Ooni Pizza ovens

[Nicks90]

Probably nobody will agree with me on this, but I think cooking with gas outside is a bit of a swizz - you may as well cook inside if you're using gas. Takes all the fun out of BBQing for me.

My son has a pellet Ooni and it makes amazing food, and to us it's no extra effort. Each to their own though, and I'm glad you've got what you were after.

i have a wood fired pizza oven - courtesy of Aldi a few years ago - and it is a massive faff. But i love it. You can also do the most amazing steaks on it. dont let the wood burn down, but burn flavoursome wood and leave an iron skillet on the pizza stone and let that flame go wild. The skillet can get to 400C and then whack the steak on. 60 seconds and turn it over and 60 seconds and take the skillet out. leave to rest on the skillet for maybe 5 minutes and you have the most amazing steak EVER.
as for Irelands propensity for rain - get yourself a bbq area built. I smoked our christmas ham joint on christmas day! (note, picture is not xmas day but a lovely balmy summer whilst smoking some outragrously spicy chicken, but you get my drift)

 

[Baldbrewer]

i have a wood fired pizza oven - courtesy of Aldi a few years ago - and it is a massive faff. But i love it. You can also do the most amazing steaks on it. dont let the wood burn down, but burn flavoursome wood and leave an iron skillet on the pizza stone and let that flame go wild. The skillet can get to 400C and then whack the steak on. 60 seconds and turn it over and 60 seconds and take the skillet out. leave to rest on the skillet for maybe 5 minutes and you have the most amazing steak EVER.
as for Irelands propensity for rain - get yourself a bbq area built. I smoked our christmas ham joint on christmas day! (note, picture is not xmas day but a lovely balmy summer whilst smoking some outragrously spicy chicken, but you get my drift)

looks like a cracking outdoor kitchen area !

 

[Leon103]

i have a wood fired pizza oven - courtesy of Aldi a few years ago - and it is a massive faff. But i love it. You can also do the most amazing steaks on it. dont let the wood burn down, but burn flavoursome wood and leave an iron skillet on the pizza stone and let that flame go wild. The skillet can get to 400C and then whack the steak on. 60 seconds and turn it over and 60 seconds and take the skillet out. leave to rest on the skillet for maybe 5 minutes and you have the most amazing steak EVER.
as for Irelands propensity for rain - get yourself a bbq area built. I smoked our christmas ham joint on christmas day! (note, picture is not xmas day but a lovely balmy summer whilst smoking some outragrously spicy chicken, but you get my drift)

I have that oven. I find it easy to work. First pizza is always the worst,.most likely because I am not patient and put it in too hot. I like the fact it can good multiple items. I often have spuds, corn on the cob etc in whilst doing pizza

 

[Druncan]

Regarding pellets, I now use cat litter. Was about £6 for a massive bag from pets at home

Is it used cat litter? What flavour does that impart?

 

[Harbey]

Is it used cat litter? What flavour does that impart?

Used cat litter was just too smokey IMO. And a b1tch to light too. When you do get it going, the pizzas taste like le chat.

 

[prog99]

Just bought a gas one. Had a pizza made out of one at a brewery taproom last week and was sold.

 

[Alastair70]

@johifo I have an Alfa 5 Minuti wood fired oven. During the summer it gets used at least once a week most weeks, during the winter months maybe once or twice a month. We last had a pizza night two weeks ago and will almost certainly have another later this month. I also use it like a regular oven, mostly during the summer especially when entertaining. The other thing I use in it is a cast iron grill on legs that sits around 6 inches above wood embers. That gives exceptional flavour to steak and chicken, much better than on the BBQ in my opinion. To do bread properly you need to be able to close doors and the flu of the oven completely, something you can't do on the Alfa. So, if I'm baking bread I'll start it in a dutch oven for 20 minutes then finish it on the oven floor.
Wood management isn't extra work, but it does take a bit of getting the hang of. It took a few goes to get to know how much to light, how far in advance to start it and how to keep the oven hot if you're making a lot of pizza's.

It's more hassle than a gas oven like an Ooni, but it's much more versatile. I love cooking outdoors and the process is a big part of what I get the enjoyment from, so it was a no brainer for me. If I was to buy again, I'd buy a clay or brick oven. The heat retention is better and you can stone bake bread properly, without the dutch oven. That being said, I'm more than happy with the Alfa and don't regret the purchase.

If you've got hungry kids then there'll be plenty of demand for pizza nights, and the fun of stretching, topping and then cooking their own pizza's never gets old.

 

[user 4749]

Was at friends during the week and had a homemade pizza from his Gozney Roccbox and was sold on buying my own but having now looked at them do I go for Ooni Karu Multifuel or the Roccbox do all you pizza makers have any views ?

 

[MashBag]

Neither.

Get a big baking stone that fits in the oven. They make perfect pizza.

That way you can have pizza all year round in the uk and not just on August 22nd

 

[RichardM]

Neither.

Get a big baking stone that fits in the oven. They make perfect pizza.

That way you can have pizza all year round in the uk and not just on August 22nd

Is 22nd August the date for summer this year?

I make great pizzas on a bake stone in a very hot oven, but also have an Ooni. The Ooni doesn't make better pizzas, but it is fun (in the summer).
Mine is a wood burning one, but if I was to buy another I'd go for a gas fired one. The pizzas taste the same and it is a lot less faff.

 

[Alastair70]

It's summer again round mine on Saturday night, for second time this year. Home ovens only get up to 230C but a pizza oven will hit the high 300's. If you want to do Neapolitan style pizza with a thin base and well aerated crust you need the higher temperature.
I make much better pizza in the wood fired oven compared to in the cooker, it's more fun and the golden rule is food always tastes better when it's cooked outside

 

[RichardM]

It's summer again round mine on Saturday night, for second time this year. Home ovens only get up to 230C but a pizza oven will hit the high 300's. If you want to do Neapolitan style pizza with a thin base and well aerated crust you need the higher temperature.
I make much better pizza in the wood fired oven compared to in the cooker, it's more fun and the golden rule is food always tastes better when it's cooked outside

Our top oven has a built in grill. The trick is to heat the oven, with the bake stone in, as hot as it will go for ages, then whack the grill on while assembling the pizza. Put the pizza in the oven and turn the grill off, just the oven on. Depending on how evenly the oven cooks you might have to give the pizza a couple of turns, when it is almost there put the grill back on for a minute or two.
It's not as fast as the Ooni, but it still makes good pizzas, better than doing it outside in the current weather.

 

[Nashbrew]

I have an Ooni pellet fired Fyra, conventional ovens don't get anywhere hot enough. IMHO

 

[MashBag]

We also have a woodfired oven, which is great. Gave the ooni to my son. But do most in the stove.

Really would like to a hole in the kitchen wall to a external wood oven

 

[user 4749]

Thanks for all the advice .
Its Summer all year round up here . If it rains its hot tropical rain . Well it is a with a few jars and under a Gazebo .

 

[peebee]

Our top oven has a built in grill. The trick is to heat the oven, with the bake stone in, as hot as it will go for ages, then whack the grill on while assembling the pizza. Put the pizza in the oven and turn the grill off, just the oven on. Depending on how evenly the oven cooks you might have to give the pizza a couple of turns, when it is almost there put the grill back on for a minute or two.
It's not as fast as the Ooni, but it still makes good pizzas, better than doing it outside in the current weather.

I had to give up with the domestic oven. It also had a grill in one of the ovens (just one?), or a "Broiler" element to some folk. It would get up to 310C and would make fine Pizza (thick, heavy, steel Pizza "stone"), but the heat was gradually destroying the oven and discolouring the surrounds. Replaced with an electric Pizza oven, made for purpose (Effeuno P143H). Expensive, but with the way things were going, the cheaper option. Running it is cheaper 'cos of the small size. That's "cheaper" not "cheap"!

Letterbox size oven, huge (60mm thick) clay stone, gets up to 520C, but the stone still needs 35-45 minutes to heat. It's very tricky to figure out the temperatures (top and bottom thermostats), it's taken me about a year to get what I'm satisfied with! The mistake was to set too hot (tried using 500C to start) or have the top/bottom difference too close. As was targeting a 1-1/2 - 2 minute cook time (3 - 3-1/2 minutes seems fine). 460c bottom, 320C top seems good. The small size seems to be to blame, the heat source is too local and intense. I'm sure big wood/gas burning jobs are easier. Loads of smoke! I think it's me using too much semolina to dust. Smoked salt (Cornish Sea Salt brand) in dough and sauce to substitute for lack of wood burning oven.

The advantage is its available all year (including tonight, the mozzarella is cooling down at this moment after its creation!). If making my own mozzarella sounds smart, it's a lot easier than making good dough (which I need to get out of the fridge now ... it's had its three-day processing!).

 

[grooves]

My Neff oven can bake at 275c and on a stone can make a decent pizza, but pizza on the kamado at around 350c is even better. Any hotter than that the bases burn before the toppings are done. Would love a brick pizza oven or gozney dome, but obviously can’t justify it even if I win the lottery with these two options

 

[Alastair70]

Cooking in 5 minutes, I’m very excited.

 

[Alastair70]

62% hydration, 40% poolish, 24hr fermentation. Perfect cornicione.

 

[grooves]

Torture - I haven’t had my dinner yet - that looks amazing