Discussion
I'm intrigued by these pizza ovens people seem to be buying. Are they really that good? Pizza doesn't exactly take long to cook in a conventional oven so I presume they impart some better flavour to the finished product?
I guess that leads on to, would one want a wood-fired one over a gas or electric one to get the best benefit? Which brands are good?
I guess that leads on to, would one want a wood-fired one over a gas or electric one to get the best benefit? Which brands are good?
Have a look here https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
The linked thread is a good but long read.
We've got a Gozney Roccbox which is gas. There is an optional wood burner for it but we've never been bothered to spend more on it. For me:
Gas - minimal faff, connect up, ignite and come back when ready to cook in ~20 minutes or so.
Wood - perhaps the purist option, obviously needs more effort to manage
Pizzas cook in 60 to 90 seconds in ours and, IMHO, are way better than anything done in the oven. Here's a simple one from our last outing at home a couple of weeks back
We've got a Gozney Roccbox which is gas. There is an optional wood burner for it but we've never been bothered to spend more on it. For me:
Gas - minimal faff, connect up, ignite and come back when ready to cook in ~20 minutes or so.
Wood - perhaps the purist option, obviously needs more effort to manage
Pizzas cook in 60 to 90 seconds in ours and, IMHO, are way better than anything done in the oven. Here's a simple one from our last outing at home a couple of weeks back
8bit said:
I'm intrigued by these pizza ovens people seem to be buying. Are they really that good? Pizza doesn't exactly take long to cook in a conventional oven so I presume they impart some better flavour to the finished product?
I guess that leads on to, would one want a wood-fired one over a gas or electric one to get the best benefit? Which brands are good?
They get the pizza stone to a higher temperature (450-500 degs) than most household ovens can, which is the perfect way of cooking a home made Neapolitan pizza, but to get a great tasting pizza you do also need to master the art of making your own dough. The dough and stone temp go hand in hand.I guess that leads on to, would one want a wood-fired one over a gas or electric one to get the best benefit? Which brands are good?
I have an Ooni Karu 12 pizza oven and whilst at first I was heating it by burning wood, I struggled to maintain the required temperature so now I use their gas attachment and a Calor gas bottle and can get the stone of 450 degs and maintain that temp
Had an Ooni (gas) for maybe 3 years or so. Good bit of kit, quality seems good given the temps the thing gets too the paint still looks as good as new etc.
Mine is the single burner one - so smaller you do 10-12 inch pizzas.
I use a combination of home made dough (when time permits) or shop bought dough balls.
Both give good results. Its mostly down to the temp you can get the stone. 400c to 450c ish. Not many home ovens can get close.
The prep takes the time. The actual cooking is over with in 1-2 mins.
Other than the initial set up costs, oven, gas, peels, dough box etc you can knock out pizzas pretty cheap.
Caputo 00 flour, some decent quality tomato pure mixed with garlic and a splash of water then cheese of choice.
Probably sub £3 a pizza and produces similar quality to what would cost c.£15 in a restaurant.
The technique is the main hurdle, its (IMO) not as simple as people make it look and it took me a good 10-20 pizzas before I started to get the hang of it. Now a few years later I can knock out 4-5 pizzas in 20 minutes for family and friends and sip a refreshing beverage at the same time. Back when I started learning it was actually quite stressful !
I use PizzApp for the dough, usually turns out good. Make sure you are using good quality yeast.
I am now into calzones and they need a whole new skill set.
The main skills to focus on are the actual making of the dough, ratios.
Then the stretching of the dough. This IMO is where most of the skill is needed.
Then getting the assembled pizza into the oven without a snafu.
The "cooking" is just turning it 3 times, once every 20-25 seconds or so.
Mine is the single burner one - so smaller you do 10-12 inch pizzas.
I use a combination of home made dough (when time permits) or shop bought dough balls.
Both give good results. Its mostly down to the temp you can get the stone. 400c to 450c ish. Not many home ovens can get close.
The prep takes the time. The actual cooking is over with in 1-2 mins.
Other than the initial set up costs, oven, gas, peels, dough box etc you can knock out pizzas pretty cheap.
Caputo 00 flour, some decent quality tomato pure mixed with garlic and a splash of water then cheese of choice.
Probably sub £3 a pizza and produces similar quality to what would cost c.£15 in a restaurant.
The technique is the main hurdle, its (IMO) not as simple as people make it look and it took me a good 10-20 pizzas before I started to get the hang of it. Now a few years later I can knock out 4-5 pizzas in 20 minutes for family and friends and sip a refreshing beverage at the same time. Back when I started learning it was actually quite stressful !
I use PizzApp for the dough, usually turns out good. Make sure you are using good quality yeast.
I am now into calzones and they need a whole new skill set.
The main skills to focus on are the actual making of the dough, ratios.
Then the stretching of the dough. This IMO is where most of the skill is needed.
Then getting the assembled pizza into the oven without a snafu.
The "cooking" is just turning it 3 times, once every 20-25 seconds or so.
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