Building a wood-fired pizza oven – in pictures

Dancing on the cob to mix the clay, sand and straw Photograph: Frederika Whitehead

A base, prepared earlier. The point of this section is partly to prevent ground-water leaking into the oven, and partly to stop chefs having to get down on their knees to cook. It doesn’t have to be made of a brick: a tree trunk would work, or some people make a box from railway sleepers and fill that with rubble or beer bottles
Photograph: Frederika Whitehead

A student cob-builder lays firebricks on the base Photograph: Frederika Whitehead

Cob is used to fill in the edges around the firebricks Photograph: Frederika Whitehead

Drawing a circle to mark the inside of the oven Photograph: Frederika Whitehead

A dome is made from wet sand. It will act as a 'former' for the cob Photograph: Frederika Whitehead

Use a plasterer's trowel to perfect the dome, because the inside of the oven needs to be very smooth Photograph: Frederika Whitehead

Building with cob Photograph: Frederika Whitehead

Smoothing the cob Photograph: Frederika Whitehead

The finished pizza oven Photograph: Frederika Whitehead

A student climbs on top to demonstrate the strength of the cob dome Photograph: Frederika Whitehead

Uncooked pizza. Kate’s method for testing the heat of the oven isn’t one I’m keen to try. 'For bread, you are meant to be able to hold your hand in there for five seconds,' she says, opening the oven door. 'For pizzas, one second.' Call me a wuss but I think I’ll buy a thermometer Photograph: Frederika Whitehead

The fire is made directly on the firebrick cooking surface. It needs to burn for about three to four hours before the bricks are hot enough to cook on. After that, you'll need to use a stick to poke the fire into the edges of the oven, clearing the cooking surface. Use bellows to blow the ash away, and a damp cloth on a stick to give it a final wipe, before putting the pizzas directly on to the hot bricks Photograph: Frederika Whitehead

The pizza emerges ... Photograph: Frederika Whitehead

... and nears its doom. Graham Shields, whose wife gave him an empty pizza box for Christmas, shows off his creation Photograph: Frederika Whitehead

Mmm ... pizza Photograph: Frederika Whitehead