Pizza ovens

I personally think the gas option is the way to go - and if you can afford the 16 inch version, then all the better. No door to deal with on the gas only models is a bonus.

Any chance you'd share a pic of your big oven? I love my ooni, but I've always been tempted to build a "proper" oven for parties etc.

have a Koda 12 now but before had a Ooni 3 (wood pellets). I wouldnt go back to pellets or wood as gas is just so much more handier than tending to a fire and having to top up the wood. With pellets it would take about 3-4 top ups before it go to temperature which was fine at the beginning but grew frustrating when using it in winter and having to constantly go in and out to top up every 5 minutes. I also dont think a pizza that is wood fired for 90 seconds actually gets any wood flavour so see cooking with wood more an aesthetic thing than anything, I get the same results pizza wise by using gas on the Koda.

If I had an unlimited budget Id get a Koda 16. It gives a bit of extra space and has a L shaped burner so you'd only have to turn the pizza twice rather than four times. But they are a fair wedge and prices got increased recently. If thats out of budget then the Koda 12 is perfect if you dont want to go the wood route

Many thanks lads for your generous inputs. Padraig Mor is the wood option on the Karu more difficult to control the temperature. Do you prefer using that option. I know that the Koda is probably the sensible option for my needs ,don't need the 16, but the boy in me loves to play with fire and I like rolling flame it appears to have and I have plenty of hardwood.

Ronniel, I used the oven plans from Forno Bravo to build oven and had great fun and satisfaction with the project but beware you need a good supply of timber to keep it fed. They will give off a bit of smoke at the start when being lit and I have got good at minimising that because in fairness I don't want to disturb neighbours whereas if you were in a large site you could light a large fire at the start and heat it up faster.

Ps I always use a poolish and bulk ferment in the fridge for dough. I have the large catering trays for dough balls but I used the Trofast trays from Ikea this time and store the trays in the fridge. Taking the seperate trays out of the fridge at different times was great for controlling the dough balls.

Does anyone have any discount codes for Ooni at present?

I might go for that one too.

Regarding your previous model, would this be the same issue? - https://www.g3ferrari.net/en/-s2

Gave the fyra the first outing of the year this weekend 😋

What do you use for a lid on the trofast trays?

Lads thanks for all the comments and help, after lots of Youtube and other sites have gone with the Karu12 plus gas, guess I just like to play with fire although was very tempted by Rocobox. Heat up time put me off.

Ps I signed up for the Ooni newsletter and got a 10% discount code so happy days.

Have been toying with the idea of getting the gas attachment for the Karu, I see it in stock there for 100 quid. It would be just for handiness really, if I wanted a pizza on a whim and bought dough in the supermarket or something. When you're preparing the dough for 2 days, lighting a fire at the end isn't a big deal!

Is there a noticeable taste difference with the gas?

I find you can get better results by doing it in the frying pan and putting it under the grill. Pop the pizza dough on a hot (very lightly) oiled pan (ideally cast iron). Then add the toppings while it starts cooking. Once you have the toppings on you can stick it under the grill to cook the toppings and crust.

By no means perfect, but nicer than if you just cook in directly in the oven in my opinion. And quicker.

Before we got the Ooni i used the pan method and never oiled or floured the pan. I was always told a dry pan was what you wanted.

Fairly fundamental question here but it's been a while since I've used the oven - I heat the thing (koda 12) on the highest gas setting, I know around 430C in the middle of the stone is considered the right temperature for cooking pizza. My question is where do you folks set the gas gauge to once temperature is reached to maintain the 430C roughly?

The first time I did it I couldn't remember if I was supposed to oil the pan or not so I oiled the pan. It went well so I never bothered to check if I was right. I only use a drop of oil.

I'll have to try it without oil now 😊

I cook it by lowering the gas to almost its lowest setting upon launch and find its the best technique even if it does take almost 3 minutes to cook the pizza. It allows you more control than having the gas going at full blast and cooking the toppings, melting the cheese too quickly or burning the crust before the base of it has had much chance to cook out. It takes slightly longer but delivers a better result imo as the base has more time on the hot stone to get a bit of crisp about it.

You can also turn the gas back up to full for the final 20 seconds if you want to give the toppings a quick blast at the very end. If there is any part of the crust slightly under cooked you can lift that side of the pizza on the peel up into the flame momentarily before serving. However dont do this for more than 2 seconds as it will burn the crust black or even set fire to it beyond a couple of seconds, its just a quick motion into the flame and back out again.

Woo hoo oven arrived a week after ordering it, time to play.