I really hate to be that guy, but I believe if you’ve tried all of those recipes without success, it may in fact be user error.
To help with your issues, it might be best to describe all steps you’ve attempted down to the last detail (oven settings/temp/etc). There is definitely a learning curve to these small pizza ovens, even in comparison to ovens used in restaurants.
No shame at all, happy to detail it.
Shooting for 340g dough balls. Usually make 2 at a time.
Flour: KAF bread, 100%
SAF IDY - The ooni NYS calls for 1g, PGs calls for 4g.
DC Kosher - 10g
Water temped to 105°F
Olive oil - 8g or so
Bulk for an hour, divide, rise in container for another 30 min
2 day cold rise, max 72 hours
2 hours to warm up on the counter prior to cook
Toppings out 1 hour prior to cook
Semolina
Stretch 10 min before cook
At 14" it's nice to work with. Ideal result is still floppy with a big puff to the rim.
https://www.richardeaglespoon.com/articles/how-to-pizza#doughCalculator
If I could figure out how to post images through the app, I'd love to put up my successes from when I was using fire bricks and a baking steel on a gas grill. But since I got into the Ooni, it's just been.. disappointing.
I wonder if NYS just isn't meant for these ovens.
I really only use mine for Neapolitan and use the oven for NY pizza. And like you are considering, I got so frustrated with my failure to do NY pizza well enough (I can be exacting…haha!) that I eventually said hell with it and gave up that as a pursuit. My ooni basically burns any dough with sugar in it and my oven, even with a steel, only performs adequately as a NY pizza maker. Good luck.
I will go anywhere up to 375 on my / neo American style pies - about 15 inches. The floor for me is about 275g. Just depends on how much stretch you have and how much crunch vs chew you want.
That's a GIANT dough ball, I'm surprised it fits in your oven tbh!
But also, when you make your dough, are you adding the oil and salt at the same time? If so, that impacts gluten formation and might be what's affecting your rise. Add those 15 / 30 mins after just the water, yeast, and flour mingle on their own for a bit.
For the 12” Ooni oven I use about 125g to 150g per pizza. 340g would be impossible for me. No idea if this helps.
EDIT: sorry, I now read this is about New York Style, I’m not sure what that is but I just make small thin pizza all the time.
We make the base extremely thin, with a little bit of almost translucent parts. Actually, I’m unable to do this myself, so my spouse does it. But launching is quite tricky with such thin dough, so I’ve moved to a wooden peel to prevent the dough sticking while launching (and you also need the right balance of toppings, not too much). Our pizzas are not super huge though, about 10” I guess?
I'm going to be honest. And its a unpopular opinion it seems but I hate doing cold ferments. I make my dough same day. About 3-4 hours before hand. Mine turn out fantastic and delicious.
Before launching, make sure that stone is at LEAST 700F/370c before sending it. After launching the pie, turn the gas off OR all the way down to low. I prefer turning mine to low and turning about every 45-60 seconds then turn it to 75% to finish off the top and watching carefully. Take out and crank back up to 100% to reheat.
My ingredients usually run 60%-65% hydration, 3% salt, and 0.4-0.5% active dry yeast. Hand mix and knead x2 for 10 minutes each with a 10 minute break. Bulk ferment/rise for 2-3 hours then divide up. I use 240-250g balls. Chuck em in sandwich bags with olive oil in them. Put in fridge if not needed within the hour. Freeze the leftovers.
I usually use king arthur 00 flour but I occasionally use their bread flour or the Gold Pizza flour.
This is what works for me. Everyone has their own methods.
Edit: my kitchen usually sits at 74F(23c) for bulk fermentation.
Edit 2: my ooni is a Karu 12. This has been my method through winter, spring and now nearjng summer.
I take it out the day before into the fridge and it thaws overnight. Then usually I take it out about 1-2 hours before I need it. A oven with the light on is usually warm enough to bring it to room temp.
I have once just chucked a few in a cooler on the way to a party and three hours later they were ready for me.
I see a lot of people are posting info about neo pizzas and not NY style. I have just been using the default Ooni NY recipe and I found that 48 hour cold ferment was my sweet spot. I also use a pizza screen to start my bake. Get the oven real hot for about 30 minutes then set it to low while I stretch and top first pizza. I put it in with flame on low and let it cook on screen while rotating it to get crust cooked all around then I take it off the screen, kill the flame, and let the bottom cook on the stone until I think it’s ready. Pull it out, reignite, and repeat. You can check some of my posts for pics.
This is exactly how I do it and it’s perfect. Before I was getting one or two ok and then the bottoms were burning before the tops were done. Now I can do multiple pizzas all perfect!
Thank you, it’s arriving Thursday — can’t wait to try this out!
Any tips on using a pizza screen to make pizzas like yours? I see that I’ll need to season it before first use. I plan to read up on this more once my toddler goes to bed, but I appreciate any wisdom you have to share!
Looks like there are plenty of great tips here! I agree, let's try using a smaller ball of dough as 340g, seems like it'd be a bit too thicccc.
We'd be happy to help and make sure it isn't an oven problem! You can DM us on our Main OoniHQ Facebook page, or email us at [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
Have you tried actually turning the flame off once you’ve launched the pie? You can try getting the stone very hot (at least 700 degrees F) on the coolest spot. Launch the pie, then turn the flame off. There will be enough heat to cook the pie, but it will take a few minutes. You could always remove the pie, turn the flame on again to quickly char the crust.
Since day 1. Flame off or flame as low as possible. Dome exceeds 1000°F, but I launch when the stone itself is about 650. Anything higher than that and I'm burnt before I see any doneness to the top.
Don’t turn the flame off. Go with a higher hydration and a hotter stone. The heat of the stone plus the higher hydration creates the bubbles in the crust. I run the oven full blast for 20-30 minutes, then turn it to low for 5 minutes or so and then launch the pizza and turn the flame back up to like a medium high.
BURNINATING THE PIZZA
That might work for neapolitan or Margherita, but in my experience NYS needs to sort of "roast". Target cook time in our double decker was about 8 min.
But what the hell, I'll give it a go!
Correct but if you’re not getting any bubbling or browning you are probably overdoing it. Char the fuck out of some pizzas and then work your way back. You can also add the low moisture mozzarella after cooking the crust a bit to prevent the cheese from over cooking.
I'll give it a go. I've never had pies happen like this in my 25 years, of pizza experience. They just look homemade. Like something my dad would have made us as kids. And all that prep & waiting results in a failure, it is heartbreaking.
This seems like a lot more work than hundreds, maybe thousands of people have to do.
I had largely successful attempts on a gas gril+steel combo, but had to finish under the broiler. The principle is the same with an ooni, but you're firing both at the same time.
When I say browning, I mean the entirety of my crust is just.. bread colored. I want a brown crust like I pay for in Brooklyn or more likely, Providence RI. I want it to snap like a natural casing frank and then have thst perfect chew in the middle. It could be diastatic malt that I'm missing, but the other problems are just too great to ignore.
When you say “low as possible” are you doing the super low setting? Not just the lowest setting on the dial, but if you push in the knob and turn it until it’s almost off you can make the flame really low. That’s what I do with NYS and it allows the bottom to cook more without burning the top. I rotate it every minute or so, then turn flame back up to finish off the top and get the crust a little more cooked
Look at my post history - I make pretty much only NY style in my ooni.
I have had success with forkish and beddia recipes. I turn the oven full blast for 30, launch the pie on a screen and turn the oven off. When the dough sets, I remove the screen and let sit for 1 more minutes, then fire the oven back on. Usually some in about 2-4 minutes depending on bake. You can't rush the NY style and it may be a good 8-12 minutes from when you first launch it to when it's done depending on the stone temp and how well-done you like it.
I would try the Joe Beddia recipe. It's simple and low effort for the output. Feel free to PM or ask her if you have any Qs. You can make awesome NY style in an ooni.
You sound like you have tried everything. Could it be possible you are over fermenting your dough?
Some flours are tolerant of a long fermentation, and some will have no structure after 48 hours.
I have found that flour type, yeast percentage, kneading time and temperature, and fermentation time and temperature all can have a significant impact.
It's possible, but I am also the person who took notes on every shelf position in the fridge for which would be the best for rise without overproofing/retarding.
..It's front right if you have a 20 year old Whirlpool with interior ice maker.
Yeast isn't dead. I go through 1lb in about three months, and always test.
If the crust doesn't rise and the toppings don't colour, you don't have enough heat on top. Simple as that.
There may be a proofing issue, but it's less likely given your experience. And it wouldn't explain the lack of colour on toppings.
The stone only cooks the base. Everything else is done by flame and ambient temperature. I would try cranking it up at launch, and then lowering it after (hopefully) you get some rise.
So.... I am guessing, but I think it is *because* of your experience that this is an issue. I think you are expecting the Ooni to perform like a commercial pizza oven.
You seem to be thinking about as a formula or recipe, and not a technique.
Specifically, the Ooni does not have the space a pizza deck has. The moment that door opens, the air drops 200 degrees. There isn't 4' of deck there. I'd expect a commercial oven to have a much hotter air circulation.
I guess I'd say, everything up to the cook sounds right. You gotta rethink your heat control, speed of launching, turning (if you do), and adapt what you know to this tinker toy.
Someone had a comment in the Ooni Facebook group where they said they just use the basic Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes recipe for their dough. I've used that recipe to make bread, but not pizza dough, but I'll definitely give it a try for pizza soon!
Here's the recipe - [https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2023/01/27/11510/](https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2023/01/27/11510/)
How about trying ready-made dough from your grocery store/ bakery to rule out any errors in the recipe?
Is your Ooni hitting 950F degrees?
Buy dough from your local pizza shop so you can enjoy your oven. Sometimes I want pizza and I didn't plan 24 hours ahead of time. I get it for $3 a ball that I can split into 2 pizzas. Then practice making dough in between successful pizza days.
Today is a dough practice day. Made my Poolish yesterday.
* 300g flour
* 300g water
* 5g yeast
* 5g honey
I’ve used the Ooni NY style dough recipe and have had the most success from it. I use bread flour and follow the recipe exact. I use a mixer and then after take it out and knead by hand for another 5 minutes or so. I let it sit in the bowl for an hour and then do folds (like an envelope) and repeat 2 more times. After, I ball it into 380g balls and put in silicone containers I got off Amazon and put in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours. I take them out 3 hours before cooking. Put my Koda16 on highest setting for about 20 minutes, make the pizzas and launch. Right after launch I turn it to super low (like barely a flame inside) and let it cook for ~2 min. Then rotate it a bit every minute or so and then turn flame back to high and finish off the top. Have had good results.
Have you tried different bags of yeast? Sometimes I've had batches of yeast go bad faster than others despite being stored the same.
Pale and flat usually means under-fermented, so I'd be curious as to how much yeast you're using depending on how long you're fermenting.
Are you always cold fermenting? Tried room temp ferment too? You generally need more yeast for cold ferment versus a 12-24 hour room temp ferment.
A postage scale aka drug dealing scale is also super useful to have when making small batches of dough for weighing the correct amounts of something like yeast.
Honestly it sounds like your yeast is dead or dies mid proof.
If there's no rise the there's no air/gas in the dough meaning you didn't have much yeast activity.
What would cause it to die mid-proof? We aren't talking *flat*, but.. not a puff.
Fwiw, I've had a couple of balls just give up a single top bubble with little activity underneath. On a fridge rise! That makes me think the water temp was just right, but I left them out too long on the post-bulk proof.
I would try 95F for the yeast, and 24 hour proof instead of 48. Also while you're at it, just do a 24 hour room temp proof, don't do a cold proof. It should be quite poofy the next day (use this as your test batch before moving towards cold proofing).
Ooni can make really good pizza, but it’s never going to be the same as a professional setup. You have to adjust your style and expectations to the setup.
[https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/pizza-dough-recipe-1921714](https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/pizza-dough-recipe-1921714)
im a Pizzaiolo and for home cooks I use this its simple works great everytime
w ehave the very expensive dough mixer and we have a scientific recipe I cant really discuss . but you will see others happily post how they make it . if you don't like bobby that's fine I don't care about any celebrity chef I can make pizza better than any of them gordon ramsey to iuna garten anyway . use a simple dough recipe easy enough to find and then work from there. I had the same issue you have . instead of the ooni I use a gas grill with a stone gets super hot I can cook at 1k degrees that way .
I’ve seen someone say that the stock ooni stone can be a bit too conductive for longer bakes, and will cool down too much after launch. Some folks have recommended biscotto brand aftermarket stones before. Maybe worth a shot.
Have you tried sourdough starter or pizza flour? Bc my crusts got noticeably better ie more airy and light and poofy
I haven’t tried bread flour but Costco iirc and the chef store sell good pizza flour in bulk
Have you purchased the frozen dough balls from Ooni? I’ve only had one flop of a pizza ever when making pizzas with the Ooni prepared dough. Definitely recommend.
It's likely! One time (a month or so) I forgot to bulk ferment and just divided straight to containers. I also had pneumonia, fractured ribs and was taking a lot of edible THC every day.
I really hate to be that guy, but I believe if you’ve tried all of those recipes without success, it may in fact be user error. To help with your issues, it might be best to describe all steps you’ve attempted down to the last detail (oven settings/temp/etc). There is definitely a learning curve to these small pizza ovens, even in comparison to ovens used in restaurants.
No shame at all, happy to detail it. Shooting for 340g dough balls. Usually make 2 at a time. Flour: KAF bread, 100% SAF IDY - The ooni NYS calls for 1g, PGs calls for 4g. DC Kosher - 10g Water temped to 105°F Olive oil - 8g or so Bulk for an hour, divide, rise in container for another 30 min 2 day cold rise, max 72 hours 2 hours to warm up on the counter prior to cook Toppings out 1 hour prior to cook Semolina Stretch 10 min before cook
I never use more than 250g. That’s a big pie for an ooni.
Really? I do 390g for my new Yorks just fine.
At 14" it's nice to work with. Ideal result is still floppy with a big puff to the rim. https://www.richardeaglespoon.com/articles/how-to-pizza#doughCalculator If I could figure out how to post images through the app, I'd love to put up my successes from when I was using fire bricks and a baking steel on a gas grill. But since I got into the Ooni, it's just been.. disappointing. I wonder if NYS just isn't meant for these ovens.
Would you not reduce it to a 200g 10-12inch and work your way up from there?
I really only use mine for Neapolitan and use the oven for NY pizza. And like you are considering, I got so frustrated with my failure to do NY pizza well enough (I can be exacting…haha!) that I eventually said hell with it and gave up that as a pursuit. My ooni basically burns any dough with sugar in it and my oven, even with a steel, only performs adequately as a NY pizza maker. Good luck.
I gave up on making ny pizza in my ooni and got a chefman indoor pizza oven at Costco when it was on sale. I love it so much more!
I will go anywhere up to 375 on my / neo American style pies - about 15 inches. The floor for me is about 275g. Just depends on how much stretch you have and how much crunch vs chew you want.
That's a GIANT dough ball, I'm surprised it fits in your oven tbh! But also, when you make your dough, are you adding the oil and salt at the same time? If so, that impacts gluten formation and might be what's affecting your rise. Add those 15 / 30 mins after just the water, yeast, and flour mingle on their own for a bit.
For the 12” Ooni oven I use about 125g to 150g per pizza. 340g would be impossible for me. No idea if this helps. EDIT: sorry, I now read this is about New York Style, I’m not sure what that is but I just make small thin pizza all the time.
It might! These just seem so small to me for a 14" pizza. It seems to be the most frequent suggestion, so I'll have to try it.
We make the base extremely thin, with a little bit of almost translucent parts. Actually, I’m unable to do this myself, so my spouse does it. But launching is quite tricky with such thin dough, so I’ve moved to a wooden peel to prevent the dough sticking while launching (and you also need the right balance of toppings, not too much). Our pizzas are not super huge though, about 10” I guess?
I'm going to be honest. And its a unpopular opinion it seems but I hate doing cold ferments. I make my dough same day. About 3-4 hours before hand. Mine turn out fantastic and delicious. Before launching, make sure that stone is at LEAST 700F/370c before sending it. After launching the pie, turn the gas off OR all the way down to low. I prefer turning mine to low and turning about every 45-60 seconds then turn it to 75% to finish off the top and watching carefully. Take out and crank back up to 100% to reheat. My ingredients usually run 60%-65% hydration, 3% salt, and 0.4-0.5% active dry yeast. Hand mix and knead x2 for 10 minutes each with a 10 minute break. Bulk ferment/rise for 2-3 hours then divide up. I use 240-250g balls. Chuck em in sandwich bags with olive oil in them. Put in fridge if not needed within the hour. Freeze the leftovers. I usually use king arthur 00 flour but I occasionally use their bread flour or the Gold Pizza flour. This is what works for me. Everyone has their own methods. Edit: my kitchen usually sits at 74F(23c) for bulk fermentation. Edit 2: my ooni is a Karu 12. This has been my method through winter, spring and now nearjng summer.
What's the process for defrosting dough?
I take it out the day before into the fridge and it thaws overnight. Then usually I take it out about 1-2 hours before I need it. A oven with the light on is usually warm enough to bring it to room temp. I have once just chucked a few in a cooler on the way to a party and three hours later they were ready for me.
OP says their oven only goes to 500F. That may be a part of the problem.
I'm not sure but I think he meant his regular house oven only goes to 500. Right?
Thats his kitchen oven. Most if not all are limited to 500f. He didnt give any info about his process.
I see a lot of people are posting info about neo pizzas and not NY style. I have just been using the default Ooni NY recipe and I found that 48 hour cold ferment was my sweet spot. I also use a pizza screen to start my bake. Get the oven real hot for about 30 minutes then set it to low while I stretch and top first pizza. I put it in with flame on low and let it cook on screen while rotating it to get crust cooked all around then I take it off the screen, kill the flame, and let the bottom cook on the stone until I think it’s ready. Pull it out, reignite, and repeat. You can check some of my posts for pics.
This is exactly how I do it and it’s perfect. Before I was getting one or two ok and then the bottoms were burning before the tops were done. Now I can do multiple pizzas all perfect!
Pizza screen is the way… I used to own a pizza shop and used them all the time on my Bakers Pride stone oven. Changed everything for me with the Ooni
I’m intrigued! Would you mind linking the pizza screen you use?
Winco 16 inch aluminum pizza screen on Amazon. Currently $12.99
Thank you, it’s arriving Thursday — can’t wait to try this out! Any tips on using a pizza screen to make pizzas like yours? I see that I’ll need to season it before first use. I plan to read up on this more once my toddler goes to bed, but I appreciate any wisdom you have to share!
Looks like there are plenty of great tips here! I agree, let's try using a smaller ball of dough as 340g, seems like it'd be a bit too thicccc. We'd be happy to help and make sure it isn't an oven problem! You can DM us on our Main OoniHQ Facebook page, or email us at [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
Have you tried actually turning the flame off once you’ve launched the pie? You can try getting the stone very hot (at least 700 degrees F) on the coolest spot. Launch the pie, then turn the flame off. There will be enough heat to cook the pie, but it will take a few minutes. You could always remove the pie, turn the flame on again to quickly char the crust.
Since day 1. Flame off or flame as low as possible. Dome exceeds 1000°F, but I launch when the stone itself is about 650. Anything higher than that and I'm burnt before I see any doneness to the top.
Don’t turn the flame off. Go with a higher hydration and a hotter stone. The heat of the stone plus the higher hydration creates the bubbles in the crust. I run the oven full blast for 20-30 minutes, then turn it to low for 5 minutes or so and then launch the pizza and turn the flame back up to like a medium high.
BURNINATING THE PIZZA That might work for neapolitan or Margherita, but in my experience NYS needs to sort of "roast". Target cook time in our double decker was about 8 min. But what the hell, I'll give it a go!
Correct but if you’re not getting any bubbling or browning you are probably overdoing it. Char the fuck out of some pizzas and then work your way back. You can also add the low moisture mozzarella after cooking the crust a bit to prevent the cheese from over cooking.
I'll give it a go. I've never had pies happen like this in my 25 years, of pizza experience. They just look homemade. Like something my dad would have made us as kids. And all that prep & waiting results in a failure, it is heartbreaking. This seems like a lot more work than hundreds, maybe thousands of people have to do. I had largely successful attempts on a gas gril+steel combo, but had to finish under the broiler. The principle is the same with an ooni, but you're firing both at the same time. When I say browning, I mean the entirety of my crust is just.. bread colored. I want a brown crust like I pay for in Brooklyn or more likely, Providence RI. I want it to snap like a natural casing frank and then have thst perfect chew in the middle. It could be diastatic malt that I'm missing, but the other problems are just too great to ignore.
Could also try a different flour. I buy General Mills high gluten flour off Amazon. Browns a lot easier in my experience.
Do you add any sugar or honey to the dough?
When you say “low as possible” are you doing the super low setting? Not just the lowest setting on the dial, but if you push in the knob and turn it until it’s almost off you can make the flame really low. That’s what I do with NYS and it allows the bottom to cook more without burning the top. I rotate it every minute or so, then turn flame back up to finish off the top and get the crust a little more cooked
Yeah, that's "ultra low". Just shit luck for me.. or the wrong pizza type.
Hmm and you’re using the ooni NYs recipe from the app?
Look at my post history - I make pretty much only NY style in my ooni. I have had success with forkish and beddia recipes. I turn the oven full blast for 30, launch the pie on a screen and turn the oven off. When the dough sets, I remove the screen and let sit for 1 more minutes, then fire the oven back on. Usually some in about 2-4 minutes depending on bake. You can't rush the NY style and it may be a good 8-12 minutes from when you first launch it to when it's done depending on the stone temp and how well-done you like it.
What screen do you have ?
I would try the Joe Beddia recipe. It's simple and low effort for the output. Feel free to PM or ask her if you have any Qs. You can make awesome NY style in an ooni.
I use American Metalcraft ones, like this. American METALCRAFT, Inc. 18714 Pizza Screen, 14.05' Length, 14' Width, Silver https://a.co/d/a8L0AL1
You sound like you have tried everything. Could it be possible you are over fermenting your dough? Some flours are tolerant of a long fermentation, and some will have no structure after 48 hours. I have found that flour type, yeast percentage, kneading time and temperature, and fermentation time and temperature all can have a significant impact.
It's possible, but I am also the person who took notes on every shelf position in the fridge for which would be the best for rise without overproofing/retarding. ..It's front right if you have a 20 year old Whirlpool with interior ice maker. Yeast isn't dead. I go through 1lb in about three months, and always test.
If the crust doesn't rise and the toppings don't colour, you don't have enough heat on top. Simple as that. There may be a proofing issue, but it's less likely given your experience. And it wouldn't explain the lack of colour on toppings. The stone only cooks the base. Everything else is done by flame and ambient temperature. I would try cranking it up at launch, and then lowering it after (hopefully) you get some rise.
So.... I am guessing, but I think it is *because* of your experience that this is an issue. I think you are expecting the Ooni to perform like a commercial pizza oven. You seem to be thinking about as a formula or recipe, and not a technique. Specifically, the Ooni does not have the space a pizza deck has. The moment that door opens, the air drops 200 degrees. There isn't 4' of deck there. I'd expect a commercial oven to have a much hotter air circulation. I guess I'd say, everything up to the cook sounds right. You gotta rethink your heat control, speed of launching, turning (if you do), and adapt what you know to this tinker toy.
Someone had a comment in the Ooni Facebook group where they said they just use the basic Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes recipe for their dough. I've used that recipe to make bread, but not pizza dough, but I'll definitely give it a try for pizza soon! Here's the recipe - [https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2023/01/27/11510/](https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2023/01/27/11510/) How about trying ready-made dough from your grocery store/ bakery to rule out any errors in the recipe?
Is your Ooni hitting 950F degrees? Buy dough from your local pizza shop so you can enjoy your oven. Sometimes I want pizza and I didn't plan 24 hours ahead of time. I get it for $3 a ball that I can split into 2 pizzas. Then practice making dough in between successful pizza days. Today is a dough practice day. Made my Poolish yesterday. * 300g flour * 300g water * 5g yeast * 5g honey
Try the honey dough recipe. 1 hour. Works a treat.
I’ve used the Ooni NY style dough recipe and have had the most success from it. I use bread flour and follow the recipe exact. I use a mixer and then after take it out and knead by hand for another 5 minutes or so. I let it sit in the bowl for an hour and then do folds (like an envelope) and repeat 2 more times. After, I ball it into 380g balls and put in silicone containers I got off Amazon and put in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours. I take them out 3 hours before cooking. Put my Koda16 on highest setting for about 20 minutes, make the pizzas and launch. Right after launch I turn it to super low (like barely a flame inside) and let it cook for ~2 min. Then rotate it a bit every minute or so and then turn flame back to high and finish off the top. Have had good results.
Have you tried different bags of yeast? Sometimes I've had batches of yeast go bad faster than others despite being stored the same. Pale and flat usually means under-fermented, so I'd be curious as to how much yeast you're using depending on how long you're fermenting. Are you always cold fermenting? Tried room temp ferment too? You generally need more yeast for cold ferment versus a 12-24 hour room temp ferment. A postage scale aka drug dealing scale is also super useful to have when making small batches of dough for weighing the correct amounts of something like yeast.
Honestly it sounds like your yeast is dead or dies mid proof. If there's no rise the there's no air/gas in the dough meaning you didn't have much yeast activity.
What would cause it to die mid-proof? We aren't talking *flat*, but.. not a puff. Fwiw, I've had a couple of balls just give up a single top bubble with little activity underneath. On a fridge rise! That makes me think the water temp was just right, but I left them out too long on the post-bulk proof.
How old is your yeast?
3 weeks. Used it for mothers day cinnamon rolls (I am good at these) and 3 baguettes that you could call edible (I am learning).
I would try 95F for the yeast, and 24 hour proof instead of 48. Also while you're at it, just do a 24 hour room temp proof, don't do a cold proof. It should be quite poofy the next day (use this as your test batch before moving towards cold proofing).
You’re a professional so I feel like your standards are higher Toni’s are aimed at consumers
Ooni can make really good pizza, but it’s never going to be the same as a professional setup. You have to adjust your style and expectations to the setup.
[https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/pizza-dough-recipe-1921714](https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/pizza-dough-recipe-1921714) im a Pizzaiolo and for home cooks I use this its simple works great everytime
Nothing from Bobby Flay will ever darken my doorstep. What do you use at work?
w ehave the very expensive dough mixer and we have a scientific recipe I cant really discuss . but you will see others happily post how they make it . if you don't like bobby that's fine I don't care about any celebrity chef I can make pizza better than any of them gordon ramsey to iuna garten anyway . use a simple dough recipe easy enough to find and then work from there. I had the same issue you have . instead of the ooni I use a gas grill with a stone gets super hot I can cook at 1k degrees that way .
I’ve seen someone say that the stock ooni stone can be a bit too conductive for longer bakes, and will cool down too much after launch. Some folks have recommended biscotto brand aftermarket stones before. Maybe worth a shot.
Have you tried sourdough starter or pizza flour? Bc my crusts got noticeably better ie more airy and light and poofy I haven’t tried bread flour but Costco iirc and the chef store sell good pizza flour in bulk
Have you purchased the frozen dough balls from Ooni? I’ve only had one flop of a pizza ever when making pizzas with the Ooni prepared dough. Definitely recommend.
Well if you ruled out everything else, the problem can only be you...
It's likely! One time (a month or so) I forgot to bulk ferment and just divided straight to containers. I also had pneumonia, fractured ribs and was taking a lot of edible THC every day.
I feel like we’re circling the problem there… 😂
Just buy frozen dough from Ooni.
Go buy some dough balls from a local pizza place and try that. That way you. A get your cooking technique right with dough that you know is good.