Pizza Oven Thread

[Greshamst]

Bullett said:

What’s the go to flour these days.
I had some Italian stuff in red/white packs but wondered if there was a new favourite.

I used to use the caputo which sounds like what you’re talking about, but I’ve switched to Dalla Giovanni and find it much better. (Seems to be more pliable, easier to work with, doesn’t stretch back as much)

Either this one or the blue coloured bag from the same brand

https://www.souschef.co.uk/products/dalla-giovanna...

[Greshamst]

Boom78 said:

Hi guys, rather than me pouring over hundreds of pages from 2016 does anyone have any tips on an affordable moveable pellet/charcoal/wood fired pizza oven? Budget <£250. Something I can easily move in/out of garage that can do a fair size pizza.

Thanks
B78

Do you definitely need wood/pellet fire?
The general consensus is that the pizza aren’t in there long enough to benefit from any wood ‘flavour’ and pellets etc are an added pain to keep on top of. Gas really is much efficient, reliable and less faff.

Ooni would be a good option for that range, roccbox is probably out of budget unless you can pick up a 2nd hand, but they are v solid 2nd hand is still a good purchase

[Ben Lowden]

Greshamst said:

Boom78 said:

Hi guys, rather than me pouring over hundreds of pages from 2016 does anyone have any tips on an affordable moveable pellet/charcoal/wood fired pizza oven? Budget <£250. Something I can easily move in/out of garage that can do a fair size pizza.

Thanks
B78

Do you definitely need wood/pellet fire?
The general consensus is that the pizza aren’t in there long enough to benefit from any wood ‘flavour’ and pellets etc are an added pain to keep on top of. Gas really is much efficient, reliable and less faff.

Ooni would be a good option for that range, roccbox is probably out of budget unless you can pick up a 2nd hand, but they are v solid 2nd hand is still a good purchase

I agree – I bought an Ooni Fyra a few years ago and as much as I love the flavour, I find the flame can be difficult to manage with pellets and gas will likely be more consistent for cooking and less chance of burning. I'm pretty sure Ooni do 20% off every year for Black Friday so hold out for a week or two, but be quick, as they sell out really fast. You might want to sign up to their marketing emails and nab a Koda https://uk.ooni.com/products/ooni-koda

I'll probably upgrade to a Karu next year.

[Greendubber]

My Karu is multi fuel so I can use wood in it and I never have any issues with controlling the flame and heat. Once it's up to temperature I just keep it topped up and it's all good.

[Boom78]

Thanks for tips guys. The reason I mentioned wood/pellet is probably from a lack of understanding of pizza ovens. Basically I want to recreate that stone baked pizza taste from when I’ve been on my travels in Italy. Slight burnt bits, chewy crust, a little ash… delicious

[Bonefish Blues]

You'll get the burnt bits right enough the first time you don't load a pizza correctly and your toppings come off and incinerate - seasons the oven nicely

Echo the gas all the way maxim, unless a much bigger dome oven, then wood becomes a viable/desirable fuel.

[paulrockliffe]

Is there any good resources for designing and building an oven? I'm building a new wall and I'm able to incorporate a Pizza oven into it's design, so I'm going to.

I'm not really restricted on how I do it, I've looked at various designs, but I can't see easily which designs are compromised on size, compromised on design for cost reasons, designed to look pretty etc.

[Bonefish Blues]

https://ukwoodfiredovenforum.proboards.com/

[P1Fanatic]

Boom78 said:

Thanks for tips guys. The reason I mentioned wood/pellet is probably from a lack of understanding of pizza ovens. Basically I want to recreate that stone baked pizza taste from when I’ve been on my travels in Italy. Slight burnt bits, chewy crust, a little ash… delicious

I would agree that wood/pellets is a waste of time for a small oven. Some people will tell you it makes a difference flavour wise but I doubt they could tell the difference on something that is only in the oven cooking for 90 secs or so. Gas you just click on and go. A lot easier especially if doing several back to back. One tip with gas is you can save money on refills getting propane (red cylinder) rather than patio/leisure (green cylinder). That will require you to swap out the regulator (cost about £10).

If you fancy an Ooni then sign up to Lakeland as they send out 20% off codes all the time. If cant wait then join Ooni UK Owners Facebook group and ask politely for one and someone will usually share a code they cant use. Black Friday is not too far away either so you may get a sale on Ooni website and others who sell them.

[Turn7]

Is it possible to get the great results you guys are getting in a conventional oven or am
Imposing in the wind ?

If no, what’s the best/quickest/cheapest way to improve ?

[P1Fanatic]

Turn7 said:

Is it possible to get the great results you guys are getting in a conventional oven or am
Imposing in the wind ?

If no, what’s the best/quickest/cheapest way to improve ?

It depends what type of pizza you mean. Neapolitan requires the high heat to quickly cook the base. But you can do stuff like detroit style in a normal oven. If your oven does 300c you might do ok with a stone / steel. Ive not watched it yet but maybe take a look at this:

https://youtu.be/Ne_lA1q3v24?si=LDhOYIKVYqvFn88i

[Greshamst]

Turn7 said:

Is it possible to get the great results you guys are getting in a conventional oven or am
Imposing in the wind ?

If no, what’s the best/quickest/cheapest way to improve ?

During lockdown I made pizzas in the normal oven, there’s a trick where you cook the bottom in a dry frying pan, and then put it under your oven grill on as high as possible that got pretty good results all things considered.
I used recipe/ tips from Crust Bros series on YouTube.

[naturals]

Stevil said:

Sounds like Caputo. I've been using Marco Fuso blue flour and it's been really smooth, but I'm probably biased as I did one of his courses earlier in the year too.

How did you find the course? I've been very tempted to do one of the 2 or 3 day ones at some point, but equally tempted to do a week-long AVPN course out in Naples.

[Stevil]

naturals said:

Stevil said:

Sounds like Caputo. I've been using Marco Fuso blue flour and it's been really smooth, but I'm probably biased as I did one of his courses earlier in the year too.

How did you find the course? I've been very tempted to do one of the 2 or 3 day ones at some point, but equally tempted to do a week-long AVPN course out in Naples.

Yeah I really got a lot out of it, lots of good theory and he'll tailor that towards what you want to learn, plus the practical side was excellent, as someone else asked "do you not just watch videos on how to do it?" My answer to that was they are great for telling you what to do, but not for pointing out what you're doing wrong. Marco quickly pointed out some flaws in my technique and we got to make plenty of pizzas and put it into practice.

Marco also makes a mean focaccia for lunch.

[illmonkey]

Found a local Brewery/ pizza place. Headed down and had a pint whilst waiting for my pizza. This was £7.50. Pointless to compete at home with it for a one off! Both beer and pizza were great.

It’s on an industrial estate so cheap costs etc, but that seems to be the done thing these days, quite a few about here.

[P1Fanatic]

illmonkey said:

Found a local Brewery/ pizza place. Headed down and had a pint whilst waiting for my pizza. This was £7.50. Pointless to compete at home with it for a one off! Both beer and pizza were great.

It’s on an industrial estate so cheap costs etc, but that seems to be the done thing these days, quite a few about here.

Whats the deal serving it on a chopping board? Which brewery as my local Siren craft does similar but I have never tries their pizzas.

[illmonkey]

P1Fanatic said:

illmonkey said:

Found a local Brewery/ pizza place. Headed down and had a pint whilst waiting for my pizza. This was £7.50. Pointless to compete at home with it for a one off! Both beer and pizza were great.

It’s on an industrial estate so cheap costs etc, but that seems to be the done thing these days, quite a few about here.

Whats the deal serving it on a chopping board? Which brewery as my local Siren craft does similar but I have never tries their pizzas.

That’s back home. They have outside tables, far too cold for that! So I brought it back and put it on the board to cut.

This is just outside Witney. So a few hours from you?

[Roboticarm]

Complete newbie here hoping for some advice please:
Got a gas fired pizza for Christmas, fired her up for the required ten mins and it all went down hill from there
I've used a Jamie Oliver dough recipe which has been good for oven made pizzas, got some decent mozzarella and some good passata.
First fail was trying to get it off the shovel (unsure of real name) it wouldn't slide off and eventually landed in a pile on the pizza stone.
Then, I cooked for the suggested 1 minute and it looked great on top... Inside not cooked properly
Tried again with lower heat... Same outcome.

What am I doing wrong ?

[Bonefish Blues]

To start, make them on these with plenty of semolina flour to stop sticking. Easy to load, keep the peel for turning and removal

https://www.amazon.co.uk/G-HOMEFAVOR-Pizza-Paddle-...

[Scabutz]

Roboticarm said:

Complete newbie here hoping for some advice please:
Got a gas fired pizza for Christmas, fired her up for the required ten mins and it all went down hill from there
I've used a Jamie Oliver dough recipe which has been good for oven made pizzas, got some decent mozzarella and some good passata.
First fail was trying to get it off the shovel (unsure of real name) it wouldn't slide off and eventually landed in a pile on the pizza stone.
Then, I cooked for the suggested 1 minute and it looked great on top... Inside not cooked properly
Tried again with lower heat... Same outcome.

What am I doing wrong ?

I dust the peel with flour and make sure it can move before I put the sauce and toppings on.

You want the heat as high as possible > 400c. When you say it's not cooked in the middle do you mean the dough? Possible you need to stretch your dough thinner.

Not sure what the Jamie Oliver recipe is but wouldn't be surprised if he's buggered around with it in some way. Google a classic neopolitan dough.