$5 Homemade Brick Pizza-Oven - Test #1

With my first semester in grad school officially in the books, I decided to take a day to decompress. I've had a lot of things on my "to-do" list that have been put off to the side because of schoolwork. Making my tiny apartment oven into a better pizza machine was certainly near the top of that list.

So how did I do it? Well, after doing some research on the intertubes, I headed down to my local Home Depot. I picked up a couple (3) regular red bricks (probably should've measured the dimensions of my oven first). I also bought 8, unglazed tiles from the flooring section. They are fairly thin, maybe a tad thinner than a pizza stone. It's important to buy the unglazed (non-shiny) tiles, or else you're going get a big side of chemicals with your pizza. I consulted an HD worker who told me I indeed was buying the unglazed stuff, so I'll let you know if I end up in the hospital anyways!



Altogether, the supplies cost me a whopping $5. No kidding. Cheaper than a pizza stone. After rinsing and wiping down the stones with water and a clean towel (don't use soap- it'll contaminate your pizza's flavor), I rearranged my oven racks to give me enough space to put the stones inside. I set my oven in "warm" for about half an hour to make sure the stones were dry. After the stones were dry, I pulled the brick out and wrapped it with 2 layers of foil (just because). If your oven is bigger than my easy-bake sized one, I suggest putting a few bricks on the side to really make an all-stone enclosure. Next time, I am also going to lower my top rack down so that the "roof" is closer to the pizza, and thus- will brown the top of my crust a little better. We'll see how that goes.

I made 4 pies (in the order that they were made):
1) Bianco Arugula: olive oil, garlic, salt, arugula, lemon juice, olive oil, parm reg
2) "Puttanesca": tomato sauce, sliced black olives, anchovies, capers, red chili flakes, basil, parm reg
3) Puttanesca w/ Moz: Same as above except add shredded moz
4) Red Arugula: Tomato sauce, chili flake, arugula, lemon juice, olive oil, shaved parm

Notes on some of the ingredients:
-I bought 2 Giant-brand, regular pizza dough balls (each cut in half to give me 4 pies). This dough is mediocre (need more salt), but it was convenient.
-For the sauce, I used 1 can of Cento-brand plum tomatoes, rinsed, de-seeded, mashed, drained of liquid, and then mixed with their canned puree. There was plenty of sauce left over.
-I just used Giant brand bagged and shredded moz. Yeah yeah yeah, I know- but i really didn't care. As you can see- I kinda like pizzas with less cheese anyways.
-Olive oil: I've been working my way through a bottle of California Olive Ranch XV. It's pretty damn fruity, unlike the "spicier" notes you get from stuff from Europe. Each has their own strengths. I don't really ever heat it (I just sprinkle it on the final, hot product). I really like this stuff in dressings or on bread. It can overwhelm some dishes though.
-Cento anchovies wrapped around capers in oil

I apologize for the appearance of my pizzas. I haven't made a homemade pizza in months and I'm clearly off my shaping game. The arugula pizzas turned out a little funky. The first one was stretched a little too thick and a dough "malfunction" made the last one hard to stretch beyond a flatbread shape. I also apologize for some of the quality of the pictures. I'm going through post-exam-week caffeine withdrawal, hence the shakes. Excuses aside, here are the results from the first test run.

*Warning: Pizza Porn Below*

Bianco Arugula



Puttanesca




Puttanesca w/ Moz



Red Arugula



By far, the best crust award goes to the Puttanesca w/ Moz. I was able to get the dough stretched out thin enough to give it a good crunch but not too thin that the sauce soaked through.

I'll keep you updated on future trials with this new pizza setup. Keep posted to TtW over the holiday break for more pizza updates, as I reunite in the kitchen with my buddy Nathan. Happy holidays!