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How To Build A Campfire Stone Oven

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Learn how to build a small campfire pit stone oven. The oven provides even heating and warmth for campfire meals.

Large fire to build coals for cooking in a stone oven.
Building up coals for the stone oven.
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The idea of building a campfire stone oven has always appealed to Brad.

  • In his posh dreams, he would like a wood-fired bread oven. But the reality of my gluten-free diet doesn’t make the cost and effort of building one worthwhile.
  • We have a lot of rocks on our property, and every now and then we dig up one that looks like it would be perfect for building something fun.
  • Brad also plays a lot of Agricola. So he knows that your ability to feed your family depends on building an oven. 😂

Our stone oven arose from one particular rock. The one that is featured across the top of our oven. The first oven was built by Brad and Una in one day. It was fine, but we’re planning to refine the process and rebuild it.


Putting together a stone oven with found rocks.
Brad and Una laying rocks.

How to cook in a campfire stone oven

Our stone oven is definitely rustic. It’s great for insulating while cooking over coals. But it’s not the pizza oven of Brad’s dreams. Here’s how we cook with a campfire stone oven:

  1. Start by making a big fire in the main pit.
  2. When it has burned down, shovel the coals into the oven. If you’re going to be cooking for a while, this becomes a continuous process of building fires and shoveling coal.

Here are three ways to cook in a small stone oven:

  • Foil-wrapped campfire dinners will cook twice as fast in a stone oven. It also allows for more even heating. Just be sure to use really good quality foil as the packets will be nested right in the coals.
  • A cast-iron campfire Dutch oven is perfect for chili, soups, and stews. You can also use it to bake bread and cakes! (I’ve done both… but you need to keep an eye on them. It’s hard to know how long they’ll take).
  • A cast-iron frying pan is how Brad makes coal-grilled pizza and quesadillas. It’s a slow process to feed our family of four… but it’s also relaxing.
Cooking a tinfoil dinner and roasting broccoli in a stone oven.
Our simple DIY stone oven.

Campfire Stone Oven

How to build a small campfire stone oven. The oven improves warmth and provides even-heating for campfire meals.
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Course: Camping
Keyword: campfire baking, campfire bread, campfire dinner, camping, DIY oven, rock oven, simple oven, summer, survivalist oven, tin-foil meals
Total Time: 4 hours
Author: Emillie Parrish
Cost: $0

Equipment

  • Shovel

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Like most of my DIY projects, a picture is worth 1000 words… so check out the pictures above to see the building process. This project is based on trial and error. Getting rocks that will fit nicely together and be strong enough to hold the main top of the stove takes a bit of patience and a large supply of stones.
  • Certain stones will explode when heated in the fire, particularly porous rocks. Avoid rocks from rivers or beaches. Buy appropriate rocks. Or if you're using rocks dug up from your yard, do some research to figure out whether they are fire-safe.
  • Create your campfire pit. I recommend a pit that is at least 2 ft. by 2 ft. (60 cm) so that you can easily burn logs, and scrap wood. If you're going to build a stone oven as part of the campfire, then you'll want to line the bottom of your campfire pit to create a hearth. This serves two purposes: 1. It allows you to easily shovel coals into your oven (without bringing in a lot of dirt). 2. It makes the campfire pit safer. (The build-up of ash in the bottom of a fire pit can lead to fires that burn into the ground.) We are going to use fireplace bricks to line the bottom of our next fire pit. That way we'll have a nice, flat surface to build up our coals.
  • Once the base of your fire pit is finished, work on the sides of the stone oven. The goal is to be able to hold the big flat rock that is going to form the top of your oven. Expect the walls of the oven to be at least 8 inches (20 cm) thick. It takes a lot of stones to be stable enough to hold a heavy rock.
  • Place the top rock on and adjust as necessary to make sure it is strong and sturdy.
  • When your campfire stove is built, use the remaining rocks to surround the pit. Then insulate the outside of your campfire stove with dirt. The goal of the dirt is to prevent rocks from shifting and to hold everything in place. It won't make a perfect seal (smoke will still escape where possible).
  • See the section above for notes on how to cook with a campfire stone oven.

Check out more outdoor posts:

How to build a stacked stone wall
Building a stone wall
How to make fire starters that are eco-friendly and easy to use
DIY fire starters
Kid in sleeping bag liner
Sleeping bag liner

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