# Ooni Pizza Oven



## Central PA Cowboy (Jan 25, 2021)

Anyone have an Ooni Pizza Oven? Any thoughts?


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## bregent (Jan 25, 2021)

I don't, but know of several folks over at PMDC that do. From what I recall, they are generally happy with them, but I would search that forum and ask around.


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## Central PA Cowboy (Jan 25, 2021)

PMDC?


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## bregent (Jan 25, 2021)

Central PA Cowboy said:


> PMDC?



Sorry,  pizzamaking.com


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## Wurstmeister (Jan 25, 2021)

Check out the Pizza Thread, last one listed, under the Smoking meats and other things forum. There are  lot of recipes and discussions there.  The calzone sounded really good!


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## tx smoker (Jan 25, 2021)

A good friend here in the forum ordered one a while ago. Although I have no experience wit them, I know he did a ton of research before ordering it. Point being that I'd be willing to bet that they are a very good unit or he would not have placed the order. It's taking a while to deliver but if you're not in a huge hurry it may be a good idea.

Robert


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## Central PA Cowboy (Jan 25, 2021)

Wurstmeister said:


> Check out the Pizza Thread, last one listed, under the Smoking meats and other things forum. There are  lot of recipes and discussions there.  The calzone sounded really good!



I believe that was 

 tx smoker




tx smoker said:


> A good friend here in the forum ordered one a while ago. Although I have no experience wit them, I know he did a ton of research before ordering it. Point being that I'd be willing to bet that they are a very good unit or he would not have placed the order. It's taking a while to deliver but if you're not in a huge hurry it may be a good idea.
> 
> Robert



Good to know. They do look like some quality ovens. Thanks for the info.


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## Inscrutable (Jan 26, 2021)

They make models fired by gas or wood pellet (and dual fuel) ... not a pellet person (yet), but curious ... with the universal opinions that folks get very little smoke flavor off pellet grills running at high temps, do you really get “wood-fired pizza” flavor off the pellet version, or about the same as the gas version?


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## forktender (Feb 5, 2021)

Inscrutable said:


> They make models fired by gas or wood pellet (and dual fuel) ... not a pellet person (yet), but curious ... with the universal opinions that folks get very little smoke flavor off pellet grills running at high temps, do you really get “wood-fired pizza” flavor off the pellet version, or about the same as the gas version?


The ooni ovens are a bitch to cook on plan on burning many crusts until you dial the timing of your turns in, after that they cook fairly decent.
The wood fired pizza ovens are running anywhere from 900-1,200 degrees at those temp you can hardly taste any smoke flavor on the pizza or other foods cooked in them. I bet the flavor you get from the pellets is fairly comparable.


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## Steve H (Feb 6, 2021)

I'd be interested in hearing if anybody else here has one too. I've yet to use mine.


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## Inscrutable (Mar 2, 2021)

Exhuming thread for an update? Seen any action yet, Steve?
Noticed the Karu model can use charcoal and/or wood ... would think that flavor would be better than gas or pellets.


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## Steve H (Mar 2, 2021)

Inscrutable said:


> Exhuming thread for an update? Seen any action yet, Steve?
> Noticed the Karu model can use charcoal and/or wood ... would think that flavor would be better than gas or pellets.



Not yet. This weather isn't playing nice. On my work days the weather is ok. On my off days...... I read somewhere that there isn't much, if any, wood flavor from them.


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## Inscrutable (Mar 2, 2021)

Steve H said:


> Not yet. This weather isn't playing nice. On my work days the weather is ok. On my off days...... I read somewhere that there isn't much, if any, wood flavor from them.


Yeah, the way it usually works 

Thats a shame if still won’t impart that flavor ... may as well go with the cheaper/easier gas.


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## Steve H (Mar 2, 2021)

Inscrutable said:


> Yeah, the way it usually works
> 
> Thats a shame if still won’t impart that flavor ... may as well go with the cheaper/easier gas.



I would have went with the wood burning model though. But this was a gift for the wife. And she wouldn't want the fuss with it.


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## zwiller (Mar 2, 2021)

There are several things like this I want but admit they probably won't get used enough to justify.  I plan to experiment but I saw someone hack their grill with a pizza stone and sheet of steel raised by some bricks to mimic one of these.  I'd start with a pizza stone if you don't already have one.  

 forktender
 is spot on.  There is a learning curve to pizza.  A pizza stone in a HOT oven makes wicked good stuff despite not hitting 1000F and a good place to start.  I turn on the broiler about half way for a little char.


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## Steve H (Mar 2, 2021)

zwiller said:


> There are several things like this I want but admit they probably won't get used enough to justify.


lol! I know, right? But happy wife..... Between the smokers, the grill, and oven. My little garage/man cave is getting full. I'm hoping the pizza oven will fit on the bbq cart I made last year.  If not. I'll need to figure that out next.


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## Bigheaded (Mar 24, 2021)

Steve H said:


> I'd be interested in hearing if anybody else here has one too. I've yet to use mine.



I bought a Koda about a year ago, one of the smarted things I've ever done. First 2 nights using it I thought I had made a mistake. It seemed impossible to launch a pizza, I ruined like 6 in a row the 1st night, and 2nd while I did better, they were all burnt. But by the 4th night I was knocking it out. I've made probably 100 pizzas on it, and everyone loves them. The one issue I have is it's very difficult to consistently get the temp low enough to do a New York bake.  Neopolitians I can kill all day, but I like NY style.  Some nights I have great luck with the flame + temp. But some nights not at all. Usually, I have to fiddle with the regulator a lot.  That's not a knock on Ooni, this oven's meant to 900f+ Neopolitian bakes.   If I had to go back a year I'd probably have gotten the Pro, people have much better luck with NY temps in it. But that said, for $329 I'm beyond impressed with the Koda.

I know some people don't like the propane only thing, but I typically do 60-90 second bakes, I don't think that would be long enough to impart a noticeable amount of smoke flavor. Not even sure a 6 min NY would.  The Koda 16's improved a lot of the little things from the original. And being able to make a bigger pie's never a bad thing. The Koda can technically do a 13", but 12 is the largest I've successfully done. And it was a lot of monitoring and turning so it didn't burn.  When you're cooking at 930f, even just 10-15 seconds too long can give you a super burnt pizza.  Making pizzas is a lot of fun to me, I even like making the dough and I have a sourdough starter for SD crust. But it's a lot of exact measurments and science, where BBQ's much much more forgiving. 

If you buy a pizza oven, as I saw already mentioned. I second joining Pizzamaking.com I learned sooooooo much on there.  I'm new here, but this looks like it's basically the BBQ equivalent of there.  They are all some of the legit nicest people you'll come across, and there's an endless wealth of knowledge. 

I ordered a smoker that'll be here next week. When I make burnt ends I want to make a hybrid BBQ pizza with BBQ sauce and burnt ends on it. Koda + Masterbuilt 560 should be awesome.


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## Steve H (Mar 24, 2021)

Bigheaded said:


> I bought a Koda about a year ago, one of the smarted things I've ever done. First 2 nights using it I thought I had made a mistake. It seemed impossible to launch a pizza, I ruined like 6 in a row the 1st night, and 2nd while I did better, they were all burnt. But by the 4th night I was knocking it out. I've made probably 100 pizzas on it, and everyone loves them. The one issue I have is it's very difficult to consistently get the temp low enough to do a New York bake.  Neopolitians I can kill all day, but I like NY style.  Some nights I have great luck with the flame + temp. But some nights not at all. Usually, I have to fiddle with the regulator a lot.  That's not a knock on Ooni, this oven's meant to 900f+ Neopolitian bakes.   If I had to go back a year I'd probably have gotten the Pro, people have much better luck with NY temps in it. But that said, for $329 I'm beyond impressed with the Koda.
> 
> I know some people don't like the propane only thing, but I typically do 60-90 second bakes, I don't think that would be long enough to impart a noticeable amount of smoke flavor. Not even sure a 6 min NY would.  The Koda 16's improved a lot of the little things from the original. And being able to make a bigger pie's never a bad thing. The Koda can technically do a 13", but 12 is the largest I've successfully done. And it was a lot of monitoring and turning so it didn't burn.  When you're cooking at 930f, even just 10-15 seconds too long can give you a super burnt pizza.  Making pizzas is a lot of fun to me, I even like making the dough and I have a sourdough starter for SD crust. But it's a lot of exact measurments and science, where BBQ's much much more forgiving.
> 
> ...




Thanks for chiming in. Tomorrow I'll finally be getting this going. I got a cart set up for it.







In the morning I'll be making some pizza dough. And getting the tank filled. I'll be starting this simple. Just pepperoni and mushroom pies to get the hang of it.


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## Bigheaded (Mar 24, 2021)

Steve H said:


> Thanks for chiming in. Tomorrow I'll finally be getting this going. I got a cart set up for it.
> View attachment 490485
> 
> 
> In the morning I'll be making some pizza dough. And getting the tank filled. I'll be starting this simple. Just pepperoni and mushroom pies to get the hang of it.



A lot of the high level dudes on the Pizzamaking forums suggest to anyone starting this. Make a pizza with only cheese, if you can make that good you're set.  2 things I recommend, a food scale, even just 10-15ml of water under/over can make a big impact on your crust.  Also at least a 24h cord fermentation. I do 3 days for my NY dough and it makes a huge difference. There's nothing wrong with a good same day dough, but a CF will always give you a better crust.  on PM.COM they refer to same day doughs usually as emergency dough lol.   A IR temp gun is almost mandatory, even a cheapy one will help a lot.

Making pizza isn't that hard, but making good pizza there's a lot of science and you have to focus until you learn the in's and out.    And this is just personal preference, but I've tried about 5 different ways to make dough. This is my go to.

I mix everything in a bowl with a danish dough whisk, normal whisks work great but with the danish ones no dough gets stuck so it's faster.
Once it's all incorporated, I put it on a board and stretch the dough from the top and fold it down. Then a quarter turn and repeat. Then 2 more times until you're back where you started. cover with a towel and come back in 15-20 minutes and repeat. cover again and come back and do a 3rd time. You might need to do it 4. But the dough will look soft and smooth.  It takes about an hour, but 95% of the time's just waiting.  If you don't have an hour, a stand mixer works great obviously. But I like the turn and fold method myself.   And I usually do pretty decent size batches, enough to make 4-8 225g pizza balls.  I'd also recommend Instant Dry Yeast I find it easier to work with than active.

And lastly don't get caught up if people tell you "the water needs to be 105-115f for the yeast to bloom."  I use room temp water and my dough always rises. There's a lot of misinformation about making pizza dough out there and a lot of it sounds legit lol. Make an account on PM.COM and you'll learn everything the right way.


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## Binford 6100 (Jul 11, 2021)

Bump for an update. Interested in buying a ooni.


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## Steve H (Jul 11, 2021)

Binford 6100
  I've made about 60 pizzas with it so far. After my first dozen or so. I got her dialed right in. Pizzas are amazing. Better then most of the joints around here. And with homemade dough and sauce.  Oh boy! Now I want a pizza! And for searing steaks, this would be hard to beat.


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## Binford 6100 (Jul 11, 2021)

Cool. I think I am going to have to pull the trigger on one. I am not certain which one I want yet though. A gas or wood fired.


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## Steve H (Jul 11, 2021)

You can get the hybrid one. It does both if I remember right.


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## Binford 6100 (Jul 11, 2021)

Steve H said:


> You can get the hybrid one. It does both if I remember right.



Yeah, I probably will. A little more money but, hell you make it to spend it, right?


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## Steve H (Jul 11, 2021)

Binford 6100 said:


> Yeah, I probably will. A little more money but, hell you make it to spend it, right?



That's my wife's motto! Mine too!


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## 90beater (Dec 12, 2022)

I have one. It's a pretty nice addition to the outdoor kitchen.








I suppose I could create a thread but that means I will have to make more pizzas first to get better pictures. ;)

The only thing I will say is don't spend your money on this unless you plan on making your own dough and pizzas. It will not improve store bought ones at all.


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## Steve H (Dec 12, 2022)

90beater said:


> I have one. It's a pretty nice addition to the outdoor kitchen.
> 
> View attachment 650985
> 
> ...


Agreed. I have 2 oonis  now. The 16"gasser. And 12"pellet. I keep the pellet one in the RV when camping. The 12"Fyra puts out a real nice flavor with a hint of smoke.


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## schlotz (Dec 12, 2022)

It's been hit and miss for me with mine. Using the Ooni (gas tank version) with thin crust has been an issue.  The unit on high results in a crust with the very thin inside still not done but the outside gets heavily charred. Next go around I'm going to turn the flames down to drop the temp from 900+ to somewhere around 650-700. We'll see.  Other issue is the flame ports on occasion get clogged causing an uneven temp spread across the stone.  So far using a compressed air can on a cold unit has been the solution.


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## Central PA Cowboy (Dec 12, 2022)

Ended up ordering a Roccbox. Seems they have a lot of great reviews. It’s currently stuck on the other side of the country though.


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## PulledPorkSandwich (Dec 12, 2022)

schlotz said:


> It's been hit and miss for me with mine. Using the Ooni (gas tank version) with thin crust has been an issue.  The unit on high results in a crust with the very thin inside still not done but the outside gets heavily charred. Next go around I'm going to turn the flames down to drop the temp from 900+ to somewhere around 650-700. We'll see.  Other issue is the flame ports on occasion get clogged causing an uneven temp spread across the stone.  So far using a compressed air can on a cold unit has been the solution.


I have a 12-inch Fyra myself.  I've had it for almost a year now, and I'm still getting used to it.  It seems like it is designed primarily for Neopolitan-style pies that require high heat for a short period of time.  I like a "Chicago-thin" style pie and I've found the standard directions lead to a pie with a crust that's not done and toppings that are burned.

I've learned that the way to make a Chicago-thin pie is to heat the stone up to 900 or so and launch the pizza, then immediately cut the air to the pellets so that the temperature in the oven comes down, the toppings cook slowly and the crust cooks completely.  I cook the sausage on the pie (it adds lots of flavor), so it needs time to cook completely.

I've not yet had a perfect result.  I struggle with mechanics if I'm not struggling with the heat.  Too often, I end up scattering the toppings all over the inside of the oven when I launch the pie!


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## FreshGround (Dec 12, 2022)

I have 2 pizelles in my back room that will be Christmas presents for my 2 daughters.  They are dual fuel.  I like that idea because if you're using them for a party it is great to go the wood/pellet route, but when you are just using them for dinner the gas route is quicker and easier.  Supposedly they only go to about 750*, but that might be an ease of use plus.


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## four20 (Dec 12, 2022)

Central PA Cowboy said:


> Anyone have an Ooni Pizza Oven? Any thoughts?


I have a gyber pellet oven and love it. It broils a steak beautifully. I make pizza occasionally with it.


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## kevin james (Dec 12, 2022)

I have the multi-fuel Karu 16. I have only used it with a mix of lump charcoal and wood chunks since I have an abundance of wood due to my stick burners. I have been very happy with it. I'm starting to think about getting the gas attachment just to give that a try as well.


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## old sarge (Dec 29, 2022)

My son went above and beyond for my Christmas this year.  Still boxed till the weather warms up a tad and I have the time to experiment. No need to wait to drink the Chimay!


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