I've always enjoyed projects, fire, and food. A few years ago, one of my sons and I built a trailer-mounted BBQ pit. He drove away with it behind the back of his truck when he went to school. Younger son and I decided to build a pizza oven, and it was only natural to incorporate a pit to smoke meat as well. Following is a bit of a build thread - mainly pictures - of that project. Not quite done, but functional at this point. This forum has been a great resource during this project, and I hope to return the favor in some small way. Thanks to you all!
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First the design phase. Decided on ~34" (0.86m) WFO with a fairly low aspect ratio - 14" dome height. Smoker to be of masonry below and provide a working surface for pizza making or other tasks adjacent to WFO. -
Foundation was nominal 6" slab reinforced with #4 bars at 12" on center each way. Good labor to encourage the boy to stay in school . . . Next started to build firebox for smoker.Comment
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Decided on a compound arch for top of firebox, built over wood form boards shimmed to correct elevation, and floating metal frame for door.Comment
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Started to build CMU shell around firebox and smoking chamber.Last edited by woodsmoker; 11-15-2016, 04:54 AM.Comment
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Placed floor for smoker chamber to drain to back left, continued masonry, and embedded some thermocouples and rack supports in the cook chamber. Insulated perlite/concrete mix over top of cook chamber, and nominal 5-1/2" concrete slab for top/hearth of WFO.Comment
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After hearth slab was cast, some more masonry work to close in outer face of firebox and provide for insulation around it.Comment
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Now the WFO starts - with a few regressions to finish other odds and ends.Comment
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Fabricated a little compound angle jig for Harbor Freight brick/tile saw. Available to anyone building a WFO and interested.Comment
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Layed up most of firebrick for the dome free-hand, with prop sticks when slip angle became too steep. Firestop 50 as mortar for all joints. Entry arch was built on a form with full bricks, then ground them to desired profile on inside diameter and mating faces.Comment
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Continuation of dome went pretty well, but in retrospect should have paid more attention to staggering of joints. Entry accommodates smoke exit from smoker below on the left, so buttressed the right to match.Comment
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Finished entry arch, but not front facade, then wrapped in 3" ceramic blanket (2" + 1"), ~2" thickness of 5:1 perlite-cement, then a stucco shell.Comment
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Continued with stucco shell on WFO and CMU, extended chimney, and started sequence of curing fires. First cooking attempt ended with more calzones or burnt piles on the oven floor than pizzas, but our skills have improved a bit since then.Last edited by woodsmoker; 11-15-2016, 05:02 AM.Comment
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Remaining steps were metal fabrication for smoker area and oven doors, some stucco/paint on the exterior, and lighting. Progress on those front, but not quite done. Grass next spring.Comment
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Looks awesome............Congrats on the build. I just poured my slab yesterday and ready to build. I bought the HF saw over the weekend and am very interested in the jig you built. Any more information on how you made it and how it works??Comment
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