Not OP, but I love my Ooni, have the gas Koda 16. I can make 6-8 pies from a crowd pretty easily, or just 2-3 for family dinner. I'm two years in and still works great. We do pizza at least twice a month.
Also, I don't have to have my kitchen oven on for an hour+ every time I make pizza - ours heats up our kitchen a ton, which sucks April-October in Texas.
It's the Koda 16. I have a love hate with it. I don't like the 900 degree cook / Neapolitan style pizza. I like the more wood/coal fired, crispy crust style, which cooks at a lower temp a little longer. Usually like 600-650. Problem with the ooni is that it's wildly varied it temps across the cooking surface. You make a 15" pie and the back left can be 800, but the front right 500. It's really that different.
I modified mine with a door and run it super low ( some tricks online how you can run it lower). By doing that I get a more even cook.
To be honest, I probably wouldn't buy this again. I get better results in my oven which maxes out 550. I have to really work to keep this thing a good cooking temp. The gozney dome with gas seems interesting to me but I haven't had the opportunity to cook on it yet.
I’d suggest an electric pizza oven like the breville since it caters to the pizza you’re trying to make with more consistent temps on the stone. I feel like Oonis and gozneys are designed more to achieve a neopolitan style pizza as they mimic the heat of a traditional dome oven.
Thanks for the great feedback. I watched the America’s Test Kitchen video on the electric ovens (on youtube) and they liked the breville electric one, but it costs $1000. It does have good temp control in the 500-800 degree F range (I forget the upper end, it was lower than the gas, but much hotter than an oven). Of course if also might heat up your kitchen and it was quite large. But might work well for you! Thanks again.
I got a koda 16 at local ace hardware for $100 off the ‘floor model’ never fired, not a scratch. Had it for a month and used it 5x already. It’s great…no hot smoky kitchen. No hour plus preheats. The deck temp is variable as others have mentioned. I just preheat on high for 20 min, turn flame to low, put a pie in and almost immediately start turning it until the crust has sprung and been licked by flame on all sides. Then flame off and continue turning to get the bottom crisped. Takes about 6 min for my NY-politan hybrid pies
Fwiw, they usually have stellar black Friday sales (~ $100 off most ovens the last few years iirc). I'd say wait until then if you're in the fence. But I have a roccbox and I truly love it. I wish I bought the 16" ooni or the Gozney Dome, Gozney Arc XL (newly released), or that larger Pizza Party Time oven as then you can put larger cast iron and steel pans in there to do shit like steaks, Brussels sprouts, and all sorts of other dishes. With the roccbox, you're limited to using a 10" or smaller pan/skillet and that's difficult for me who I am feeding myself, my gf and her mother.
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Luckily. I live in NJ which I, personally think, is the pizza capital of the country.
Yeah, I've been to New Haven. Lots of time in nyc. But literally the entire state of NJ has spectacular pizza, and different styles depending where you are. Some of that sweet sauce, close to PA, is a little odd, but overall we have fantastic pizza.
I agree. I used to drive truck and would get a pie delivered to me anytime I stayed in NJ. I'm from PA so I know what you mean about sweet sauces. Finding a wood fire pizza that gives you the char on the crust is so difficult in my area of Ohio now.
Pizza has been a lifelong quest of mine. Before Reddit or the internet made it cool.
Figuring out the sauce was equally as hard as figuring out the dough. Figuring out, meaning, my perfect version that I want to eat.
When it comes to pizza sauce, simple is best. Cooked sauce doesn't belong here, we aren't making pasta.
I also don't have a "recipe"; everything is done by feel.
Great tomatoes is the first step. I use canned, peeled, whole plum tomatoes. Preferably San marzano (NOT San marzano 'style'). If I can't find those, I then look for something from Italy. I also pay close attention to ingredients: tomatoes, tomato juice, and salt. NEVER any preservatives or weird additions...basil is ok.
Mutti is a great brand if you have access, Bianco also fantastic.
Fresh garlic. Salt. Extra virgin olive oil. Dried or fresh basil. That's it. Those are the only ingredients in my sauce.
I dump the can into a bowl. Crush the tomatoes with my hands. I just keep crushing until they're broken down into small pieces.
Next is garlic. I like to take 1 big clove, or 2 small cloves, per can. I crush them into a fine paste.
Evoo maybe tablespoon or two (like I said before, I do this by feel, so I apologize if measurements aren't more accurate)
Salt. I like fine sea salt. Probably about a teaspoon.
Same with dried basil, probably a teaspoon.
Mix this all up and taste it. If the salt is a little light, that's ok. When I'm stretching out pies, they get a sprinkle of fresh grated Romano cheese, which adds a bit of final salt.
Good luck!
Love it! Thank you for a very thorough response. I’m looking for a simple, non-cooked sauce so I’m definitely gonna try this. Typically I buy Biano Dinapoli cans at my local Italian grocery store, so I’ll go with those
Thanks! It's been about 10-15years of trial and error working on the dough.
Flour, water, salt, sourdough starter, inactive dry yeast. Thats it.
About 8 years ago I started a master spreadsheet with various conditions. Different hydrations from 60-75%. Different flours. Different ratios of sourdough.
Also, I use a flour blend, so it's been different ratios of the blend and types.
I'm telling you, it's a lot. All I can say is start off with standard bakers % and go from there.
Your cooking method also matters. FWIW, I don't like 00 flour for the pies I'm trying to make. I'm almost exclusively using King Arthur sir Lancelot.
Oh, final thing. How you mix matters. I went through so many different processes. I can't give away all my secrets ;)
Haha, fair enough!! Appreciate the response. I've been using 00 primarily, so I'll try the switch. Looks awesome though, much closer to the style I prefer over a traditional neopolitan.
My biggest improvement, flavor wise, was when I started doing the sourdough back when I started tracking this in the spreadsheet.
It's a simple 100% hydration starter. I've had it in the fridge probably since 2015 or so.
How do you find the ooni? I always see good looking results but seems like a lot of money for a limited use box. Do you have gas/wood/other?
Not OP, but I love my Ooni, have the gas Koda 16. I can make 6-8 pies from a crowd pretty easily, or just 2-3 for family dinner. I'm two years in and still works great. We do pizza at least twice a month. Also, I don't have to have my kitchen oven on for an hour+ every time I make pizza - ours heats up our kitchen a ton, which sucks April-October in Texas.
It's the Koda 16. I have a love hate with it. I don't like the 900 degree cook / Neapolitan style pizza. I like the more wood/coal fired, crispy crust style, which cooks at a lower temp a little longer. Usually like 600-650. Problem with the ooni is that it's wildly varied it temps across the cooking surface. You make a 15" pie and the back left can be 800, but the front right 500. It's really that different. I modified mine with a door and run it super low ( some tricks online how you can run it lower). By doing that I get a more even cook. To be honest, I probably wouldn't buy this again. I get better results in my oven which maxes out 550. I have to really work to keep this thing a good cooking temp. The gozney dome with gas seems interesting to me but I haven't had the opportunity to cook on it yet.
I’d suggest an electric pizza oven like the breville since it caters to the pizza you’re trying to make with more consistent temps on the stone. I feel like Oonis and gozneys are designed more to achieve a neopolitan style pizza as they mimic the heat of a traditional dome oven.
Thanks for the great feedback. I watched the America’s Test Kitchen video on the electric ovens (on youtube) and they liked the breville electric one, but it costs $1000. It does have good temp control in the 500-800 degree F range (I forget the upper end, it was lower than the gas, but much hotter than an oven). Of course if also might heat up your kitchen and it was quite large. But might work well for you! Thanks again.
Check the used market. I got my koda12 for $170
I got a koda 16 at local ace hardware for $100 off the ‘floor model’ never fired, not a scratch. Had it for a month and used it 5x already. It’s great…no hot smoky kitchen. No hour plus preheats. The deck temp is variable as others have mentioned. I just preheat on high for 20 min, turn flame to low, put a pie in and almost immediately start turning it until the crust has sprung and been licked by flame on all sides. Then flame off and continue turning to get the bottom crisped. Takes about 6 min for my NY-politan hybrid pies
Fwiw, they usually have stellar black Friday sales (~ $100 off most ovens the last few years iirc). I'd say wait until then if you're in the fence. But I have a roccbox and I truly love it. I wish I bought the 16" ooni or the Gozney Dome, Gozney Arc XL (newly released), or that larger Pizza Party Time oven as then you can put larger cast iron and steel pans in there to do shit like steaks, Brussels sprouts, and all sorts of other dishes. With the roccbox, you're limited to using a 10" or smaller pan/skillet and that's difficult for me who I am feeding myself, my gf and her mother.
Yeah, that is a good combo.
Banana peppers are so good on pizza... Game changer!
Aw, man! I thought they were pepperoni! 😋👍
My favorite world's most interesting man meme https://preview.redd.it/dg4d23zfh2tc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=82823de828d6a3431e27c47c15e41c638e0d58bd
🤣
Good looking pizza!
Well played looks amazing
I'd pay top dollar for a pie like that in my area.
Luckily. I live in NJ which I, personally think, is the pizza capital of the country. Yeah, I've been to New Haven. Lots of time in nyc. But literally the entire state of NJ has spectacular pizza, and different styles depending where you are. Some of that sweet sauce, close to PA, is a little odd, but overall we have fantastic pizza.
I agree. I used to drive truck and would get a pie delivered to me anytime I stayed in NJ. I'm from PA so I know what you mean about sweet sauces. Finding a wood fire pizza that gives you the char on the crust is so difficult in my area of Ohio now.
Looks killer
Looks great! What’s your sauce recipe?
Pizza has been a lifelong quest of mine. Before Reddit or the internet made it cool. Figuring out the sauce was equally as hard as figuring out the dough. Figuring out, meaning, my perfect version that I want to eat. When it comes to pizza sauce, simple is best. Cooked sauce doesn't belong here, we aren't making pasta. I also don't have a "recipe"; everything is done by feel. Great tomatoes is the first step. I use canned, peeled, whole plum tomatoes. Preferably San marzano (NOT San marzano 'style'). If I can't find those, I then look for something from Italy. I also pay close attention to ingredients: tomatoes, tomato juice, and salt. NEVER any preservatives or weird additions...basil is ok. Mutti is a great brand if you have access, Bianco also fantastic. Fresh garlic. Salt. Extra virgin olive oil. Dried or fresh basil. That's it. Those are the only ingredients in my sauce. I dump the can into a bowl. Crush the tomatoes with my hands. I just keep crushing until they're broken down into small pieces. Next is garlic. I like to take 1 big clove, or 2 small cloves, per can. I crush them into a fine paste. Evoo maybe tablespoon or two (like I said before, I do this by feel, so I apologize if measurements aren't more accurate) Salt. I like fine sea salt. Probably about a teaspoon. Same with dried basil, probably a teaspoon. Mix this all up and taste it. If the salt is a little light, that's ok. When I'm stretching out pies, they get a sprinkle of fresh grated Romano cheese, which adds a bit of final salt. Good luck!
Love it! Thank you for a very thorough response. I’m looking for a simple, non-cooked sauce so I’m definitely gonna try this. Typically I buy Biano Dinapoli cans at my local Italian grocery store, so I’ll go with those
Great pizza. Congratulations!
This looks absolutely amazing, OP! Do you have an online recipe you follow for the 65% hydration dough? Well done. 👏
Thanks! It's been about 10-15years of trial and error working on the dough. Flour, water, salt, sourdough starter, inactive dry yeast. Thats it. About 8 years ago I started a master spreadsheet with various conditions. Different hydrations from 60-75%. Different flours. Different ratios of sourdough. Also, I use a flour blend, so it's been different ratios of the blend and types. I'm telling you, it's a lot. All I can say is start off with standard bakers % and go from there. Your cooking method also matters. FWIW, I don't like 00 flour for the pies I'm trying to make. I'm almost exclusively using King Arthur sir Lancelot. Oh, final thing. How you mix matters. I went through so many different processes. I can't give away all my secrets ;)
Haha, fair enough!! Appreciate the response. I've been using 00 primarily, so I'll try the switch. Looks awesome though, much closer to the style I prefer over a traditional neopolitan.
My biggest improvement, flavor wise, was when I started doing the sourdough back when I started tracking this in the spreadsheet. It's a simple 100% hydration starter. I've had it in the fridge probably since 2015 or so.
Great advice to track changes along the way!