Ooni Benin
Outside pizza ovens are becoming fairly preferred and also it’s not hard to see why! They use a quick and simple way to obtain that wood-fired pizza taste right in your own backyard. They’re as convenient as a traditional grill yet extremely functional because they can get to such a high temperature as well as cook all kinds of foods.
We ‘d been desiring an Ooni pizza oven for life and also ultimately got ours just a few months earlier. I know you’ve been curious concerning whether I assume it’s worth the hype or not so I’m below to share my methods, tips, and ideas – AND whether I think the Ooni deserves the financial investment!
Ooni pizza oven on a steel table outside on a deck
Full disclosure – Ooni gifted me this pizza oven. As always, all opinions and ideas are my own.
THE OONI PIZZA OVEN
The Ooni is a portable, outside pizza oven. It heats up to about 950 degrees in 20 mins and also can prepare your pizza in 60 seconds. It has a pizza rock inside that provides you that tasty, crispy crust of a typical wood-fired pizza oven.
VARIOUS MODELS
Ooni has a number of models to select from, which implies there’s likely one that will fit your needs as well as budget. They use 12″ or 16″ ovens that are either wood pellet or gas-powered or use both timber and gas. They vary in cost from $299-$ 799 depending on the size and also specifications you select.
We opted for the 16″ Koda since we suched as the simplicity of having the ability to utilize gas as well as likewise wanted a bigger size so that we had the alternative to prepare larger pizzas or various other points like fish, steak, and so on.
AN INVESTMENT
At $299 for their base model, the Ooni pizza oven is certainly an investment. Nevertheless, including a pizza oven to your outdoor location might actually trigger some joy for you as well as make pizza evening a lot more interesting!
Likewise, this is a durable, high quality food preparation device that is going to last for many years as long as you take care of it. While it is a little bit spendy, in my point of view – if you’re going to use it at the very least a couple times a month or more – it’s entirely worth it!
Overhead shot of a pepperoni jalapeno pizza on a wood pizza peel
SETTING UP
The Ooni comes practically totally assembled out of package. All you need to do is unravel the legs as well as put the pizza rock in it!
You will need to buy a 1 extra pound or a 20 pound propane container if you’re obtaining a gas-powered Ooni. Finding that lp tank and also having it loaded may have been the hardest part of the entire setting up for us! I’m unsure why, yet right here on the West shore, we had a heck of a time locating a propane tank, and afterwards once we discovered one we had to discover a area to get it filled. The good news is, our neighborhood hardware store had one left, and also the gas station down the street can load them so we didn’t need to travel far, however I called a TON of places before I might also discover one.
HOW TO USE THE OONI
Utilizing the Ooni pizza oven is much easier than you could think! Reduced the heat, toss your pizza in, and also let it prepare for a couple minutes.
The nice part is that the oven only has fires on the back as well as left side, so the front ideal side is the great place which offers you more control over how the pizza is food preparation. The 16″ Koda provides you lots of space to relocate the pizza around as well as also a great range in between the fire as well as the pizza itself in case it starts to cook also swiftly.
COOKING TIME
Ooni’s claim to fame is that it can prepare a pizza in 60 seconds – which it absolutely can. However, for beginner pizza cooks like ourselves, we located a pair YouTube video clips that stated transforming the warm to cooking and reduced it for a bit much longer at a lower temperature may be much easier. Keeping that claimed, our favored cooking technique is to:
- Heat the oven above for concerning 15-20 minutes.
- Lower the warmth to reduced and also include a pizza to the oven.
- Prepare the pizza, rotating it every 20-30 seconds or two for about 2-3 mins depending on the size of the pie and also the amount of garnishes
Goat cheese and also tomato pizza entering into an Ooni pizza oven
THE LEARNING CURVE
I will state I was a bit worried concerning the understanding contour of cooking with the Ooni. I believed it was mosting likely to be a little challenging to obtain the warm just right as well as keep it relocating. I was happily amazed to discover that after just a couple pizzas you truly start to obtain the hang of it!
I think we get a little better each time as we excellent the dough shaping as well as topping. Honestly, we kept our Ooni in the box for a few weeks because I simply wasn’t fairly prepared to tackle what I believed was going to be a hard cooking procedure. I could NOT have actually been more wrong. Utilizing the pizza oven is very very easy and also I wish we would have opened our Ooni the day we got it!
FOOD PREPARATION TIPS
- Lightly powder the job surface where you’re making the pizza. As well as gently flour the pizza peel. This will make it easier to move the pizza to the pizza peel and also move it to into the oven. I’ve listened to semolina flour functions best, but we make use of all-purpose without any issues.
- You’ll have to construct the pizza, after that relocate it to the pizza peel, and after that scoot it off the peel as well as right into the oven. The smaller sized your pizza, the easier it is to do. The larger the pizza, the more likely it is you’re going to finish up with a mangled mess.
- Don’t exhaust the dough. The trick to getting that signature pizza crust is touching the dough just possible. Because my partner utilized to make pizzas for a living so he’s primarily a specialist, I actually lucked out. He advises utilizing your fingers to gently create the crust while moving the dough in a circle. Slapping it back and forth in between your hands/forearms till it obtains huge enough. Preferably, you desire the dough to be thicker on the edges, and after that very thin in the middle. This will certainly give you that signature wood discharged pizza oven texture you’re trying to find. If the crust is also thick between it won’t cook right with.
- Don’t add way too many toppings to your pizza. Another way to make certain that your pizza cooks through, is to cover it really minimally. I ‘d recommend adding half of what you ‘d generally include in a pizza you’re going to bake in a normal oven. Like I mentioned, the transfer of the pizza is a little challenging, and the even more toppings you have, the harder it is. So keep it top and easy gently. This is not the time to make your trademark added added cheese pizza!
- Don’t get sidetracked. When you’re cooking pizza in the Ooni, you want your full interest on that particular pizza. With the within the oven reaching temps over 900 levels, it’s essential to keep a close eye on the pie due to the fact that it can go from perfectly done, to perfectly burned immediately.
Visit this site to take a look at the Ooni Pizza Oven
FLAVOR
I will admit, I was hesitant however enthusiastic that the flavor would be close to that of a wood-fired pizza oven. As well as holy cow – I was surprised!
The flavor is almost similar to wood-fired pizza despite the fact that it just makes use of gas. You get those flawlessly charred littles throughout, the crust is tender on the within and also very crisp outside, as well as celebrity gets ooey-gooey melty in simply mins.
I could attempt to continue to define exactly how tasty the pizza is, yet let me just say, you will be impressed at the distinction in between the pizza you might in your Ooni and the pizza you make in your oven. They simply do not contrast.
WHICH DOUGH TO USE
Truthfully, we utilize dough from the food store 9 times out of 10. They have a really delicious dough that’s economical as well as cooks actually well in the Ooni. We either use my No-Knead Pizza Dough or my Quick Pizza Dough if I’m in the state of mind for homemade though.
Overhead shot of a tomato and goat cheese pizza on a wood pizza peel
OONI ACCESSORIES
- 16″ Pizza Peel – We love the 16″ pizza peel! The lengthy manage makes it simple to put the pizza right into the oven.
- Pizza Turning Wheel – We have not acquired the turning peel yet however I ‘d highly suggest the pizza turning wheel to help you transform the pizza while it’s in the oven. We presently simply use the pizza peel to do it but it’s a bit a lot more cumbersome.
- Large Modular Table – The big modular table is something I went and back forth regarding. I wasn’t sure if we need to get it or simply attempt to discover something else similar online. For $250 you are actually obtaining your cash’s worth.
- Wooden Pizza Peels – We obtained these charming little pizza peels. Primarily just for simplicity of having something to make the pizza on and afterwards something to slice the pizza on after it’s baked. They’re very adorable and also rather economical.
- Infrared Thermometer – We have not yet gotten an infrared thermostat but I’ve heard that it’s extremely helpful in recognizing if the pizza oven has actually gotten up to temp and prepares to cook!
>> Click on this link to have a look at the Ooni Pizza Oven <<
WHERE TO BUY AN OONI
You can locate the Ooni pizza ovens on their web site, Amazon, or Williams-Sonoma. The costs are quite similar, yet in some cases they have sales, so check around to see where you can obtain the very best bargain.
CLEANSING
One point that actually enticed me concerning the Ooni was that you don’t need to cleanse it! The temperature level inside the oven obtains so hot that there’s truly no demand to decontaminate or sanitize the inside of it. Obviously, you’ll require to clean down the outside every now and then as dust settles on it, but aside from that no cleaning is called for!
STORAGE
The Ooni Koda 16″ is 25 x 25 x 20 inches. Then the modular table that we placed it on is 30 x 30 inches. We keep it in the corner of our garage and it does not use up too much space. Keeping it out of the snow and also rain will certainly help it last longer. Ooni does make a weatherproof cover as well if you do not have any covered space to store it however.
A tiny pizza cooking inside an Ooni pizza oven outside
GOOD FOR WEEKNIGHT USE
It could seem like a great deal of job to obtain the Ooni all set up simply to make two pizzas (which is what we generally do as a household of 3) but I guarantee you, it’s actually not. The Ooni modular table we got makes it easy to wheel in and out of the garage. Then you just attach the propane and also allow it warmth while you make the pizzas. It’s entirely manageable on a weeknight and also we have not prepared a pizza in our oven considering that we got it!
IT IS WORTH THE HYPE?
The Ooni is worth the cost for the experience that it supplies. I do state experience because I believe that making and also preparing food truly can be an experience.
My general ideas on that Ooni are that I was anticipating everything to be a great deal more work. Overall, I am absolutely elated to discover that the Ooni is in fact a truly basic, uncomplicated, outdoor pizza oven experience. Prepping, heating the oven, as well as cooking the pizzas is quite very easy.
It’s likewise very lightweight and also mobile so I can absolutely see us taking this outdoor camping with us when the wildfires aren’t raging!
IS THE OONI RIGHT FOR YOU?
If you like pizza, have a tiny outside space, a bit of storage space to maintain it dry, and appreciate having a beverage outside while you cook dinner, then yes – the Ooni is for you!
If you’re all set to take a look at the Ooni pizza oven and also determine which one is right for you – CLICK HERE!
It has a pizza rock inside that provides you that delicious, crunchy crust of a standard wood-fired pizza oven.
When you’re cooking pizza in the Ooni, you want your complete focus on that pizza. If I’m in the state of mind for homemade though, we either use my No-Knead Pizza Dough or my Quick Pizza Dough.
Wood Pizza Peels – We obtained these adorable little pizza peels. Mostly just for simplicity of having something to make the pizza on and also after that something to slice the pizza on after it’s baked.