Pizza Oven Thread
Discussion
Well, the pizza party for 20 odd people happened on Saturday and was a great success, thanks to the simplicity of the bakers trays to help with the defrosting of the dough balls. Be aware, if you venture down this route, the trays provide a sealed atmosphere when stacked, which is great for making sure that the dough doesn't harden on the outside and crack but not so great for defrosting in 3 - 4 hours, as the seal creates a cold interior. Next time I will allow perhaps six hours, to be safe.
The biggest challenge is space to do everything you need to do. Roll out the dough then move to semolina flour to ensure it doesn't stick to the peel. Load up the pizza with tomato sauce and mozzarella, get whatever each person wants on their pizza, transfer to oven, stand and cook it etc etc etc. Meanwhile someone else (with requisite skills) needs to prepare the next pizza. I reckon we were close on professional standard after pizza no 5 but with only me with the experience to do each element (apart from loading up what people want) it was quite a massive operation and we didn't all sit down together. It was, for sure, a fairly relaxed affair so that didn't matter too much, luckily.
Next time I think I will produce a select number of pizzas with various toppings and let people dig in with a slice here and a slice there, rather than bespoke for each person. I must say that, despite the manic amount of work that goes into pizza for a lot of people, we really had a great time and the oven performed brilliantly.
As the last pizza was made and doled out, I took all the left over sweet peppers, chilli, red onion, black olives, mushroom, chucked them all, along with eight chicken thighs, into my newly acquired Potjie (a cast iron fire pot originating from South Africa) and parked it on the periphery of the oven. Within 3 hours it was all done a ready to go for dinner the following day. Sadly I didn't have a shoulder of lamb or pork to cook slowly overnight, otherwise that would have gone into a casserole and taken out the following morning.
If any of you might be considering a full size pizza oven (well, it's a wood fired oven really but we call it a pizza oven) then consider no longer, just do it. It doesn't take up loads of space but should be clear of the house (smoke can be an issue when it is getting going). The base of my oven is around 1.2 m wide. The whole thing is about 1.3 - 1.5m square with the wood store underneath. Photos early in this thread.
The biggest challenge is space to do everything you need to do. Roll out the dough then move to semolina flour to ensure it doesn't stick to the peel. Load up the pizza with tomato sauce and mozzarella, get whatever each person wants on their pizza, transfer to oven, stand and cook it etc etc etc. Meanwhile someone else (with requisite skills) needs to prepare the next pizza. I reckon we were close on professional standard after pizza no 5 but with only me with the experience to do each element (apart from loading up what people want) it was quite a massive operation and we didn't all sit down together. It was, for sure, a fairly relaxed affair so that didn't matter too much, luckily.
Next time I think I will produce a select number of pizzas with various toppings and let people dig in with a slice here and a slice there, rather than bespoke for each person. I must say that, despite the manic amount of work that goes into pizza for a lot of people, we really had a great time and the oven performed brilliantly.
As the last pizza was made and doled out, I took all the left over sweet peppers, chilli, red onion, black olives, mushroom, chucked them all, along with eight chicken thighs, into my newly acquired Potjie (a cast iron fire pot originating from South Africa) and parked it on the periphery of the oven. Within 3 hours it was all done a ready to go for dinner the following day. Sadly I didn't have a shoulder of lamb or pork to cook slowly overnight, otherwise that would have gone into a casserole and taken out the following morning.
If any of you might be considering a full size pizza oven (well, it's a wood fired oven really but we call it a pizza oven) then consider no longer, just do it. It doesn't take up loads of space but should be clear of the house (smoke can be an issue when it is getting going). The base of my oven is around 1.2 m wide. The whole thing is about 1.3 - 1.5m square with the wood store underneath. Photos early in this thread.
Johnniem said:
Well, the pizza party for 20 odd people happened on Saturday and was a great success, thanks to the simplicity of the bakers trays to help with the defrosting of the dough balls. Be aware, if you venture down this route, the trays provide a sealed atmosphere when stacked, which is great for making sure that the dough doesn't harden on the outside and crack but not so great for defrosting in 3 - 4 hours, as the seal creates a cold interior. Next time I will allow perhaps six hours, to be safe.
The biggest challenge is space to do everything you need to do. Roll out the dough then move to semolina flour to ensure it doesn't stick to the peel. Load up the pizza with tomato sauce and mozzarella, get whatever each person wants on their pizza, transfer to oven, stand and cook it etc etc etc. Meanwhile someone else (with requisite skills) needs to prepare the next pizza. I reckon we were close on professional standard after pizza no 5 but with only me with the experience to do each element (apart from loading up what people want) it was quite a massive operation and we didn't all sit down together. It was, for sure, a fairly relaxed affair so that didn't matter too much, luckily.
Next time I think I will produce a select number of pizzas with various toppings and let people dig in with a slice here and a slice there, rather than bespoke for each person. I must say that, despite the manic amount of work that goes into pizza for a lot of people, we really had a great time and the oven performed brilliantly.
As the last pizza was made and doled out, I took all the left over sweet peppers, chilli, red onion, black olives, mushroom, chucked them all, along with eight chicken thighs, into my newly acquired Potjie (a cast iron fire pot originating from South Africa) and parked it on the periphery of the oven. Within 3 hours it was all done a ready to go for dinner the following day. Sadly I didn't have a shoulder of lamb or pork to cook slowly overnight, otherwise that would have gone into a casserole and taken out the following morning.
If any of you might be considering a full size pizza oven (well, it's a wood fired oven really but we call it a pizza oven) then consider no longer, just do it. It doesn't take up loads of space but should be clear of the house (smoke can be an issue when it is getting going). The base of my oven is around 1.2 m wide. The whole thing is about 1.3 - 1.5m square with the wood store underneath. Photos early in this thread.
We upped our production rate by buying another couple of pizza paddles.The biggest challenge is space to do everything you need to do. Roll out the dough then move to semolina flour to ensure it doesn't stick to the peel. Load up the pizza with tomato sauce and mozzarella, get whatever each person wants on their pizza, transfer to oven, stand and cook it etc etc etc. Meanwhile someone else (with requisite skills) needs to prepare the next pizza. I reckon we were close on professional standard after pizza no 5 but with only me with the experience to do each element (apart from loading up what people want) it was quite a massive operation and we didn't all sit down together. It was, for sure, a fairly relaxed affair so that didn't matter too much, luckily.
Next time I think I will produce a select number of pizzas with various toppings and let people dig in with a slice here and a slice there, rather than bespoke for each person. I must say that, despite the manic amount of work that goes into pizza for a lot of people, we really had a great time and the oven performed brilliantly.
As the last pizza was made and doled out, I took all the left over sweet peppers, chilli, red onion, black olives, mushroom, chucked them all, along with eight chicken thighs, into my newly acquired Potjie (a cast iron fire pot originating from South Africa) and parked it on the periphery of the oven. Within 3 hours it was all done a ready to go for dinner the following day. Sadly I didn't have a shoulder of lamb or pork to cook slowly overnight, otherwise that would have gone into a casserole and taken out the following morning.
If any of you might be considering a full size pizza oven (well, it's a wood fired oven really but we call it a pizza oven) then consider no longer, just do it. It doesn't take up loads of space but should be clear of the house (smoke can be an issue when it is getting going). The base of my oven is around 1.2 m wide. The whole thing is about 1.3 - 1.5m square with the wood store underneath. Photos early in this thread.
Tony Angelino said:
Johnniem said:
Well, the pizza party for 20 odd people happened on Saturday and was a great success, thanks to the simplicity of the bakers trays to help with the defrosting of the dough balls. Be aware, if you venture down this route, the trays provide a sealed atmosphere when stacked, which is great for making sure that the dough doesn't harden on the outside and crack but not so great for defrosting in 3 - 4 hours, as the seal creates a cold interior. Next time I will allow perhaps six hours, to be safe.
The biggest challenge is space to do everything you need to do. Roll out the dough then move to semolina flour to ensure it doesn't stick to the peel. Load up the pizza with tomato sauce and mozzarella, get whatever each person wants on their pizza, transfer to oven, stand and cook it etc etc etc. Meanwhile someone else (with requisite skills) needs to prepare the next pizza. I reckon we were close on professional standard after pizza no 5 but with only me with the experience to do each element (apart from loading up what people want) it was quite a massive operation and we didn't all sit down together. It was, for sure, a fairly relaxed affair so that didn't matter too much, luckily.
Next time I think I will produce a select number of pizzas with various toppings and let people dig in with a slice here and a slice there, rather than bespoke for each person. I must say that, despite the manic amount of work that goes into pizza for a lot of people, we really had a great time and the oven performed brilliantly.
As the last pizza was made and doled out, I took all the left over sweet peppers, chilli, red onion, black olives, mushroom, chucked them all, along with eight chicken thighs, into my newly acquired Potjie (a cast iron fire pot originating from South Africa) and parked it on the periphery of the oven. Within 3 hours it was all done a ready to go for dinner the following day. Sadly I didn't have a shoulder of lamb or pork to cook slowly overnight, otherwise that would have gone into a casserole and taken out the following morning.
If any of you might be considering a full size pizza oven (well, it's a wood fired oven really but we call it a pizza oven) then consider no longer, just do it. It doesn't take up loads of space but should be clear of the house (smoke can be an issue when it is getting going). The base of my oven is around 1.2 m wide. The whole thing is about 1.3 - 1.5m square with the wood store underneath. Photos early in this thread.
We upped our production rate by buying another couple of pizza paddles.The biggest challenge is space to do everything you need to do. Roll out the dough then move to semolina flour to ensure it doesn't stick to the peel. Load up the pizza with tomato sauce and mozzarella, get whatever each person wants on their pizza, transfer to oven, stand and cook it etc etc etc. Meanwhile someone else (with requisite skills) needs to prepare the next pizza. I reckon we were close on professional standard after pizza no 5 but with only me with the experience to do each element (apart from loading up what people want) it was quite a massive operation and we didn't all sit down together. It was, for sure, a fairly relaxed affair so that didn't matter too much, luckily.
Next time I think I will produce a select number of pizzas with various toppings and let people dig in with a slice here and a slice there, rather than bespoke for each person. I must say that, despite the manic amount of work that goes into pizza for a lot of people, we really had a great time and the oven performed brilliantly.
As the last pizza was made and doled out, I took all the left over sweet peppers, chilli, red onion, black olives, mushroom, chucked them all, along with eight chicken thighs, into my newly acquired Potjie (a cast iron fire pot originating from South Africa) and parked it on the periphery of the oven. Within 3 hours it was all done a ready to go for dinner the following day. Sadly I didn't have a shoulder of lamb or pork to cook slowly overnight, otherwise that would have gone into a casserole and taken out the following morning.
If any of you might be considering a full size pizza oven (well, it's a wood fired oven really but we call it a pizza oven) then consider no longer, just do it. It doesn't take up loads of space but should be clear of the house (smoke can be an issue when it is getting going). The base of my oven is around 1.2 m wide. The whole thing is about 1.3 - 1.5m square with the wood store underneath. Photos early in this thread.
Johnniem said:
If the production rate was solely down to getting them to the oven then that would be a great plan Tony. In my gaff it's more about the fact that it's only me who seems to know, or care, about the intricacies of rolling out the dough in flour then transferring to semolina flour, making sure it will slide onto (and more importantly off from) the peel! I know it's not complicated but we are a two person household and pizza making isn't a common thing amongst most of our visitors!
Furry Muff.In my house we're lucky, the mrs. has rolling and adding toppings down to a tee whilst I do all the manly stuff involving fire and moving hot oven doors etc. Taken us about 12 months now but we've got it just about sorted now after plenty trial and error.
Has anyone got a Delivita oven ? I saw these at the Gt Yorkshire show, and was given a demo. Quick to heat up and got to a high temperature too.
I like the fact that its pretty 'portable' and can be put into the boot of the car quite easily. weighs about 30kgs.
Its heavily insulated.
Bad points - It costs £990 !!
I'm tempted, but at that price I'd appreciate any comments on people who own one before I commit.
http://delivita.co.uk/
I like the fact that its pretty 'portable' and can be put into the boot of the car quite easily. weighs about 30kgs.
Its heavily insulated.
Bad points - It costs £990 !!
I'm tempted, but at that price I'd appreciate any comments on people who own one before I commit.
http://delivita.co.uk/
The Delivita is a traditional shape without a flue. I was impressed with how simple it is, and how well made it was. Low / No maintenance required. Small / portable, but big enough to be able to cook what I want.
I put my arm into the entrance, and my fingers only just touched the back of the oven, so its quite roomy inside and dimensions are deceptive.
but.......at £990, its about 4 x the price of a Uuni models. Hmmmmm.
The accessories are very pricey too. I think I'd find similar 'equipment' via ebay at more sensible prices.
I put my arm into the entrance, and my fingers only just touched the back of the oven, so its quite roomy inside and dimensions are deceptive.
but.......at £990, its about 4 x the price of a Uuni models. Hmmmmm.
The accessories are very pricey too. I think I'd find similar 'equipment' via ebay at more sensible prices.
Had a look at the website. It makes a maximum of 12 inch pizza, Uuni pro does 16"
Check out the delivery page, none of this free delivery or courier, it is sent by "White glove service" and cost is additional £50, which isn't very fast neither as it takes 4-6 weeks
They are going for the high end, more money than sense market.
Check out the delivery page, none of this free delivery or courier, it is sent by "White glove service" and cost is additional £50, which isn't very fast neither as it takes 4-6 weeks
They are going for the high end, more money than sense market.
Edited by hyphen on Thursday 13th July 11:13
Bullett said:
I can't see the advantage over Roccbox or Uuni. Just going from the website, no experience, it feels like it's in a bit of a no man's land between the properly portable ones and the traditional static dome ones.
And really expensive.
I agree. For that amount of money you could get static dome one for home use and a Uuni for portable use.And really expensive.
Vyse said:
Nice, is yours in the July shipment or October shipment?
Not 100% sure should be here around 2nd week of August. Tried those Kara dough balls that were recommended on here. They work well although not quite the same flavour as a homemade 4 day cold proof. I hear they have a new sourdough product out!
fredt said:
Get some of their dough as well, 70 quid for 40 doughballs!!
BUT.. its made from Pink Himalayan salt, purified water, natural yeast & organic flour.
I'm using these http://www.ingredientsforcooks.co.uk/97/dinner-par...BUT.. its made from Pink Himalayan salt, purified water, natural yeast & organic flour.
Twice as many, for half the price of above.
And they taste great, even without Himalayan salt ....
MattS5 said:
I'm using these http://www.ingredientsforcooks.co.uk/97/dinner-par...
Twice as many, for half the price of above.
And they taste great, even without Himalayan salt ....
Bookmarked!Twice as many, for half the price of above.
And they taste great, even without Himalayan salt ....
MattS5 said:
I'm using these http://www.ingredientsforcooks.co.uk/97/dinner-par...
Twice as many, for half the price of above.
And they taste great, even without Himalayan salt ....
But they do taste really great with olive oil, sea salt and rosemary on them.Twice as many, for half the price of above.
And they taste great, even without Himalayan salt ....
A great nibble for people whilst they're standing around with a beer in their hand.
Gassing Station | Food, Drink & Restaurants | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff