The Official Pizza Discussion thread (was: Cooking Neapolitan Pizzas with the Uuni 3)

siezar · 15 Sep 2020 at 06:11

This thread was revived yesterday and, coincidentally, last night my other half asked me if I still want a pizza oven for xmas, so I've ordered an Ooni Koda. I'm glad she asked me which one to get because she was sure I'd want the wood burning model. Normally I would but it seems that gas is the way to go with these things because the wood doesn't impart any flavour.
Now to look at pizza peels...

Psycho Sonny · 15 Sep 2020 at 09:36

siezar said:
This thread was revived yesterday and, coincidentally, last night my other half asked me if I still want a pizza oven for xmas, so I've ordered an Ooni Koda. I'm glad she asked me which one to get because she was sure I'd want the wood burning model. Normally I would but it seems that gas is the way to go with these things because the wood doesn't impart any flavour.
Now to look at pizza peels...

Real men use wood and you can throw some wood chips in if you want more smoke

siezar · 15 Sep 2020 at 10:06

Psycho Sonny said:
Real men use wood and you can throw some wood chips in if you want more smoke

No! That's hit a nerve.

Psycho Sonny · 15 Sep 2020 at 19:21

siezar said:
No! That's hit a nerve.

It's the same with bbq's in the charcoal Vs gas debate.

I spoke with a guy who owned a chain of BBQ restaurants over the Atlantic and I asked him what they used . He said he used gas in the restaurants as it was more forgiving, easier to control heat and therefore easier for the staff to get decent results.

However he said at home he always used charcoal. That sold it for me. To say that the wood imparts zero flavour would honestly be astonishing if true. Does the smoke magically disappear without going anywhere near the pizza?

siezar · 15 Sep 2020 at 20:27

Psycho Sonny said:
It's the same with bbq's in the charcoal Vs gas debate.

I spoke with a guy who owned a chain of BBQ restaurants over the Atlantic and I asked him what they used . He said he used gas in the restaurants as it was more forgiving, easier to control heat and therefore easier for the staff to get decent results.

However he said at home he always used charcoal. That sold it for me. To say that the wood imparts zero flavour would honestly be astonishing if true. Does the smoke magically disappear without going anywhere near the pizza?

Oh for fizz sake, I'm going to have to change my order. I was convinced by one bloody article I read ages ago that said the wood doesn't impart flavour, now I'm reading all over that it does. That'll teach me to not stick to my principles.

robj20 · 15 Sep 2020 at 20:38

siezar said:
Oh for fizz sake, I'm going to have to change my order. I was convinced by one bloody article I read ages ago that said the wood doesn't impart flavour, now I'm reading all over that it does. That'll teach me to not stick to my principles.

If it does I can't taste it. Definitely on a BBQ where the foods on for hours. Bit a pizza for 2 mins I don't think so.
I do prefer wood on my ooni though, just a better heat, the gas add on is the worst thing I've ever purchased.

Rofflay · 15 Sep 2020 at 20:52

When i manage to have £500 spare it will be the wood one and i will use a charcoal and wood blend to whatever my tastes are. So the gas option really while attractive in price i would rather avoid the hassle.

Besides, Thiers loads of dead wood locally i can use and add some charcoal and boom! Jack Daniels does wood chip oak too thiers things you can try.

siezar · 16 Sep 2020 at 05:58

Rofflay said:
When i manage to have £500 spare it will be the wood one and i will use a charcoal and wood blend to whatever my tastes are. So the gas option really while attractive in price i would rather avoid the hassle.

Besides, Thiers loads of dead wood locally i can use and add some charcoal and boom! Jack Daniels does wood chip oak too thiers things you can try.

The Karu, which is the wood/charcoal model, is "only" £250 the same as the gas powered Koda.

jpaul · 16 Sep 2020 at 09:50

Psycho Sonny said:
The ooni is better but the g3 ferrari is pretty epic for £100.

yes - I'm still waiting for a better electric solution that I could use anytime of the year, and, indoors, G3 's not really been superseeded.
need manufacture of this (toaster) solution
Heating technology experts have developed an electric pizza oven that can bake a pizza in just 37 seconds – without compromising quality.
I assume, it's really the radiant heat aspect, which the electric oven manufacturer could not deliver at a good price point,
maybe ooni will have to get into the electric game, with carbon emission concerns.

Psycho Sonny · 16 Sep 2020 at 12:47

jpaul said:
yes - I'm still waiting for a better electric solution that I could use anytime of the year, and, indoors, G3 's not really been superseeded.
need manufacture of this (toaster) solution
Heating technology experts have developed an electric pizza oven that can bake a pizza in just 37 seconds – without compromising quality.
I assume, it's really the radiant heat aspect, which the electric oven manufacturer could not deliver at a good price point,
maybe ooni will have to get into the electric game, with carbon emission concerns.

The G3 Ferrari is still very good and it's cheap enough it doesn't really matter if it's not the best.

It beats an oven by a mile. Loads of people have modded theirs by moving the bottom element to the top and making the stone rotate and adding heat deflectors.

I haven't bothered with any mods but apparently they improve it quite a bit too.

If you want an indoor pizza oven I recommend the G3 Ferrari however it isn't the easiest to use and will take a bit of time to nail the technique down whereas an ooni is a piece of cake to use.

Loki · 16 Sep 2020 at 21:56

jpaul said:
yes - I'm still waiting for a better electric solution that I could use anytime of the year, and, indoors, G3 's not really been superseeded.
need manufacture of this (toaster) solution
Heating technology experts have developed an electric pizza oven that can bake a pizza in just 37 seconds – without compromising quality.
I assume, it's really the radiant heat aspect, which the electric oven manufacturer could not deliver at a good price point,
maybe ooni will have to get into the electric game, with carbon emission concerns.

Whats the rush ?

Ooni are great ovens, don't get me wrong, It ignited (see what I did there) my passion to start taking pizza making seriously. That said the whole bake a pizza in 60 seconds or less is nothing more than good marketing.

Quicker cook time does not make better Pizza.

Rofflay · 17 Sep 2020 at 22:29

siezar said:
The Karu, which is the wood/charcoal model, is "only" £250 the same as the gas powered Koda.

Thanks for that heads up, It will be bought for sure as 500 was far far too much for an oven this Karu is sensible.

siezar · 18 Sep 2020 at 06:04

Rofflay said:
Thanks for that heads up, It will be bought for sure as 500 was far far too much for an oven this Karu is sensible.

I'm so glad i changed to the Karu. There's something inherently satisfying about preparing a fire and cooking with with it.

jpaul · 18 Sep 2020 at 09:25

Loki said:
Quicker cook time does not make better Pizza.

Not per se, but if you have high heat capacity refractory blocks and high air temperature you both getting the heat into the dough base, blowing up the air bubbles in the dough, +blisters, and also ensuring it doesn't get soggy from the topping, then it will be fast.
... my problem is generally boiling the moz because cooking the base takes too long, as brick isn't hot enough, or perhaps base is too thick
seems there is even a https://www.800degreespizzeria.co.uk/ - almond wood - should have been 451~~426~~ here ?

Loki · 18 Sep 2020 at 14:09

jpaul said:
Not per se, but if you have high heat capacity refractory blocks and high air temperature you both getting the heat into the dough base, blowing up the air bubbles in the dough, +blisters, and also ensuring it doesn't get soggy from the topping, then it will be fast.
... my problem is generally boiling the moz because cooking the base takes too long, as brick isn't hot enough, or perhaps base is too thick
seems there is even a https://www.800degreespizzeria.co.uk/ - almond wood - should have been 451~~426~~ here ?

Hmm if you are finding the base soggy, maybe you are putting too much sauce on ? Also are you cold fermenting the dough, if you dont give enough time once you have took it out of the fridge then that could be another issue. I went on a course a few months ago with a Pizziaola, really good guy. Main take away for me was making sure everything is at room temperature before cooking and that improved my results significantly.

Mark M · 20 Sep 2020 at 08:45

Can anyone recommend a good quality pizza cutter for a gift please? Thanks

jpaul · 20 Sep 2020 at 10:43

pizza cutter ..... I think I'd be very happy with the dual purpose aspect of one of these - an ulu rocking knife
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lamson-99270-Alaskan-Riveted-Walnut/dp/B087N1PX9F

jpaul · 22 Sep 2020 at 14:19

if you had the money - electric turbochef at 400/500C 120s versus 250C 3mins TurboChef Fire vs Double Batch looks the part too.

arknor · 22 Sep 2020 at 16:43

Mark M said:
Can anyone recommend a good quality pizza cutter for a gift please? Thanks

in my experience even the cheap 2.99 rollers cut pizza just fine with a bit of pressure.

you can get a Star Trek Enterprise Pizza Cutter but they are expensive :O like 80quid

Dianbobo · 27 Sep 2020 at 20:41

So the koda 16 finally arrived, I think I will be using this a lot