Greetings from Peoria, IL

[George T]

Just getting started. I have wanted to have a pizza oven for a long time. The website is great. I am planning to dig for my footings this weekend. And then we are going to build a combined pizza oven / outdoor fireplace.

Any pictures of that combination would be appreciated.

[brokencookie]

Re: Greetings from Peoria, IL

George
I hate to rain on your parade but a pizza oven and outdoor fireplace are two very different animals. A pizza oven is designed to hoard heat like a miser and allow as little as possible to escape. A pizza oven is very efficient.A fire place is designed to radiate heat and by design loses heat to the outside. Fireplaces are nice to look at but not very efficient.
As I see it you have two basic choices.
1. build a beautiful pizza oven ( no fireplace) and enjoy the look of the flames during heat up. Look at the forum for some beauty shots of pizza fires.
2. Build a beautiful pizza oven and a seperate outdoor fireplace. Look at James's outdoor kitchen for a really nice looking example.

You might be able to build a top/ bottom combination. I think someone on the forum might have done that. But the engineering is complicated and the building finicky.


Welcome to the forum and good luck. Ask lots of questions. Better to ask the questions now before committing to brick. Besides, all of the builders live vicariously through you and are depending on you to keep them entertained

[CajunKnight]

Re: Greetings from Peoria, IL

Welcome to the forum and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. If you came seeking wisdom then you have come to the right place. There is a lot of experience here and we can all learn from it.

[dmun]

Re: Greetings from Peoria, IL

As always: the Rumford Fireplaces page on outdoor fireplaces has good design ideas. The further the fireplace (and seating area) is from the oven (and kitchen) the better off you are.

[George T]

Re: Greetings from Peoria, IL

Broken Cookie.....thanks for the welcome. And your not raining on my party. No worries. The fireplace I am building is in the same structure, but seperate from the oven. The forum is fantastic....

[Frances]

Re: Greetings from Peoria, IL

Oh hey, this one might help as one way to do it (if you can work out what is where...)

http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f21/...oven-3442.html

[cplain]

Re: Greetings from Peoria, IL

I'm trying to plan out my layout so have been looking at various designs. If you do a search in forum on "outdoor fireplaces" you'll get plenty of threads discussing various issues of combining fireplace with oven.

My biggest concern with having both in same unit would be trying to use the oven while a fire is going (i.e. having a pizza party in fall) I wouldn't want to stand in front of fireplace while trying to cook, nor do you want guests huddled around fire trying to get warm as you cook. I like the attached layouts.



Or Rumford fireplaces have some great ideas like:



They also have lots of other ideas you can look over on their website at:

Rumford Fireplaces

Such as combination unit like:

Conte Rumford

Good luck! I'm actually finding the research and planning most enjoyable. Almost dread start of actual work...

[dmun]

Re: Greetings from Peoria, IL

It looks good: you might consider putting the roofed area over the kitchen rather than the seating area: There's going to be lots of time you want to cook outside in inclement weather, but most folks won't want to sit out, even under a roof, when it's raining.

Good call on separate fireplace and cooking areas.

[james]

Re: Greetings from Peoria, IL

Planning; fun.

Building; funner.

Cooking; funnest.

It only gets better. :-)
James

[George T]

Re: Greetings from Peoria, IL

Got my pad poured last weekend. Hopefully start laying the block this weekend. I plan to order my block tomorrow for Friday delivery......I will take pictures of the progress. Hoping to be cooking in July.....

[PizzaPolice]

Re: Greetings from Peoria, IL

Call us when you get it done right around Oktoberfest. We'll all party under the bridge.

[mannextdoor]

Re: Greetings from Peoria, IL

Hi George T from Peoria. It looks like you?re having better luck than I am. I broke ground May 3rd and just got the dirt removed last week because of all the rain we have been getting. Friday I moved the dirt we received 1.6" that night. Another 3? in the last 4 day. This rain is getting really old. I would like to drop by and check out your progress some time if it is alright.

Mannextdoor in Splfd