Pizza Oven Thread

[Mont Blanc]

I am guessing this has already been discussed:

What basic wood-pellet pizza oven should I buy?

I had one of the original folded-stainless 'OONI 3' models from back when they were called UUNI (and only cost £140) and it was absolutely brilliant, but I stupidly gave it to a friend of mine as I planned to upgrade, but then I never got round to looking at them until now.

Would appreciate recommendations on a simple 12" pellet oven. I looked at the new OONI ones and was fairly shocked to see the basic pellet model priced at £300!

[giblet]

Mont Blanc said:

Would appreciate recommendations on a simple 12" pellet oven. I looked at the new OONI ones and was fairly shocked to see the basic pellet model priced at £300!

Having re read this thread from start to finish recently I’m also surprised at how expensive the bottom end Ooni midels are now. That being said clones of them are ten a penny these days with some supermarkets also selling generic versions.

There is a flash sale on some of the Oonis direct from them which means the Fyra is £240. I’d say try and find a second hand 3 as it seems the build quality is better going by comments on the Facebook group. Whereabouts in the country are you?

[Greendubber]

giblet said:

Greendubber said:

I have one of these that I got for Christmas, yet to use it but it's massive and has plenty of shelf space etc

Is that the Igneus one? Looks great but seemingly not cheap!

From Robert Dyas apparently but supplied by the manufacturer which is up north somewhere I believe.

https://www.robertdyas.co.uk/mercia-pressure-treat...

Seems hefty so an upgrade to the wobbly old garden table with no space I was using previously.

[Prawo Jazdy]

This may have been covered in this thread, so apologies if so, but...

Bake Stones

I'm doing some home bread baking and want to have a go at pizza dough, but don't want to get an outdoor pizza oven yet. I've heard that you get better results in a normal oven using a bake stone. Something like this looks quite 'proper', but am I being a mug? Should I just be buying a stone paving slab or something for a fraction of the price?

[simon_harris]

I bought some ceramic firing slabs to use in the oven, just had them cut to size and were much cheaper and thicker than what was available retail at the time.

a good thick piece of steel will work just as well apparently but I can't say I have tried that.

when using a stone you do need to let it soak up some heat at your highest oven temp before putting pizza on it to get the base properly crispy

[Car bon]

23 cm deep seems a little shallow IMHO

I have a couple in a ski apartment where I can't use a 'proper' oven - I just bought them from Amazon & whack the oven on max. They are definitely better than the wire rack, but not as good as a proper oven.

I have no idea whether it's true, but I've since been told that I'd have been better off buying a countertop oven - this kind of thing https://www.amazon.co.uk/MisterChef-Electric-Porta...

[Sway]

Tbh, baking stones in a normal oven I don't think are really much cop. After all, they still only get to the same temp as the oven.

If going without a proper pizza oven, then I think the frying pan and grill method is probably the best answer.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/f...

[simon_harris]

Pizza stones in the oven do work - but you have to really let them soak up the heat, I am talking an hour or more at least at your highest oven temp.

you aren't going to cook pizza in 90 seconds but you can get it down to 5-6 mins or less if you are judicious with the toppings, and the base does get properly crispy.

I have two stones and fine that the pizza on the bottom stone cooks best as it gets the benefit of heat from both stones.

[Stevil]

I also found that if you're doing more than one pizza, the stone needs a long time in between to get back up to temperature.

[Car bon]

Stevil said:

I also found that if you're doing more than one pizza, the stone needs a long time in between to get back up to temperature.

Probably - I assumed this & so bought 2 - as there's only 2 of us & I can do both pizzas at once - they take longer anyway so works out OK.

OK for the winter, but I'm glad I have my Ooni back

[Prawo Jazdy]

Thanks for the insights

[21TonyK]

I've had better results with a baking steel. Essentially a metal pizza stone.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Baking-30x40cm-Rectangle-...

Put it on a shelf as close to the grill as possible. Oven on max for half an hour then switch to max grill for 10 minutes to get everything hot. Thin pizza takes about 2 minutes.

If you have all your pizzas made up ready you can do 3 or 4 one after another without too many issues.

[Greshamst]

Sway said:

Tbh, baking stones in a normal oven I don't think are really much cop. After all, they still only get to the same temp as the oven.

If going without a proper pizza oven, then I think the frying pan and grill method is probably the best answer.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/f...

This is the correct answer. Can get great results with this method.

[giblet]

Greendubber said:

From Robert Dyas apparently but supplied by the manufacturer which is up north somewhere I believe.

Thanks. Seem to be a few places selling the same or similar

Greshamst said:

Sway said:

Tbh, baking stones in a normal oven I don't think are really much cop. After all, they still only get to the same temp as the oven.

If going without a proper pizza oven, then I think the frying pan and grill method is probably the best answer.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/f...

This is the correct answer. Can get great results with this method.

Agreed. Done this plenty of times with an old cast iron pan and the grill. Always comes out way better than a stone or steel in the oven

[Greshamst]

Greshamst said:

Frying pan and grill method for this one, but found some wild garlic so made a wild garlic pizza bread.

Probably the best one I’ve done without a pizza oven so far

This was one of my frying pan and grill ones from lockdown. It really is better than an oven stone.

I’d still be chuffed with getting these results from my gozney now to be fair.

[guitarcarfanatic]

giblet said:

What tables are folks using for oven and prep?

I made my own

[21TonyK]

giblet said:

Greendubber said:

From Robert Dyas apparently but supplied by the manufacturer which is up north somewhere I believe.

Thanks. Seem to be a few places selling the same or similar

Greshamst said:

Sway said:

Tbh, baking stones in a normal oven I don't think are really much cop. After all, they still only get to the same temp as the oven.

If going without a proper pizza oven, then I think the frying pan and grill method is probably the best answer.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/f...

This is the correct answer. Can get great results with this method.

Agreed. Done this plenty of times with an old cast iron pan and the grill. Always comes out way better than a stone or steel in the oven

I fiind pan pizza is great for one offs but making up he pizza in the pan one at a time if you have a few too cook is slow and I hit the issues of the pan (with handle) being too big to fit under the grill with the own door shut. The pan overheating and the non-stick getting knackered, and more importantly, the pan not being big enough

I switched to a cast iron plate but that was too small

Anyway, all this has made me realise I've not made pizza since last summer!!

Need to get some dough on today.

[The Gauge]

giblet said:

What tables are folks using for oven and prep?

Keter Unity XL for the Ooni, though I take the pizzas in the kitchen..

Edited by The Gauge on Thursday 25th April 08:25

[MattS5]

Turn7 said:

Anyone recommend some good mail order frozen dough balls ?

https://massarellasdough.co.uk/

[giblet]

21TonyK said:

I switched to a cast iron plate but that was too small

Anyway, all this has made me realise I've not made pizza since last summer!!

Need to get some dough on today.

I use a old cast iron tawa which is the perfect size. Same here, not made any pizzas since last year. I’m waiting for the weather to improve so I can fire up the big oven

guitarcarfanatic said:

I made my own

That looks great

The Gauge said:

Keter Unity XL for the Ooni, though I take the pizzas in the kitchen..

That looks decent