Vitraclay Pizza Clay

A soft, pliable clay with an open and coarsely grogged structure which can be used directly from the bag or with added material, ideal for pizza oven construction. Can also be used in demanding applications such as Raku and Pit Firing where resistance to cracking is essential.

Texture: Very textured

Unfired characteristics: A grey/brown textured body which is soft and pliable, easy to add water or work in additional sand or straw for clay oven building

Fired colour: Light buff

Ideal for clay ovens, hand building and raku.

Ideal Bisque: 999°C (cone 06)

Glaze Range: 1140°C to 1280°C (cone 2 to cone 9)

The added cordierite (same material they use to make Pizza stones) in this body allows it to be used in demanding applications such as Raku and Pit Firing where resistance to cracking is essential. The deep texture and iron in the body records the heat history of the firing in a wonderfully organic way. Expect a very textured finish and a light sandy colour with white fleck and toasted edges. 

The joy of cooking your pizza or bread in an oven which you have built is hugely appealing. However the process can be challenging, especially the fact that there are as many ways to build a Pizza Oven as there are varieties of Pizza! We like the ‘River Cottage’ method and have built a couple of ovens this way, it’s as simple as it gets and shouldn’t take too long to build. 

Which Clay? The fact is that any clay can be used to build an oven, from raw clay dug from the bottom of the garden to grogged clay from the bag. Either process requires working with the clay in different ways according to where it’s being used in the oven.  

We have tried to make the process simple by supplying some of the things you’ll need to get going. Our Pizza Clay has low shrinkage and an open structure which helps it to dry faster and with less warping and cracking than other clay, for a small oven you will need about 10 bags of clay. We recommend using four of the 18cm kiln shelves for the base of the oven as these will not fragment and can be replaced if they get broken.

Thanks to Nick Collins for this great information on How To Build a Pizza Oven

Have fun building and enjoy the results of your labour.