So I'm considering dippping my toe into home pizza making. I know a few on here already so this and was wondering what ovens you have. I gather Ooni are generally considered the best. Does anyone have this Vonhaus one? About half the price of an Ooni and gets great reviews. https://www.vonhaus.com/vh_en/tabletop-pizza-oven?gclid=CjwKCAjw_uGmBhBREiwAeOfsd0o2rJtPiBW9B9j5U0e9G4lqLkle5yaAPE3yPTy4KdToXxVsKeYt2BoC6IkQAvD_BwE

I bought an Oono Fyra about 2.5 years ago. I can’t really recommend that specific model but I’m currently shopping for the Koda 16. I say this as a bit of a Neapolitan pizza obsessive- Regardless of popular opinion you’re not going to notice a wood fired taste in an oven the size of a Ooni in the 60-90 seconds it takes to cook. Gas gives you huge simplicity over wood with no real drawbacks. It’s fun at first to cook with wood and it feels all authentic but then you realise it’s a bit of a faff and you just want great pizza. The Fyra is great in that it’s relatively affordable and portable, we’ve taken it to friends houses etc. but there are a few drawbacks; The pellet feed gets blocked easily and can result in having to start over. Really annoying when you’ve got hungry people waiting for pizzas. It’s VERY sensitive to wind, and any gusts will blow the flame away from the oven meaning it cools. Temp stability is pretty bad. It’s easy enough to get it up to 500 C, but I’ve actually had it go beyond that which is arguably too hot to cook a Neapolitan pizza and there’s no simple way of maintaining a consistent temp. I find the pizza from a Fyra too small but that’s personal preference. Final tips would be do a bit of learning on making proper pizza (check out YouTube videos of Anthony Mangieri). Definitely worth the effort!

> @"dutchy101"#p51014 So I’m considering dippping my toe into home pizza making If you want to get into making pizza, you can make pizza without a pizza oven: learn to make dough, sauce, stretch the base and, if you enjoy the process, then buy the pizza oven. We make pizza regularly and simply use a box standard kitchen oven - it works just fine. In the same way that one does not need football boots to play football. If you are already into making pizza and just want to go onto the next step, then disregard everything I wrote above and go for it. 👍

> @"MediumRoastSteam"#p51018 If you want to get into making pizza, you can make pizza without a pizza oven: learn to make dough, sauce, stretch the base and, if you enjoy the process, then buy the pizza oven. Good advice here. I've been on a couple of courses over the years and really enjoyed it. Thinking it would be a good thing to do with the kids.

@"Ernie1"#p51016 Thanks - this is very useful. So in your opinion, a gas controlled oven is better for overall control with very little disernable taste difference from wood fired?

Yeah. I used to be all ‘gotta be wood fired for that wood oven taste’ but it really isn’t noticeable in a home oven. When you’ve got a huge pizzeria dome with selected woods you obviously get the flavour but I think gas just offers so much convenience at home. You literally switch it on like a gas hob and you’ve got a degree of control over the temp too. To @"MediumRoastSteam"#51 point, you can indeed get great pizza at home. It’s a great way to perfect your pizza making before you indulge in the oven. We did the same, I told myself I wouldn’t get a pizza oven til I could make great pizza in the kitchen oven. If you’re cooking NY/Chicago style pizza I’m not sure a pizza oven really adds much merit but for Neapolitan, you need the 450-500 C temps to get the ultra-quick rise and leoparding on properly cooked dough that keeps its chew.

> @"Ernie1"#p51022 If you’re cooking NY/Chicago style pizza I’m not sure a pizza oven really adds much merit but for Neapolitan, you need the 450-500 C temps to get the ultra-quick rise and leoparding on properly cooked dough that keeps its chew. I want Neapolitan style for sure.

What @"MediumRoastSteam"#51 said, you can make a very good homemade pizza in a standard oven so unless you're trying to improve on that then I'd look at perfecting it in your normal oven first. I use my oven at its highest temperature and it takes 6 minutes to cook a pizza.

The thing with working with a domestic oven first is you'll be working with different cooking times and even different dough recipes to account for that. I went straight for the Ooni and don't regret it. The only thing I'd recommend is going for the bigger models for versatility. I got the oven before there were multiple knock offs hitting the market. They may be a bargain but I can't comment. Also, Gozney were considered the best at the time in the portable oven market. +1 for gas. You can make good pizza in a domestic oven but not neapolitan.

I think going portable is a good move for me as I'll keep it in my shed, plus I think I'd want a larger one. Will so some research as I'd rather pay once and get the right oven from the outset

I have a conversion for my Weber kettle, it's finky but I get good pizza, I've always fancied an ooni for ease. I'd love a stone built one. Edited bleeding phone predicted text

Pizza Oven Advice

dutchy101

Pizza Hut has to be the worst of the worst when it comes to pizza. I always smile when I recall a story my mate told me when he was taking his team out for lunch and suggested they go to Franco Manca. One of his team objected on the grounds that she was “a pizza snob” and only ate Pizza Hut pizza.

scwheeler

dutchy101 While I loved Pizza Hut as a kid, it put me off any pizza that wasn’t Neapolitan up until recently.

After stumbling across really good Roman pizza during a trip to Rome and then visiting the bakery of ex-celebrity chef Bonci (he’s on Netflix in an episode of Chef’s Table:Pizza), I rarely make or buy Neapolitan pizza these days (although I still love it - particularly a white base with Nduja blobbed on top 🤤).

The Roman’s are fanatical about toppings preferably only using local seasonal ingredients. The base should have a lovely thin crisp/chewy crust while the rest of the base is very airy and light. Not like the stodge/greasefest of Pizza Hut 🤮

It’s part of the reason I want to update my oven to gas so I have more controllability to keep a lower temperature instead of the raging furnace with the pellets!

Ernie1

Pizza is one of the foods we seem to be able to get very good examples of pretty much nationwide.

Franco Manca was my introduction to Neapolitan pizza at their Broadway Market location in Hackney. In about 2014 I think. Great to see them all over the place now. I feel like it’s the 2020s Pizza Express where you can just get reliably good pizza every time.

Every town/city seems to have a very good pizza place these days.

Still makes me smile when you see the trip advisor reviews on that style of pizza from people saying ‘Soggy pizza, undercooked… avoid!!!’ 😂

dutchy101

Ernie1 Still makes me smile when you see the trip advisor reviews on that style of pizza from people saying ‘Soggy pizza, undercooked… avoid!!!’ 😂

Haha excellent.

Ernie1

That Chef’s Table Pizza is a great watch!! Especially the Japan episode.

Meldrew

Our first introduction to supposedly original American Pizza was When we went to New York. I booked us on a day tour (A slice of Brooklyn pizza tour) Part of the tour we were booked into two pizza places. The one in the picture was supposedly a famous place called Grimaldi, in Dumbo just under the Brooklyn Bridge. You cannot book a table so have to queue for a table. Our tour was able to book so we walked in past the people queuing, we were not very popular. The second pizza stop was at L&B Spumoni gardens in Bensonhurst. Must admit the Pizzas were good. The big black truck with the blacked out windows was our tour bus. We looked like the mafia turning up.

Emc2

It’s a steep learning curve and it’s easy to lose track of what’s really important. The most important part in my view is kneading the dough well. I still hand knead but may get a Kitchenaid if I can convince my other half..

Forget about poolish, biga and so on . All you need is flour, water and instant yeast. I would recommend the PizzApp for determining the quantities.

Today’s pizza with 70 percent hydration, 6hrs at room temperature, nothing fancy..

Systemic

Since moving house recently, our Ooni has been sitting neglected on the patio so been forced to rely on bought pizza which, generally, I dislike. Came across Crosta and Mollica range - for bought pizza, they’re much better than anything else IMO.

Cuprajake

Son has a friend stopping Tonight so he chose a local Italian restaurant for takeaway pizza

Absolute shite

One slice rest is going in the bin

Systemic

Amazed how bad pizza can be in UK. IMO cardinal requirements are: wood fired oven, double zero flour, buffalo mozzarella and San Marzano tomato sauce. Luckily, we’ve got a pukka pizzeria who also deliver. I always go for the Margarita and never disappointed.

Ando

After a long time on the fence I am going to pull the trigger on an Ooni and come down the pizza making rabbit hole.

My question is - how often do Lakeland run the 20% off deals? I am willing to wait to save a little extra over the 10% discount I can get direct from Ooni.

Emc2

Ando fairly regularly. The codes are often posted on the Ooni UK Facebook group. If I get a voucher, I can send it to you.

dutchy101

It seemed like a very short deal when I nabbed mine. Seemed to go back up to full price after a couple of days

Ando

Emc2 That would be magic, thanks. I sacked social media a few years ago so miss out on stuff like that

Ando

Emc2 Managed to source 15% discount so trigger has been pulled.

dutchy101

Great 30% discount code for Black Friday for Ooni on their website if anyone’s interested: PRO-OONI-BLACK-FRIDAY

My brother’s just bagged the 16 inch gas oven for £350 with this

MacPhisto

Late comer to this discussion. I built an oven about 15 years ago and while I love it, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the small gas or pellet options. I’ve used them at friends’ places and they certainly have aspects that improve upon the “real” thing. Quicker heat up time, easier to control temperature and less environmental impact to name a couple advantages. I’ve also never understood the debate about the flavor of wood smoke in a large pizza oven. The temperatures are too hot for aromatic smoke, not to mention the height of a dome generally eliminates smoke reaching anything on the oven floor.

Of course, a big oven is great for feeding crowds and it’s much easier to roast a whole chicken, make a large dessert or overnight a pot of Italian beans.

Systemic

Bought a gas burner for my Ooni Pro. It’s convenient to use if you’re baking back to back but it doesn’t get as hot as using wood.

MacPhisto

Systemic

That’s surprising. I would think that’s more of an insulation issue than a fuel issue, but they’re both variables on the same side of the equation. Are the gas burners really small?

The advantage (and disadvantage) of a big brick oven is that the amount of insulated mass retains heat really well. Takes forever to heat up though. I plan on 2 hours of lead time before cooking in my oven, but it will still be warm the next day.

scwheeler

If I had the money I’d get the best of both worlds and get the Gozney Dome - big enough to bake bread or a roast chicken but small enough to heat quickly. Looks cute like a baby full size Gozney too 😂

My friend also had the same issue with the gas burner on his Rocbox not getting up to as high temperatures. Having said that, having used his Rocbox I now prefer a slightly lower temperature to bake at.

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