Outdoor pizza ovens, who has one?

[BonitaApplebum]

I got one for Mother's Day, it seems pretty cool. I haven't had the opportunity to try it yet... anyone have any advice?

This is the one I got

https://ooni.com/products/ooni-fyra



It runs on wood pellets.

[RioG]

Oh, that looks cool.

I have an outdoor oven on my someday list, for baking bread and maybe even running a canner and stuff.

[BonitaApplebum]

Oh, that looks cool.

I have an outdoor oven on my someday list, for baking bread and maybe even running a canner and stuff.

I can do flatbreads, focaccia, stuff like that, but it's not big enough for loaves. On the flip side, it's designed to be portable, so we can bring it camping and other places. It even has a carrying case. The chimney and pellet hopper are detachable.

[witchypoo]

I have no input other than to say my mother received one of those for mother's day 2021 and she uses it CONSTANTLY

good gift

[BonitaApplebum]

I have no input other than to say my mother received one of those for mother's day 2021 and she uses it CONSTANTLY

good gift

Ooh good to hear!! I think it will get a lot of use here, too.

There's a little prep work to do (assembly, doing an initial burn off, etc.) but hopefully by next weekend we will be enjoying delicious home cooked pizza.

[DocBuzzkill]

Indeed, very cool!  I'm envious, although until we get junk cleared out of the unfinished side of our basement for better storage, I can't justify another cool cooking item.  It looks perfect for flatbreads, foccacia, and pizza. I think a friend at work bought one (or was thinking of making a purchase) last summer.  Let me ask him.

Longtime friends, F & V, built a major addition to their house in Marlborough.  Among the additions was an indoor pizza kitchen.  That pizza oven is amazing.  Heats up to 1000F, so he gets excellent results.  He has a great recipe for pizza dough that I use on the regular when making thin-crust.  If you want it, please let me know.


F&V have a whole system worked out.  V shapes the dough, adds the tomato sauce (made from their own tomatoes), cheese, and other toppings, and F cooks the pie.  F comes from a large Italian-American family (originally from Calabria) in Kenosha WI and grew up watching his grandmothers, his mom, and his aunts cook.  He picked up a lot and is a marvelous cook.  Here's one of the pizzas (Margherita) he & V made at our get-together (October 2019, before the stupid pandemic).

[BonitaApplebum]

I'd love the dough recipe, Doc!!

My oven is supposed to get up to 950F. I want to get one of those infrared thermometers to check temps.

[DocBuzzkill]

I'd love the dough recipe, Doc!!

My oven is supposed to get up to 950F. I want to get one of those infrared thermometers to check temps.

Frank uses an infrared thermometer to check the temperature.  It is so high tech!

Is there a way I can attach a pdf file to a reply?  We used to be able to do this on the older CH platform.

[BonitaApplebum]

Frank uses an infrared thermometer to check the temperature.  It is so high tech!

Is there a way I can attach a pdf file to a reply?  We used to be able to do this on the older CH platform.

Not sure. You could take a screenshot and attach that image, though.

[DocBuzzkill]

Not sure. You could take a screenshot and attach that image, though.

Check your email. 

[Kumbaya]

I would like one. The ones I've seen are $300-400 and we don't eat that much pizza at home.
so it's not something I've given much thought to.
I'll eat pizza vicariously via this thread though!

[Ice Cream]

I didn't know that they run on pellets. I had a pellet stove and found that pellets vary widely in quality. It was definitely worth it to buy premium quality.

[BonitaApplebum]

I didn't know that they run on pellets. I had a pellet stove and found that pellets vary widely in quality. It was definitely worth it to buy premium quality.

Yes, we heat our home primarily with pellets and I definitely agree. For this thing I will only be using fancy pants hardwood pellets for sure.

[BonitaApplebum]

I'm talking with my camping BFF and we are going to try making cookies in it this summer

[Ice Cream]

It'll produce good smells for the wildlife. 

I thought pellet stoves were being phased out. Two places that sold them around here are gone. We replaced with a heat pump.

[BonitaApplebum]

It'll produce good smells for the wildlife. 

I thought pellet stoves were being phased out. Two places that sold them around here are gone. We replaced with a heat pump.

They might be? I have no idea. We've had ours for maybe 15 years and have zero complaints.

[caribougrrl]

I just bought the ooni propane fired pizza oven, but the weather has been shit, so it's still in the box. Our plan is have some fabulous outdoor dinner parties where we cook EVERYTHING in the pizza oven.

[BonitaApplebum]

I just bought the ooni propane fired pizza oven, but the weather has been shit, so it's still in the box. Our plan is have some fabulous outdoor dinner parties where we cook EVERYTHING in the pizza oven.

oooh I'm so glad to hear you have one too! Definitely looking forward to seeing what you create. I'm totally imagining outdoor dinner parties with this thing!

[DocBuzzkill]

Did you receive that pdf from me or not?

[caribougrrl]

oooh I'm so glad to hear you have one too! Definitely looking forward to seeing what you create. I'm totally imagining outdoor dinner parties with this thing!

I'm very excited about it. I look forward to comparing notes!

[BonitaApplebum]

Did you receive that pdf from me or not?

I don't see it...

[DocBuzzkill]

No problem.  I found the attachment function for replies so I can attach it here, but I'll need to reduce the pdf file size for that using my fancy Adobe Professional on the Big B laptop.  My version on the Mac (Adobe Reader) is 19th century.

[ihop]

Oh!  My sister was just raving about her friend's Ooni.  We grill pizza a lot on the equipment we have so I can't justify this purchase....yet.

[DocBuzzkill]

OK, I reduced the file size using Adobe Acrobat X Pro.  Let's see if this works and if folks are able to open it.

[radial]

OK, I reduced the file size using Adobe Acrobat X Pro.  Let's see if this works and if folks are able to open it.

Opened right up.  Thanks!

[DocBuzzkill]

Opened right up.  Thanks!

Yay!  Thanks so much for letting me know, radial.  A few comments:

Weighing the ingredients is essential.  Frank is a medicinal chemist (we started grad school the same year) and is very precise.  And yes, you will need Crisco, not olive oil.  It makes a difference.  I typically make the 1.5X recipe, which feeds 4 adults readily. 

Don't overload the pizza with ingredients. I had a minor disaster, thanks to the pie not slipping off the pizza peel well.   I am more judicious about the amount of toppings and use cornmeal liberally to prevent sticking.

I'm still trying to improve dough handling to shape the pie.  My pies often resemble Greenland!  

I've been pleased with the results!

[Kumbaya]

Crisco is essential for perfect popovers too. My moms recipe left this out but much trial and error revealed this.

[CheryG]

Gonna disagree about the weighing as being the absolute guide to the perfect dough. It's feel- the being able to judge when the dough is ready to be used. Weighing gets me closer to the ideal but there's never a day when I'm not tweaking a recipe to accommodate for ambient humidity and temps.

High gluten flour is also super important for the hand tossed dough.

This is the recipe I use, basically.

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

[DocBuzzkill]

Agree that there is tweaking involved, but weighing is for the majority of those of us who don't bake daily a better starting point.
On the type of flour, 00 results in a crust much closer to a Neapolitan-style pizza, and that is the aim here.  We also make a thicker Sicilian-style crust, and that uses all bread flour, which is excellent for that.

[radial]

About that first ingredient...  100 g of discord feels like too much. 

[CheryG]

About that first ingredient...  100 g of discord feels like too much. 

Lol, that there is my "no intent that anyone else but me will read it" handwriting. Which is much better than my grocery store list handwriting, which even I struggle to read.

[Ice Cream]

I have no idea what the discord is meant to be.

[witchypoo]

discard - I assume sourdough discard

[CheryG]

discard - I assume sourdough discard

Yes.

IMO sourdough and or a long retard is the only way to make pizza dough. The rapid rise dough is just not flavorful enough.  When I worked in the biz the pizza was a neopolitan style made with a 14% protein flour- the recipe had *gasp* molasses, active dry yeast, and was very low hydration. I made it with ice cold water and would either freeze or refrigerate it until use without any rise at all.  IIMo it worked even though it was active dry yeast because the inoculation of yeast and temps were so low that it allowed for a HUGE window of opportunity to use the dough.

[RioG]

Hey chery, would you post a sourdough starter recipe?  Yes, doc, I know I could google, but it would be nice to have one from here.

Years ago I attempted and left it on top of the fridge.  We had friends stay the night and the next morning the kitchen reeked.  It was foul.

The starter had bubbled over and was all over the fridge.  I guess that one worked! 

[BonitaApplebum]

I've never had success with sourdough starters. Which is a shame on the one hand, because sourdough is one of the best breads on earth (and I agree, is excellent for pizza). But, on the flip side, if I could make it at home I'd probably eat a loaf a day.

[witchypoo]

I use a biga when I make pizza dough for the same reason

[DocBuzzkill]

I use a biga when I make pizza dough for the same reason

That's a great suggestion!  Think we'll try that the next time Spawn the Elder is over and makes pizza, for which he uses bread flour and basically makes a delicious focaccia with marinara and toppings.  Nothing thin-crust about it.

[CheryG]

Rio, here's a simple recipe that should work well:
https://littlespoonfarm.com/sourdough-starter-recipe/#recipe

There are tons of starter recipes out there, some that even use fruit which is cool.  I don't remember the exact method I used, but it is basically that. For maintenance-  I don't measure anything when I feed my starter, I just use a random blend of the unbleached AP and whole wheat, add water until it's the consistency of a pancake batter and usually add the same volume of that as there is starter that I'm adding to. I leave it out at room temp so the yeast can start to work, before the rise is at the height of what it will produce I stick it back in the fridge. I usually bake once a week and I don't need to refeed it before I bake.