I want to share my experience with the Ooni Karu 16 multi-fuel Pizza Oven. I will also share some quick tips on making pizza at home.
Ooni makes a variety of pizza ovens to make pizza. The ovens range in size, type and price. I own a Karu 16 multi-fuel pizza oven. That is you can use wood or gas. My pizzas were all cooked using wood. Making pizza in the Ooni is a game changer. The pizzas cooked quickly and perfectly. The ovens are so versatile they can be used by professionals as well. I will link the Ooni website as well as their dough recipe below.
As you know there are countless dough recipes. To make things simple I used the dough recipe on the Ooni site. I did a double batch of their dough. For flour, I used what I had on hand which was a mixture of Gold Medal Better for bread and a small amount of King Arthur Bread flour. I made the dough the day before and did a bulk ferment overnight in the fridge. I think pre-fermenting the dough in the fridge imparts a bolder tase for your dough. The next day I balled the dough making 250 gram dough balls.
I set up the oven on a table. And fired it up. I was using kiln-dried oak as a fuel source.
The oven fired right up and when it reached a temperature of 750 to 800 degrees F. I was ready to go. Now you can certainly get the oven hotter, but I found the sweet spot for my pizza was the 750-800 degree range.
I hand stretched the dough and made the pizza directly on a wooden peel liberally dusted with semolina flour. I know some first-time pizza makers have struggled with launching their pizza from the peel into the oven. Now understand this is a skill that you can easily master with practice. My advice is to not overload your pizza. Also, make sure your dough does not stick to the peel by giving the handle a quick shake to make sure it does not stick.
All the pizzas used recipes from The Pizza Therapy Pizza Book.
I made a Pepperoni using Hormel’s Cup and Crisp, I made an Atilla, using gorgonzola, mozzarella, spinach, and pistachios, a basic cheese pizza, and anchovy and tomato.
For me it’s all about the crust, and the Ooni did an amazing job of cooking the crust, quickly and completely. There is a bit of a learning curve in cooking your pizza and you must remember to turn your pizza around while cooking it.
I’ll put links below this video on how you can start your own Ooni Pizza adventure…
Until next time…
Pizza on earth, Good Will to All!
