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

Jony

Pull yourself together man 😂

dutchy101

Ooni sale on at the moment:

https://uk.ooni.com/collections/sale?utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=campaign%20UK%20Flash%20Sale%20Launch%20en-GB%2010296926

FadedFrontiers

dutchy101 very tempted by the ooni koda, someone talk me out of it!

HarveyMushman

I must admit as much as I want to like it I’m kind of disappointed with mine, had more than one occasion where a breeze has blown the burner out and the oven has cooled down.

I had a fair few good pizzas with the Fyra I had before, but that ended up being unreliable also with pellets getting clogged and not feeding properly. I also had QC issues with the first two I had.

I think if do get another pizza oven it’ll be a dual-fuel Gozney. A friend of mine just bought one and it’s brilliant.

To be fair to the Ooni they’re perfectly capable of making great pizza, and I know many people have no problems with them.

Not like we get the weather to use them in the UK anymore anyway!

dutchy101

Maybe I’m lucky but mine has never blown out. I do have it set up on my patio with a 6 foot fence behind it .

My brother has the same one and despite no fences near it, he’s not had any issues either.

We both have the Ooni Koda

HarveyMushman

dutchy101

Perhaps mine is faulty. We live in a pretty urban area with a fairly sheltered garden and it goes out even with a light breeze.

I might speak to Ooni and see what they say.

dutchy101

HarveyMushman

Yes that doesn’t sound right at all - I’d definitely contact them

Systemic

@HarveyMushman You aren’t alone. My Karu 16 burner is also playing up. Runs fine for around 30 mins then cuts out. It’s nothing to do with wind. I’ve run an Ooni Pro for years on gas in quite windy conditions and not experienced blow outs. I’ve done all the things recommended by Ooni to no avail so I contacted Ooni a couple of days ago and raised a ticket. Got a reply yesterday asking for a video of me lighting the burner and the cut out problem. My Karu burner has never lit from cold using built in piezo - always light it via a match. However, once warm, it relights no problem using the piezo.

HarveyMushman

Systemic

Not good that you’re having problems but reassuring in some ways to know I’m not the only one.

I’d not considered that it could just be a fault with the burner rather than the wind. We’ve had similar problems. I fire it up to heat and start prepping to make pizza, occasionally we’ll get one cooked and then come back to it and it’s gone out.

It’s just a bit frustrating with the issues I’ve had in the past with Ooni. The first Fyra I had started flaking bits of rust off the inside onto pizzas and customer support tried to tell me it was patina… Eventually they exchanged it. Then I had a stone snap in my hand and nearly slice my foot.

The downside of gas is that the oven cools so quickly once it’s out which really ruins the flow if you’re making pizza for a group.

Have you used wood on the Koda? I know it’s more involved than gas but presumably a bit more reliable?

Systemic

HarveyMushman Have you used wood on the Koda? I know it’s more involved than gas but presumably a bit more reliable?

Not yet. Used wood almost exclusively when I had the Pro. Downside is workflow if you’re making several pizzas back to back as you have to replenish the fire and wait until it gets back up to temp. Plus side for wood is the working temp is higher than you can get with gas which means pizzas cook even faster.

FadedFrontiers

HarveyMushman Gozney 20% off ATM on Lakeland, also tempting https://www.lakeland.co.uk/brands/gozney

Systemic

Ooni are also have a flash sale across the board with 20% off.

HarveyMushman

I think if I do buy another it’ll be a Gozney Dome. Ticks all the boxes (loads of floor space, huge opening and dual fuel).

Currently the biggest reason I haven’t is the chance of it getting nicked from the garden.

HarveyMushman

Decided to get a Roccbox. It’s brilliant.

Build quality seems a bit better than Ooni and holds heat better (although takes longer to heat).

I prefer the cylindrical burner on it too over the flat burner. Built in thermometer seems fairly accurate.

Couple of first efforts out of the oven. Need to play with the flame setting as this was turned right down when cooking but I reckon it might do better with the flame just on full.

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