In 1996 I built my first wood fired oven in Phoenix, Arizona. I was inspired to do it because, at the time, there was no good bread to be had for 400 miles in any direction. We used construction plans designed by Alan Scott of Ovencrafters. Although none of us had any masonry experience when we started, the plans plus Alan's help over the phone were enough to get us through the project with flying colors.

In 2004, we built our second oven here in the mountains of western North Carolina with the help of friends Dave, Sculley and Jerry. We all had a great time building it. Sculley even decided to build one at the same time.

If you've ever had thoughts about building a wood oven yourself, get the plans from Alan Scott and get busy! It'll change your life.