I built my not-so-clay oven in the Summer of 2013. Originally I wanted to build a traditional cob oven but our temperature extremes would have made mincemeat of it. Thanks to my handy neighbour Dave, we reworked the original plans to withstand all that Calgary’s weather can throw at it.

Having an oven in your garden is the best – I love it when the smoke is pumping out of the chimney (and not blowing straight into my house) however, I love it more when it’s surrounded by eager friends vying for first dibs on the pizzas that we make.

Although I followed the traditional method, we made a number of changes. Firstly, we used a lot of nails and chicken wire (Dave called it the bomb shelter) – think rebar on the smallest of scales. It worked! Secondly, we clad the exterior with copious amounts of cement to help protect it from the elements. Voila, happy days – it’s still standing and our pizza parties are more popular than ever.

I’m not going to get into the details but suggest you take a look at The Clay Oven and step-by-step instructions in this book by Simon Brookes.