Why a Pizza Oven?

So why a backyard pizza oven? When my wife and I lived in Phoenix, we were regulars at the renowned Pizzeria Bianco. When we moved to Dallas, we tried a few pizza restaurants and just couldn't find anything as good.

Last Christmas, my mother-in-law gave me a pizza stone kit to use on my gas grill (the photo is from amazon.com). I used it on my Webber gas grill and learned technique from the book "American Pie: My Search for the Perfect Pizza", learning how to make my own dough and everything from scratch. The pizza stone works great if you let the grill pre-heat on high for a very long time (say, 60 minutes). The grill temperature goes off the thermometer scale (600+ degrees) and is much hotter than you can get in your oven inside the kitchen.

We made some great pizzas (see some pictures below):










We decided that we were enjoying making pizzas but thought we could do better with some more serious equipment. Or, at least it would be a fun challenge.

More accurately, I love making pizzas and my wife loves eating them! Actually, we both love eating them. I've been happy to learn that making your own excellent pizza at home isn't really that difficult if you're willing to work at it.