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...dough blackening tool of choice?
Or for £200 should i be buying something else or just getting a stone for the Webber?
Go big or go home. Turns dough into ash in under two minutes.
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Uuni still seems to be the winner for portable ones but a few others are appearing.
Uuni still the winner in my eyes for the mix of portability vs quality of output vs price (especially price) - yes there are Roccbox's and others but you can get an Uuni 3 for £200, a Roccbox is £500
Now for the controversy - while the wood pellets are ace for the man build fire, cook, eat, aspect, in less than favourable conditions (wind mainly) or when trying to get a load done in a short timescale (unless you have a specific fireman to stoke the pellets, keep the hopper flowing, etc.) then the Uuni gas conversion is a damn good investment. You're still cooking the base from under on the stone and the topping with flame, just the flame is made differently and is much more controllable.
https://uk.uuni.net/products/uuni-3-gas-burner
I still use both depending on conditions, particularly using pellets if doing stuff like steaks that rely less on the stone staying at temp and where a bit of smokiness isn't an issue, but sunday for Father's Day i think I've got the family coming and will be doing a dozen or more pizzas and gas wins in that case. I know, flame me!
You might also look at the Uuni Pro, which adds in the chance to use charcoal and whole wood as well as pellets and gas...... but that's not cheap.
We haven't been able to get on with our Uuni. Either it absolutely incinerates everything, or it never gets up to temperature. There's never a happy medium.
Does anyone who uses theirs successfully find the wood pellets affect the end result? I suspect ours have got damp from being in the shed. They aren't the Uuni-branded ones: is it worth getting those instead?
I went gas for the reasons above. the supplied regulator is shite throw that in the bin and get a better one, have better results with propane gas
As above - they can be temperamental. I've got perfectly good results using Plumb Centre sourced pellets, so i don't think using official vs others is the key difference (I don't for a minute think Uuni pellets are coming from a bespoke pizza pellet factory either)
I also keep mine in the shed, but double bagged. Maybe get some out, sperad them out on baking trays and leave in the hot sun for a while this weekend before trying? Or even a batch in a low oven to dry them out. I don't *think* it makes a huge difference but worth ruling it out.
Failing that - consider having a go with the gas conversion. If you're local to me (Surrey) I'd even lend you it one weekend for a try. It'll still turn things to ash in an instant if you put the gas on full and then wander off distracted, but it is more controllable.
I have an Uuni3 and love it.
Took me 2 or 3 tries to get the hang of it but from there things have been fine.
Keep the level of the pellets topped up in the hopper to keep the flame burning properly, having obviously skipped the instructions the first time I didn't realise this and was adding the pellets in every minute to an empty hopper that I assumed was supposed to act as a chimney.
Give it time to get up to temperature, that was my mistake the second time, once it was lit I was cooking within 2 minutes, then noticed that the pizzas were coming out better crisped than the last until they achieve perfection on maybe the 5th one. I think it needs 10 minutes to get to temperature, so patience is needed.
I have only used the Uuni pellets so can't comment on if they are any better than other brands, I have a 20kg box of them in the garage, but decant maybe 2kgs worth into a bag that lives indoors by the kitchen radiator. If yours isn't getting up to temp it has to be an issue with the pellets, they flame like crazy.
So far I have only cooked pizza and other flat bread in mine, plan to branch out into some more experimental stuff through the world cup bbq season.
Watching this with interest - is the Roccbox / Unni Pro really worth £300 more than the Unni3?
Anyone have one of these: https://www.thefirepod.com/?
RM.
Hmm, does sound like it might be the pellets then.
Jon, thanks for the invitation but not nearby. We do already have a gas canister for the camping stove so that might be worth looking at - the missus (for whom the Uuni was bought in the first place!) did say she thought gas was cheating though....
I cannot comment on the Uuni as i don't have one we opted for the Roccbox and it is awesome fanatstic comments from everyone who has sampled our pizzas
Decided to go with the Roccbox as a number of commercial pizza companies use them
+1 for it being the pellets. Mine were tough to get going after the winter layoff, but seem much better now after sitting in a hot shed for a bit!
Uuni are explicit that pellets should be kept inside. The pellets expand and blow as they absorb moisture. We’ve had great pizzas, you have to be on it timing wise. 45 secs and turn. Steaks are great too
I shouldn't have commented on this thread I'm going to end up ordering one. 😂
Middle class option is surely a pizza stone on your ceramic egg style outdoor oven in your bespoke oak table, shirley?
See the first reply.
I agree a **** off Big oven is ace but they take a while to heat up and as my mate has now realised you can’t really move them when you move house. The uuni for the cash is impressive and you can take it out of the shed and be cooking pizza in 20 mins
Anyone used the 'ring type' additins to Weber 57cm BBQs??
How do THEY compare to a stand along pizza oven?
I'm reluctant to have 'another thing' in my garage!
DrP
Similar story as theotherjonv - super happy with the Uuni3 but the gas burner makes it much easier to use - pellets work fine but you really need someone on pellet duty keeping it topped up, or to use something like a jam funnel to keep a bigger supply. Plus if you're cooking for a while on pellets the burner needs ash clearing out (air needs to flow in from the back and underneath) which isn't a problem with gas.
Uuni Pro looks nice but size and weight (it's something like 26kg) makes it a bigger undertaking to pull out of the shed or take with you somewhere. And if I had £500 to spend I'd probably get a Roccbox.
Mate built a huge pizza oven in his garden and it's great for knocking out 50+ pizzas for a party but way too much setup / warmup time if you just want a few for a family meal. He's bought an Uuni now too.
Love my Uuni, it really is good. Hmmm, I fancy pizza this weekend
Just buy new pellets, the plumb centre ones are so cheap it's not even worth thinking about
Uuni 3 with the gas conversion here. Brilliant.
However, you need an IR thermometer and have to hone your dough skills.
Get a jam funnel wang it on top of the pellet hopper and it increases capacity and makes topping up easier. Thank me later...
I've recently bought a Uuni 3 and found it pretty good so far. I've not had any issue with getting it up to heat and keeping it there but I have bought one of the jam funnels but not tried it yet. Also bought one of the sizzler pans but not tried that yet either.
So far I'm fine with the actual cooking of the pizza's and also making the dough (helped by my breadmaker). The thing I'm still getting up to speed with is rolling out the dough although I'm starting to make some progress with that now.
Anyone used the ‘ring type’ additins to Weber 57cm BBQs??
How do THEY compare to a stand along pizza oven?
Very keen to know this as well. I see Weber discontinued their own pizza oven conversion thing but I'm not surprised as it didn't look very good. I don't think there's room in the shed for a 4th outdoor cooking device so a conversion for an existing one (that works) would be great.
theotherjonv - do you know if that gas conversion kit will fit a Uuni 2s? been thinking of getting one for a while, although saying that we never have any major problems with wood pellets (except i left them on a damp concrete floor and they expanded over winter. tried drying out but turned to dust so just bought another bag off amazon)
we have a good little production line when we use ours, partner sorts the dough, rolls out and adds the tomato base/cheese/herbs, kids add toppings, i look after the uuni and do the cooking/mild incineration. its too much trying to do everything on yourself!
Watching how this unfolds - a pizza oven is just the ticket for "next home project to spunk money on"
Uuni community (should that be comm-uuni-ty) on FB is usually good for this although there are some argumentative ****s too who try it once, struggle with regulating on pellets, and then just frequent the page to say how shit it is and why Roccbox / others are so much better.
I've got a 3 so don't know for definite, but people say it fits, but there's an issue that the burner is a bit far forward so throws the heat too far in front and so doesn't get the oven as hot as it should be. Others say they've had no issues. YMMV
Uuni 3 purchased!
cheers all 👍
Mrs Tiger currently wielding the Allen key and dough is proving
tip then, is go simple to start with. Passata as a base, grated mozzarella (yes, fresh better but it can be very wet, so you need to break your ball into pieces and dry it out a bit sitting on some paper towels) and decent ham (parma / serrano)
You might also need some semolina or rice flour to dust your peel - better than wheat flour, it's a bit coarser so lets the pizza slide a bit better, and while you can do it with decent qtys of wheat flour that can burn and taste a bit bitter. Worth getting a couple or three other peels as well so you can be stretching and loading on a peel which you can then launch from, and use the Uuni peel for rotating. I have three of these which means for family cooks we can have them sequentially loaded so they don't sit on them too long, where they can stick if your dough is damp.
Cooking. Turn it regularly. Like every 15-20s potentially, better to be pulling out too soon and then putting it in again than leaving it too late (ooer). Half turns to start with and you'll soon see which bit needs more and which needs less.
I genuinely don't get the issues people have with the pellets. Must be the sort of folk who also burn everything on the bar-b-q. I absolutely love my uuni, one of the greatest recommendations to ever come off stw. A mate who is a bit of a foody and a damn good cook proclaimed when we were camping last month that the pizza I cooked was the best he'd ever eaten, dont get me wrong he did his own toppings etc but it was my dough cooked with pellets/fire/man and non of this gas burner bollox.
Buy one you'll love it!
Agree on more peels but get cheap wooden ones, the alu sheet ones are great for turning but raw pizza dough sticks like crazy even with semolina.
Some people do struggle but I think the main mistake is not keeping the hopper full, and it needs topping up (very) regularly. If that burns down you need to refill and wait for it to get going properly again.
cheap wooden like the link I posted?
@wrightyson, no I generally don't have an issue either apart from when it's particularly windy, and / or I'm trying to cook lots as well as have a chance to chat to people, which is when gas gets the nod for convenience.
I’ve bought a Roccbox year ago, don’t regret it. It’s much more consistent than temperamental Uuni (based on users reviews).
Can fire pellets or just use *gas*, it’s much more quicker no faff affair. Results are always the same, no matter if it was rainy,windy, snowy outside. It bangs out 90 second pizzas like a factory without worrying about feeding pellets, soot-smoke, rivets bending etc.
Roccbox is built like a tank, hence the price. Try to find second hand one? There are second hand Uuni but why no Roccbox’s?
Dont think I will sell mine, it’s portable enough to take it camping but granted it’s not as light as Uuni. It looks better, cooler, it does easily outperform Uuni hands down ... ask street pizza vendors who’s the daddy of portable ovens... most will tell you, either go proper pizza oven or Roccbox, period.
Check Facebook group: *Roccbox, Uuni & all other brands* ... see yourself, and read stories about someone buying Uuni then learning the whole pizza curve, dumping Uuni on eBay and get Roccbox to celebrate the best portable pizza oven.
For some reason Canadians and Americans like Roccbox more than offerings from Uuni. The waiting list can be for months, if you’re unlucky. So think carefully.
Got Uuni pro in their crowd funding pre manufacture offer. Really enjoy using it. Being able to use a wood and charcoal combination is a real bonus.
Probably had to use it about a dozen times before I’d got the techniques down to a fine enough art that it became an (almost) unthinking routine that could be done with a beer in hand whilst chatting. The only think I struggle with now is getting everything sorted for a big run of pizza (say more than 6). An assistant me one important as prepping and cooking simultaneously is tricky as is keeping to heat high.
Dont forget sizzlers. Cooking in those too is great in a Uuni. Currently it’s about 4 Uuni meals to every bbq.
@popstar - yep, I agree and if I had my time again I might go the same way, but don't (anyone) make the mistake of thinking that the Uuni isn't good. It is excellent, even if it isn't as well built, and is a bit temperamental, but that to me is also a bit of the charm. It does take a bit of time to work out how to use it and it's proper cooking for that reason. The gas overcomes some of the issues particularly for large cooks, IMHO, but on a good day, with the time to spend the right attention to the process the pellet cook is brilliant. And it's also £250-300 cheaper than the competition, which was the deciding factor for me, not actually knowing how much pizza I'd actually make.
Answer - is lots.... but it's not just pizza, also steaks, cajun blackened salmon is lush, flammekuechen, and with gas it's also easy enough fire up, let it heat up while you to get a tortilla base, spread it with nutella, cover with banana or strawberries, slam in and just use it for desert.
If I'd known it was going to get this use I'd possibly have found the extra to go Roccbox or Uuni Pro (wasn't around at the time) but if your budget is £200 don't shy away from the Uuni just because there are better options for twice the price.
Usage report:
Went well and made really nice pizza, had friends over cooked about 6 or 7 got the hang of turning to avoid burning.
Need to make better dough but so far impressed. Friends that came over are off to buy one aswell
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Dough - definitely seems to be an advantage to making it with minimal yeast 3 or 4 days ahead of time and leaving it in the fridge.....as long as you take it out 4 or 5 hours before use. Having said that an impromptu pizza last Sunday and I made the dough a couple of hours before and it was good too. Extra (4 in my case) Wooden peels were the biggest move forward for me. You can prep batches of pizza much easier as the don’t stick to wood as much as aluminum and launch much better (obscene use metal to fetch it out and turn it).
Extra peels ordered (cheers JV) and will be making some dough for round 2 tonight.
Noticed it used quite a lot of pellets, I think this was just as it was going for a while as we made pizza and faffed on one peel.
Somebody mentioned an alternative source of pellets?
Villa in Tuscany last summer had a built in pizza oven. Italian supermarkets sell amazing pre made pizza dough, whereas the stuff over here is rubbish. How much of a faff is the dough making?
Got to confess I lob all the ingredients in a bread maker and press the pizza dough button. So 5mins for me and 45min for the machine.
Doing it yourself - 20mins max maybe.
Somebody mentioned an alternative source of pellets?
https://www.wolseley.co.uk/product/balcas-brites-wood-pellet--non-trade-10-kg/
Ta - no biggie then.
that Uuni Pro looks a monster machine.
I would have to agree, in terms of cycling slang ... Uuni is a hippy single speed rigid bike while Roccbox is a fancy carbon full sus.
I can easily see the appeal and affordability of an Uuni for occasional pizza maker. It s just when things go more serious about fancy artisan pizza ... that's when you start to think about why Roccbox costs more.
At the moment Uuni offering is a very first step to artisan pizza and it is the most competitive at $200? Yes, please!
I love dough making. Find it randomly therapeutic.
The unni Facebook page is full of people who've ghetto modded their ovens. None of it is necessary, you just need to be organised. A light breezy does help with initial firing but once she's up and burning it's brilliant. All good things come to those who wait and I always have a sacrificial ball of dough for a test run to check cooking temps prior to the main cook.
@popstar, I was going to use the same analogy in a slightly different way.
If someone fancied a go at MTB'ing but didn't know if they'd like it or use it much...... clearly a carbon Santa Cruz with wall to wall XT would be a fine tool for the job, but if you've only got £700 then a Rockrider from Decathlon will still let you go riding and see whether it's for you or not.
You might in time want to upgrade, or you might decide it's not for you. Or you might ride the Rockrider until the wheels fall off with a grin on your face the whole time. Whatever, it's still riding and it's still great fun!
Anyone know good technique for cleaning burnt stuff from the stone between pizzas?
What stuff are you managing to get stuck to the stone? Not a problem I have ever experienced.
Getting the oven properly hot and a stiff bristle brush to sweep it out when carbonised would be my guess. I know some big commercial ones use a lump of dough wrapped around a broom to kind of wipe down the inside of the oven.
Just bits of burnt pizza bottom?
Just end up with black on the next pizza.
Is it burnt stuff stuck to the stones or just black 'dust'?
I use a stainless burger flipper.
it it's just charring from the sliding flour (see tip re semolina) don't bother, use the other side of the stone next time and it'll magically clean itself - at least as much as it needs to.
Okay thanks all.
Okay, just done cook #2 and I’m stuffed.
It’s a bit of a learning curve! Dough better but I made my own base sauce and it was too wet.
Still it tasted good even if it made the dough too heavy to easily slide off the paddle thing
Slowly reduce the base sauce in a pan on the hob until its more or less a thick paste that you spread on rather than a sauce that pours on. My personal favourite is garlic butter smeared over a pizza with some cheese on top and thats it... served with a rare rib eye and mushrooms done in the uuni on a cast iron skillet.
Next its some marinated chicken tandori style..
our favourite is a pizza base, cheese (choose your poison; blue, goat, mozzarella all good), and then some tangy o<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">nion marmalade, eg: </span>
Perfect for sharing while others prep up their own pizzas for cooking
Semolina is great from slidding however I think it is really just a band aid. Using a metal peel to put the pizza in you will need it and a fairly brisk action. Switch to a wooden peel for insertion and use a tiny bit of flour. This is much easier and requires no throw to get the pizza off the peel (a gentle tapping is enough). Wood in metal out, simples ;).
we've just seen a uuni for sale in our local facebook ads, for £50. she thinks its a uuni 3. i assume thats a bargain? if its not a 3, and its an early mk1 or whatever theyre called, would it still be a billy bargain for £50?
thanks
EDIT: just been told its a 2. that still a good price for a second hand jobbie?
If it’s a 2S it’s no bad, need to confirm if it has a square pizza stone as part of it.
its definitely just a 2, and not sure about the stone, should that be a dealbreaker?
They need a stone to cook properly, if not it’s a burned top and a soggy bottom and no one likes a soggy bottom 😉
you’d need to factor in the price of a stone have a look on the uuni site for prices but I’m thinking £30 plus. You might get something on amazon cheaper but need to make sure it’ll fit.
At £80-90 it feels less of a bargain imho but if it’s in good condition then perhaps....
Perhaps a bit wrong the stones are £20 plus delivery from uuni so maybe not too expensive.
A bit late to the Uuni party but I bought one last year for our house in France. It was a reluctant purchase (I wanted to build a proper oven) but it has been a revelation. I have used it every day since we got it to make a small lunchtime pizza to serve with salad.
I got a free bag of Uuni pellets but once they were gone I bought what ever was cheapest (France is awash with pellets for heating systems). As I say I use it everyday and it costs about 4€ a month.
I make my own dough, it takes 10 mins max and that lasts 5 days. Yeast, Salt, Glug of olive oil, 1 cup water, 3 cups T45 flour. Mix in a bowl. Knead for 5 mins on surface, put back in a bowl, cover with cling film and put in the fridge. That's it. As I finish one batch I make the next. It really is that simple.
No complaints here. Nice mix of traditional pizzas (cheese, ham, passata base) some more adult ones (blue cheese and goat cheese instead of mozza, etc. A couple of 3 cheese and caremelised onion for sharing..... and then nutella and pineapple, and nutella, thin sliced apple and a sprinkling of demerara on top for pudding (you have to precook the bases for deserts, or use a tortilla base; to give a dough base time to cook from scratch the nutella is just a charred mass)
Nomnomnom.
how are y'all shaping your pizzas, safety first by stretching on the worktop or fancy spinning in the air type wizardry?
Slowly moving towards spinning in the air. All down to the dough though. If it's not stretchy enough there is no point trying to spin.
Anyone know good technique for cleaning burnt stuff from the stone between pizzas?
You can pull the stone out and flip it over between uses; it will be nearly clean on the underside. You can't do it while hot, though...
Dough is really easy - https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/bread-recipes/pizza-dough/
Following this with interest. As I’m been undecided between the uuni 3 and the roccbox.
any stwers actually pullled the trigger on a roccbox pizza oven ? Are they any good ?
Im slightly reticent about paying 500 quid for something unseen and for which there don’t seem to be many real world experiences / reviews.
Aldi are selling a Pizza oven/BBQ and Smoker for £80 just now. Could be worth it as a test to see if you use it much or fancying spending loads more money on something fancy?
Bit of a PSA
Got 20kg of this Balas Brites delivered for just over £12 on eBay turned up 2 days after ordering.
Just search eBay for Balcas Brites 👍
Im slightly reticent about paying 500 quid for something unseen and for which there don’t seem to be many real world experiences / reviews.
I have a unni 3, when funds allow I'll be getting a roccbox
[quote=Tiger6791]
Bit of a PSA
Got 20kg of this Balas Brites delivered for just over £12 on eBay turned up 2 days after ordering.
Just search eBay for Balcas Brites
bit of a rubbish one £9.59 for 30kg here...
Saw that also but + £6 Delivery and you have the faff of another account
ebay was buy now / PayPal / done 👍
I've never bothered unboxing the pellet attachment for my pro (or the gas attachment come to that) so can really comment on the authenticity but I thought general heating pellets were frowned upon for use as a cooking fuel. Or is that just bollox to encourage you to buy 'premium' pellets? Something to do with what's in them not tasting great.
Possibly......many words exchanged on it on the UUNI FB site (which i don't follow any more because it's now full of people slagging it off in place of the Roocboxx, used to be very helpful) yet no real evidence.
But i suspect they are much of a muchness, and they all come from pretty much the same place. And I've never noticed a difference, maybe a bit more smoke and ash on start up / top up (aka New Pope mode in our house) possibly due to higher softwood content, but if you get up to heat and cook only when it's it a raging inferno (on a dark night you can get flames out of the chimney!!) I can't tell a difference in the quality of the pizza.
As an alternative to to the uuni or roccbox has anyone got an igneus?
https://www.thepizzaovenshop.com/igneus-pizza-oven/
I'm thinking of getting a bambino. Looks like the igneus is log fired whereas the uuni and roccbox are pellet fired?? Is that right?
Interested to know what makes the Roccbox worth the upgrade Bruneep?
@muttley
That oven place had a stall at a County show, displaying the uuni alongside the igneus range. Unless you wanted the portability of the uuni, the bambino looked to be the better oven on construction & size. It was also “powered” by kindling sticks rather than pellets. I was a whisker away from buying one, but was reminded by Mrs Lex that we have an almost unused Chimera and infrequently used BBQ, so £300 stayed in the sky rocket.
The Bambino and the Roccbox both look good however experience so far with the Uuni 3 has been good and it's a lot cheaper. If we use it enough I wouldn't rule out us upgrading at some point (maybe to the Uuni Pro) as the Uuni 3 we'd then probably leave in our motorhome for holiday use.
I've got a couple of batches of pizza dough proving at the moment for dinner tonight - one with just 00 flour and one with a mix. Still working on my pizza rolling skills but slowly improving.
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Saw that also but + £6 Delivery and you have the faff of another account
ebay was buy now / PayPal / done 👍
strange, I order mine to collect from the local center and cost nout perhaps only if they have them in stock?