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So we make pizzas every week usually and love them. My usual techniqe is shove 4 pizza stones (well actually just left over floor tiles) into our regular fan oven, turn it up to max and leave it for 40 mins. 4 pizzas are cooked in around 13mins and if I don't screw up too much then we get 4 nice, bubbly pizzas with slightly burned edges but still a but soft
but, always interested to know if we can do better. The difference with using a proper pizza oven (ooni style thing or even a pro pizza oven is actually quite cheap) is you can get up to 400C rather than 240 but does it make such a difference to make it worth having another 'thing' in the house? What do the STPizza experts say? Are you happy with your Ooni/watever or does it not make such a huge difference over a regular oven + stone cranked up to max? Anyone using one of the more modern ovens that go up to 300 and are happy with those? Is it not worth the faff?
We have a heavy outdoor oven which makes great pizzas but occasional still cook them indoors. We use a hob/grill method. Pizza stone right in the top of the oven to heat soak. Heavy cast iron pan on the hob heated till it's just about to smoke. Fresh rolled into the pan and then top while it starts to cook. I think it's 3 minutes in the pan then transfer to the pizza stone with the grill set to max. Another 3/4 minutes and it's done. Only down side is we have damaged the lecrueset frying pans surface slightly, this is because it's enameled. Use a pan that is not enameled.
Heavy cast iron pan on the hob heated till it's just about to smoke
What an excellent idea. Will at least give me an idea of what being able to go hotter does. Did once try the pizza stone on the bbq idea but actually got so hot set everything on fire and was a bit of a mess and took a lot of cleaning afterwards. Was fun though 🙂 (see also making ice cream using dry ice and an old Kenwood mixer)
A proper pizza oven makes all the difference IMO – we started doing 'Saturday Pizza Night' in lockdown with pizza stones in the oven (which took around 15-20 mins to cook). When I got a proper pizza oven in 2022 (just a gas one for lack of faff), the difference was significant – pizzas in a few minutes, with a much nicer taste/bite and generally much more authentic. I've posted a few times in the past about this as we've had a few 'big' nights making pizzas for 15+ people (generally for our twin daughters' birthday parties) and they are usually very well received. I cook on mine indoors in the winter too (with the cooker extractor on full blast).
BTW, my pizza oven is a 'Cozzee' branded one - a third of the price of an Ooni. If it ever breaks, I'll be prepared to spend a bit more on one with a wider opening if I have to, as this one can't do calzone pizzas (there just isn't room).
I got a intro ooni on eBay for £100. Got pre made dough balls and some nice charcuterie for a place in Devon.
Took about 15mins to get to temp. Oh my goodness my enduja and gorgonzola pizza was so bloody good and about 3 mins to cook.
Tested temp by putting a bit of dough in and seeing what happened. Up to temp when it cooked quickly.
Char grilled veg is our favourite use for our Ooni plus it is brilliant for cooking contaminants out of brake pads.
i had a thread going on the pizzamaking forum a while back, the experts insisted i could make new york style pizzas just as well in my kitchen oven as a dedicated pizza oven. they were right.
i bought a steel to keep the heat absorbed longer, pre-heated the oven to max (275ish?) for 45 mins or so, and after a few minutes turned the dial from oven to grill to make sure the top was well done.
top pizzas every time!
nothing to lose by trying it.
There's a reason why pizza restaurants don't use a regular oven 😉
The difference is massive.
But you need to use it outside.
nothing to lose by trying it
Nice idea but my oven doesn't have a grill :(. Interesting to know that 275 worked well though. If I ever wanted to change I can get a built in oven that does 300 whereas you need a specific pizza thing to get to 400
I got a intro ooni on eBay for £100
Good point. Sometimes it's possible to get something second hand to try and then just sell if on if it doesn't work
photos are allowed as well....
We picked up a still-boxed unused 2nd hand '1st gen' Ooni gas pizza oven on something like Gumtree or Faceache market place (Mrs found it) inc a stainless steel top trolley etc a few months ago. All in for less than half the price of a new new oven alone. Even got to register it for the warranty! (Guy had bought a bigger electric one before getting chance to use the gas one, still had the receipts etc. We just fell lucky. And I'd already got a 15kg propane gas cylinder.
Also have a stone that fits the gas BBQ, that I've used in the kitchen oven a few times. (Same as the OP - Oven on max + grill on too)
We're still absolute novices, I do find the outdoor Ooni better as it's so much faster (as it is still another 100C+ hotter). Probably grt the indoor oven to 300C or so. Outdoor Ooni seems to get the base cooked much better than the stone in the oven. But we've a lot to learn yet.
Great tip on decontaminating brake pads in it 👍
Interesting to know that 275 worked well though
Well it does need the grill to finish it off.
If I wasn't having such good results I'd have bought another dedicated pizza oven. I had my eye on a new name, diavalo I think it was. Cheaper than ooni and looked to be as good from reviews, so that might be worth a look
Great tip on decontaminating brake pads in it
this is what we need to know. At the moment I just hold them over our gas stove, works a treat
I did the pizza stone thing for a long time. Then i got an Ooni and its night an day. Its not just time, the whole taste and texture of the dough is different. I had a wood pellet version but it was quite a faff so i did the home conversion to gas thing and even though its lost a bit of that smokey flavour the pizzas are now more consistent and easier.
same as above - oven and stone for a long time.
moved to an ooni - on our second ooni now.
BIL has a ninja electric pizza oven - even thats considerably better than the built in oven.
Its a night and day difference between domestic oven and wood fired ooni.
Theyre a bit tricky to get right, and obviously its an outside thing (they do do an indoor electric one, but no idea whether its any good)
They pack down reasonably well, weve taken ours (van) camping and on family holidays.
you can pick them up on marketplace easily enough. There was a battered one going for 20 quid down here the other week.
Get a knackered one to test drive?
Its a night and day difference between domestic oven and wood fired ooni.
not just wood fired - but anything that is 400c plus rather than 250c will vastly improve your pizza
I got an ooni gas thing and it lives in a cabinet I built for it outside so I can use it when ever. cook at 450c. Pretty instant, takes a while to get to temp but it is low effort. I'm just a bit shit at getting the dough right and haven't bothered buying pre made ones as I feel i can learn at some point!
Before that we were doing frying pan pizzas but there's no comparison or work around that will be as good as the ooni
ok, am going to have to keep an eye on the second hand sites for a bit then :). Disappointed in the lack of photos though. Liking the look of the Ooni Volt 2 a lot but it's only just out so zero chance of second hand
My middle sister works for ooni.
She uses wood and charcoal, I tried that but found it trickier to maintain the fuel more hassle and more likely to burn quicker.
I use gas I crank it up and leave it to heat (also cleans the stone) The fire the pizza in. Takes a minute or two. Less for my boys as I want no crispy bits leading to dinner refusal. The only problem with gas is when you realize it's ran out mid session.
It has lived outside for 3 years now. No cover just open to the elements.
Dough, use the ooni recipe. And knead, the longer the better.
I mix, knead then leave to prove/rest. I then knead for a while then ball it up then leave. Stretching, treat it well and don't be to rough.
Pizza oven pizzas are much better the base rises better and doesn't dry out like it would in an oven at lower temperatures.
Not a particularly exciting margarita but a picture all the same.
MrsMcF, against my wishes, bought ship bought frozen pizza declaring cooing myself was too much hassle, she admitted she was wrong.
I'm going to buy a cast iron pan for it too.
I also make garlic bread in it.
And here's the picture. 
Not a particularly exciting margarita but a picture all the same.
Margarita is the king of pizzas. Nailing that is a life's mission
Fairly cheap outdoor wood oven here - bit of a mission to keep the heat up/fuel stocked/dough rolled and topped, but so much better than in the kitchen oven. The (teenage) kids won't accept anything else now.
Sourdough pizzas are good, but I don't bake enough to justify the upkeep of a starter
Liking the look of the Ooni Volt 2 a lot
It's only 12 inch though – that's a bit on the small size, but I can see the attraction of electric for year-round indoor pizzas.
Mine is slightly bigger at 13 inches and I wouldn't want it any smaller. I have just looked online and it's at a really good price on Amazon right now.
Edit: Cheaper here!
I don't have any pictures of pizza, but here's one of lots and lots of dough when we did pizzas for our daughters' birthday party...
liking the organisation there 🙂
Just checked our pizzas and we are normally just under 12in so all is good. What I did notice though was that with our oven I need to keep the sauce a bit drier. Tried a different way of making the sauce today and although tasty the end result was just too wet
4 pizzas done in oven in 13 mins. End result was tasty but a bit wetter than usual