out

[@Michi4777]

Great! 😀

[@edstar83]

Nice work. Hail Jupiter.

[@yamiladdi]

Excelente

[@peetsnort]

Twin peaks territory

[@grassoft]

Thumb up because you did a great job, but let me tell you something you need to increase temperature to 850F, margherita pizza cooks in 90sec. Believe me because I'm Italian and also I have a brick oven. Ciao

[@michaelbutzen8122]

Exactly what I was thinking. It takes forever. Was the fire maybe not build up in the centre because the floor does not seem to warm either

[@grassoft]

@@michaelbutzen8122 He has to move the ash and leave space under the wood to make it breathe.

[@dizino]

@@grassoft @Michael Butzen Yes, the temp had dropped by the time I placed the pizza...probs to 550. The oven has no problem cooking a pizza in 90 seconds. My excuses: It was my 3rd pizza of the evening, I cleared the deck & spent too long setting up the camera in the dark, and it was 28 degrees F outside. I was going to make another vid later, but it reminded me of a yule log & it was the xmas season. It still cooked & my kids still loved it all the same.

[@johnlove4183]

Fantastic build, What were the dimensions of the slab your poured? and after using are you satisfied with it? Great work.

[@dizino]

Thank you. Each section is 6' wide (total 18'). The 'wings' for the argentine grill & prep table are 28.5" deep. I'm absolutely satisfied with it & will definitely build again if I ever move.

[@rocky48ish]

Just an incredible job all around. 👍👍👍 if I could ask without offending you, how much was the total on the veneer? You should put up more video's of your cooking, well done. From N.J.

[@dizino]

I actually kept track of all my expenses in an Excel file - the veneer/cultured stone was just over $1,000 from mutual materials.

[@نوحالبحري-ر4ض]

What kind of cement and do you mix it with sand ?? Thank you

[@dizino]

You need refractory mortar for the dome - there's plenty of DIY recipes online. I used pre-mixed bags from Forno Bravo: www.fornobravo.com/store/fb-mortar-50/

[@nelson32]

I'm curious.. did you go below the frost line for that pad? If not how did everything hold up ?

[@dizino]

I didn't go below the frost line for the pad, which is 18" for my area. Instead I decided to go with the floating slab concept. Considering I poured it June of 2016 (decided to make the vid in late 2018) with zero issues to date I'm thinking it's working out...also worth noting, the 'dirt' in my yard is extremely hard clay.

[@6969smurfy]

Nice build guy! If you don't mind, what did you use for mortar on your dome bricks.

[@dizino]

Thanks Dan. I used high temp refractory mortar from Forno Bravo. www.fornobravo.com/store/fb-mortar-50/

[@brandonwilliams1991]

Quick question on your enclosure for the pizza oven. Did you use cement board on the roof or did you use plywood? I will be starting my enclosure soon and just trying to get it planned out on how I am going to do it. Also, did you happen to document your build on fornobravos forum ?

[@dizino]

Plywood. I had the same question when I got to that point & couldn't find anything on the internet. I decided to find out if there was any heat loss to be concerned about, so I fired up the already cured oven to full strength. The roof of the dome was over 1,000F, yet I couldn't feel any heat whatsoever on the outside, so I went with plywood. Sorry no, I didn't document the build on forno bravo. Only this video which was actually an afterthought when I realized I took quite a few pics along the way. Good luck. Sounds like you're getting close!

[@brandonwilliams1991]

@@dizino well thanks a bunch. Your build has definitly kinda been an inspiration for mine. I just completed course 9 of the fire bricks. Getting there little by little

[@MisterCreative]

A pizza that size should be cooked in under 90 secs at 700+ degrees Celsius. 4 minutes means you are getting the oven hot enough before you Staten cooking. With higher temps you will get better leopard spots on the crust.

[@roncrawley5411]

What gauge of metal studs did you use for the enclosure and roof?

[@dizino]

I used 20 gauge. Seemed super flimsy at first, but when it was all assembled it was solid. My first time using it, so wasn't sure what to expect but happy with the results

[@gamatoutsikos]

Dean how long did it take you?

[@dizino]

It took me 6 months in total working only weekends. If I didn't have a job I'm guessing it would take ~2 months.

[@nunyabizznizz7326]

awesome work!.........that music tho 🤦‍♂🙄🙄

[@mariusmaximus3270]

who disliked this video is envious

[@CHUPRAK]

Привет из России 🤝😉👍 , Мы подобные печи в домах делаем , у Нас они называются Русская Печь.

[@rocky48ish]

Hello Dean O, one more question. Do you have a cut sheet for the pizza oven? Ty.

[@dizino]

Hi Bryan. Other than KZbin videos, I referenced this document from Forno Bravo - printed it & kept it in a binder for reference. Trial & error from there. Forno Bravo Pompeii Oven™ Plans Build an Authentic Italian Wood ...www2.sts.si/arhiv/tehno/kamin/pompeii_oven_plans.pdf

[@rasmusmller2063]

Nice oven, but when it comes to pizza i prefer to make mine with flame and higher temps( 90 sec bake)

[@dizino]

I agree...that was two years ago at a temp of around 550 - should be between 720 & 800 or so. Decided to just delete that part of the vid. Thanks.

[@rasmusmller2063]

@@dizino yea when i make pizza i try to hit up 800f

[@GMEveraldo2007]

what are the dimensions of this oven?

[@dizino]

It's the 36" diameter oven referenced in this document: www2.sts.si/arhiv/tehno/kamin/pompeii_oven_plans.pdf

[@GMEveraldo2007]

@@dizino Thanks!

[@ranpos1]

Hi what is the concrete slab size for the oven?

[@dizino]

The concrete slab under the cinderblock house for just the oven portion is 71" wide by 80" deep by 5.5" thick

[@ranpos1]

Thank you

[@tabletennisdrills8133]

Could you please share the exact dimensions??

[@dizino]

I've added some extra dimensions in the description. Hope that's what you're looking for. Also, you may find this document helpful. I kept it at my side throughout the build. www2.sts.si/arhiv/tehno/kamin/pompeii_oven_plans.pdf

[@RiverRaid2]

5:04 Made in Mexico Argentie Grill. Why don't you just buy the real deal from Argentina?

[@lovebassets868]

Music killed it for me lol

[@brandonwilliams1991]

Where did you purchase your Argentine Grill ?

[@dizino]

Sunterra Outdoor Products - www.sunterraoutdoor.com/argentine-brasero-grill

[@brandonwilliams1991]

How you liking their Argentine grill? I was checking them out. Very awesome pizza oven by the way. Yours is the look I am going for

[@dizino]

@@brandonwilliams1991 The Sunterra Argentine grill is great, and food cooked on it tastes outstanding! Two cautionary items: 1. It's a fun, but slow method for cooking and it winds up consuming a lot of wood to create grilling perfection. I go through roughly twice as much wood as the pizza oven (I still have my Weber for quick grilling). 2. I recommend a permanent roof structure if you live around a lot of wind & rain (like me) as it's susceptible to rust. Overall, I love my Argentine grill & am happy I included it in my design.

[@paulf1177]

Hope to use this as a model, maybe left side rustic timber frame with shelves and maybe same for enclosure for the grill. Again great job, do you have experience or like me, this old house fan

[@dizino]

@@paulf1177 Hi Paul. I'm also just a weekend DIYer. I have a desk job during the week and enjoy the challenge of projects around the house in my spare time. Everything in that video was a first for me. Good luck. Your design idea sounds cool!

[@MateyGardelOriental]

"Argentine grill">>>MADE IN MEXICO...

[@mariaveliz395]

Beautiful but too expensive 😯

[@АлександрЦыганок-п2и]

Печь классная, пицца тоже, озвучка ужассс

[@choongachangachoongachanga556]

Too expensive, partly money for nothin.....

[@gamatoutsikos]

You've never done anything out of passion