The media could not be loaded.
After living in Italy for a few years, we just couldn't find any local pizza that came close to that pizzeria flavor. I was well on my way to building a backyard brick oven (well, I had bought a book) when we found this. My wife immediately supported the lower cost, smaller footprint and immediate completion of my project. I thought it would be of temporary use until I finished the brick oven, but I'm done. This is too easy and tasty! After a year of use and refinement with all the accessories, here's what I've learned:
Wood only = great authentic flavor, but sooty and temperature sensitive, requiring attention to keep the wood-burning tray loaded and the temperature up. I've found success with pellets topped by a few chunks of your favorite smoking wood (I use pecan), with more fuel added after every pizza or two. A refillable butane mini kitchen blow torch made it SO much easier to fire it up. A digital thermometer is a must to determine when the stone is at least 500-ish. Impatiently adding pizzas when the stone was cooler led to some messes (the top gets burned while the dough remains uncooked). With some practice keeping the fire going and making sure the stone reheats after each pizza, this is a rewarding experience and provides the most authentic flavor we've found.
Propane burner = ridiculously easy, wicked hot, and crazy fast cooking time. This is our most used setup because it's so easy and fast and still tastes great. It's a clean burn (no soot on the ceiling of the oven) and the ability to regulate the temp with the turn of a knob is awesome. At full burn, it will register almost 1000 degrees, so the pizzas cook unbelievably fast (seriously, like a minute or two). The ease of use typically makes up for the slight loss of flavor.
Burner + wood tray = heat insurance with authentic flavor, but it's not exactly the best of both. While the wood tray returns the wonderful smoky flavor, it restricts the burner's flame, so this setup is not as hot as propane alone, but it's easy to start and there's no worry of a cooling stone if you forget to add more wood to the tray. The ash pile and burner share the same space under the tray, which fills up faster, reducing the number of pizzas we've been able to cook in this setup.
There are several great dough recipes online. We found a simple one that uses Tipo 00 flour from Italy, yeast, water and salt - authentically simple and tasty. Plan to make the dough the day prior and make extra. We usually make enough for 8-12 (it freezes fine).
Easy sauce = a can of whole peeled tomatoes, garlic and salt in the blender...done!
Toppings are the fun part, but don't lose your mind. Overloading the toppings can lead to a cold center. Raw sausage and eggs will cook while on the pizza - no need to pre-cook. Have fun finding new recipes and ideas. We enjoy making socca in the cake pan depicted in the pic. For an atypical pizza, try dijon mustard instead of sauce, with smoked salmon and havarti for a surprisingly tasty combo.
For faster prep/cooking we work as a team and use two pizza peels (one for the prep pizza, one for cooking) as well as a wide grilling spatula to help slide the pizza into the oven and to assist with the mid-cook turn. Sprinkle corn meal on the peel prior to adding the dough to assist in the slide. The oven is naturally hotter in the back, so a mid-cook rotation is key to an evenly cooked pizza.
Hope it helps. I absolutely recommend this oven. It's been wonderful and the response by the company has been top-notch with the few questions I've had. They totally stand behind their product, offering timely support and solutions. Huge fan!
