Ooni pizza oven

[Ken Gargett]

i had never heard of these things before but one of the guys is bringing one to Fraser this year. wondering if anyone has any thoughts and/or experience?

[gustavehenne]

Our neighbour has one - it does a great pizza although it can be a bit fiddly to use.

My other neighbour has a big green egg and does pizza along with loads of other things and I personally prefer that. Although a bit more expensive!

[Ken Gargett]

Just now, stevenhaugen said:

Our neighbour has one - it does a great pizza although it can be a bit fiddly to use.

My other neighbour has a big green egg and does pizza along with loads of other things and I personally prefer that. Although a bit more expensive!

thanks. that was quick. i suspect that transporting the big green egg to fraser island might be a smidge too difficult. the bloke bringing it seems convinced and he uses it regularly so i am keen to see how it goes. 

[gustavehenne]

Just now, Ken Gargett said:

thanks. that was quick. i suspect that transporting the big green egg to fraser island might be a smidge too difficult. the bloke bringing it seems convinced and he uses it regularly so i am keen to see how it goes. 

It does really excellent pizzas - never had a bad one yet. You'll certainly enjoy it just don't try and fling too many toppings on - the pizza kind of sags down when you do

Enjoy Fraser Island!

[Ken Gargett]

2 minutes ago, Ken Gargett said:

thanks. that was quick. i suspect that transporting the big green egg to fraser island might be a smidge too difficult. the bloke bringing it seems convinced and he uses it regularly so i am keen to see how it goes. 

looking forward to both the island and the pizza but not for a few weeks yet. 

 

[GaryK 54]

I love the Ooni. They offer both a gas and wood option. For my apartment terrace in Shanghai, has to go with the gas. The thing gets cracking hot and you can cook a true Neapolitan style pizza in about 90 seconds. Soft and crunchy corniccione, and a charred bottom crust.   

I agree with @stevenhaugen, it is a bit fiddly to get used too. But once you’ve dialed in the heat, it’s hard to beat. Combined with a proper high hydration pizza dough, you’ll be making pizzas as good as anything you can buy. 

[cnov]

1 hour ago, stevenhaugen said:

Our neighbour has one - it does a great pizza although it can be a bit fiddly to use.

My other neighbour has a big green egg and does pizza along with loads of other things and I personally prefer that. Although a bit more expensive!

I've got a Kamado and an Ooni, the Green Egg does okay pizzas but it loses a lot of heat when you open the lid and is very fuel hungry. If you've been doing lots of low and slow cooks you'll also need to give it half hour burning off all of the grease etc otherwise your first pizza tastes like arse.

The Ooni is a lot better for pizza, we have a Pro 16 and it's fantastic. A small bed of charcoal to get it warm then I throw a few sticks of wood on to get the flames going and you can cook a pizza in about 90 seconds.

Kamados are certainly more versatile, we use ours a few times most weeks, but pizza ovens still win the pizza game in my experience of both.

 

[BrightonCorgi]

If going for pizza oven get the Gozney Dome instead if you can swing it.

 

 

[Lomey]

We have an Ooni and love it. My wife makes the dough using 00 flour which is necessary for a crisper crust. She also makes homemade sauces. Like mentioned above, use the sauce and toppings sparingly. The possibilities are endless with what you can make. The pizza takes 90 seconds. Perfect for pizza parties where everyone can pick their own toppings. I haven't had a better pizza out and we eat local pizza every time we vacation somewhere. You can also cook other foods in cast iron pans in it. It gets to 950° F.

We use gas to heat it because it's easier. I read an article when researching pizza ovens that interviewed a few "pizza masters" and they said pizza is really stone fired and not wood fired since 90 seconds isn't long enough to impart much flavor. It's all about the heat. Made sense to me and I smoke a lot of food.

Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk
 

[Ken Gargett]

thanks guys.

clearly there is a world out there i never knew existed. 

 

[Mikeltee]

Sorry to be off topic, but does anyone have one for their big green egg or knock off brand? I really want a pizza oven but the wife would be upset with another cooking device on our tiny 24x20 deck. This is the component I'm referring to :

https://www.pizza-porta.com/

[Shrimpchips]

Have the Ooni Karu 12 and we use charcoal and wood to fire ours.  Cooks amazing pizzas in less than 90 seconds.  Best pizza I’ve ever eaten is still from a random seaside hotel in Positano (paired with a peroni and a Mag 46 that’s in the top three cigars I’ve ever smoked), but the Ooni definitely gives a good pizza comparable to anything we had in Naples.

[cnov]

While we're on show and tell, I was pretty chuffed with these two.

The dough was from 'The Pizza Bible', which I highly recommend.

Really felt like it was easy to learn how to get better at dough in just a few attempts.

[foursite12]

I have the gas fired unit. Less fuss and clean-up. Yes, it is fiddly. There is definitely a technique required due to the rear of the chamber being dramatically hotter than the rest. Have a good turning peel, as you will be constantly swiveling the pie to keep it from burning. As others have said, temp control is paramount.  once dialed-in, however, it delivers a great pizza.

[ianperrymccarthy]

I've got one of the wood-fired Oonis. It's capable of making excellent pizzas, but the learning curve is steep. I am always wishing it was a little bigger, too. The end close to the firebox gets too much char before the bottom is set enough to start spinning it around, and I'm not making monster pizzas in it. I have a friend doing small-scale commercial pie slinging with a pair of gas powered Gozney Roccbox ovens, and let me tell you, his pizza looks consistently perfect. 

[Jack]

The Big Green Egg isn't practical for a camping trip, for sure!

On the other hand I have a BGE and I don't have a smoker, gas grill, pizza oven, fire pit - but I can do all of what those can.  A couple of ceramic pieces and I was making pizza.  Not perfect Neapolitan, but best we ever had at home and better than 90% of the local places.

 

[El Hoze]

Love the pizza oven talk, I love cooking pizza at home! The Ooni looks like a great option. I have a kamado grill and a broiler/pizza stone in my oven that both work pretty darn well but I’m building an outdoor kitchen and a wood oven is a big focus. I’ve recently been leaning towards Forno Bravo, they have some beautiful looking stuff.

[LLC]

I’m sure a true pizza oven would be great. I’m very happy with the DoeJoe accessory for my Kamado Joe.