Hello from newbie

[greenhorn]

Hi,

This is an awesome site. I like to cook but didn't know anything about outdoor fire ovens until someone brought the subject up on a non-cooking related forum, which sent me searching until I came across this forum.

Reading some posts here got me thinking of building something for a project. I like BBQ'ing (own 2 Kamado's ) and was thinking of building an open BBQ out of firebricks and a large grill I have laying around. After finding this site, now I am wondering if I could build something that can combine an oven, BBQ and outdoor fireplace that wouldn't look too massive in my backyard. Am I asking too much? Do I need separate units for each purpose?

Has anyone used a wood-fired clay oven to roast a whole pig? Is there such an oven? Thanks!

Louie

[dmun]

Re: Hello from newbie

Welcome Louie. We have all different members of the forum, from people who build a fast and crude oven of used bricks and homemade mortar, to folks who are building extravagant outdoor kitchens. I use a brick oven for all sorts of cooking, but keep my old Weber grill close by, if only to smother coals when I shovel out the fire for retained heat baking. Do you need a dedicated masonry barbeque? No. Is it useful to grill burgers and dogs for the whole neighborhood? Sure. You may find that when you start making serious pizza, the demand for burgers and dogs will decline markedly.

[brokencookie]

Re: Hello from newbie

Hey Louie
Welcome to the forum. I spent 3 of 4 months looking for and asking about designs for combined functions. I finally came to the conclusion that seperate units are the best way to go. The temperatures as so varied that managing the heat becomes a nightmare. Pizza oven exhaust runs between 700 and 900 degrees ( for pizza cooking) which is way to hot for any other uses. A lot of the forum members do a huge variety of cooking as the oven cools. Look at the cooking and heat management threads.
My current plan calls for brick BBQ, brick smoker and a pizza oven ( of course). Because of my limited space I am planing to sandwich them all into a 6 ft by 12 ft area right outside my indoor kitchen. I moved the open pit fire and chiminia to the front yard. Hopefully, my guests will pick up thier food from the kitchen, travel the 15 ft to the front yard and dine around the open flames.
Good luck on your design

Bruce