Hey Chefs! Got the Ooni Karu 12 for Fathers Day

[auror]

Cooking pizza at home if you live in Connecticut is just silly.

It's an artistic endeavor, not a practical one.

 

[Fishy]

Reading your posts on food for the last 20+ years I get the sense that you take no enjoyment out of eating. It's just a bodily necessity to you. Sort of like a cow just looking for its next patch of grass to fill its stomach.

Honestly, if you can’t make perfectly good pizza dough or sauce, you’re a lost cause and you should call Dominos.

The only part of making a pizza that is even remotely challenging is getting the pie round.

 

[Fishy]

It's basically like a lobster roll with cheese.

Exactly.

The only difference is that you do not have to murder anything to make a pizza.

 

[Fishy]

I was a little intimidated by making the dough the first time but it really is pretty easy. We have the Ooni 16 (gas) and its awesome. We have pizza party nights where we all make our own pizzas. The results are pretty great and a lot of fun. We have gotten exponentially better each time we use it (perfect circle, getting temp perfect, time, rotating the pizza, etc..)

Like someone said earlier, making your own sauce with San Marzano tomatoes instead of the can is 100% the way to go. It tastes so much better.

See?

This guy is making pizzas and throwing parties. He’s like a backyard Frank Pepe.

 

[HuskyHawk]

My wife grew up on the South Shore in Mass, and misses the "South Shore Bar Pizza" style of pizza. It's not New Haven, but I do enjoy those pizzas as well. So she found instructions/recipes bought the right pans and make them herself. They pretty much come out as they do at the pizza places.

 

[storrsroars]

Cooking pizza at home if you live in Connecticut is just silly.

I would tend to agree with that. Here in Pgh, my go-to shop closed during the pandemic and it's several steps down in quality to what's left nearby. When Claudio's was open, I wouldn't even think of bothering to make my own. But now they're gone, I've gone back to making my own from time to time using a Breville Smart Oven and a pizza steel. It's in no way an optimal device for pizza, getting to only 480F. But with the steel, I can make pies that are better than anything in the nearby burbs.

I used to demo an electric Breville Pizzaiolo oven ($1000) that could get up to 750F. It has its flaws, but it's a pretty good electric appliance that you can use in your kitchen, especially for Neapolitans with leopard spotted cornices and bottom char (but not the full flavor a real wood-burning pizza oven delivers). I used to do 8-12 pizzas during a 4-hour demo (using both homemade and store bought dough depending on style). I became competent at making dough for Neapolitan, NY street, pan, and thin crust, even coming somewhat close to a Colony bar pie. But I think most people would probably have decent early results with TJ's dough until they reach a level of confidence working with and proofing pizza dough. And let's not forget that proofing dough takes up fridge space, particularly if you're planning on making several.

It's a PITA to get really good. I've never used an Ooni or similar. But for the electric Pizzaiolo unit I worked with, even after a lot of practice and success, if I wasn't paying attention to every aspect of the production, disaster was seconds away. Nothing worse than trying to clean a scorching hot pizza stone because your pie stuck, but you've still got 2 more hours of demos to do and customers are wondering, "what's that smell?"

 

[UConnTrumbull]

Are these allowed at Rentschler tailgates? Propane, I mean.

 

[Deepster]

Paging @GemParty. Would like an update on how you like it so far?

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Are these allowed at Rentschler tailgates? Propane, I mean.

Supposedly all propane fueled grills are allowed. My portable camp chef is the size of a full sized home grill ince the legs are attached & I've tailgated with it for years. I'm planning on bringing the pizza oven I bought a few months back to football games. I bought it specifically because it is propane fueled, on the premise that I can tailgate with it. I also bought a heavy duty folding metal table to put it on for safety reasons.

 

[GemParty]

Paging @GemParty. Would like an update on how you like it so far?

Easy and fun to use. Tastes great. Have made 10 pies so far. 2 keys don’t put too much olive oil, and make sure you have enough flour, or dough sticks to the peel. Get an infared thermometer.

Tried 2 doughs. Both are great. Stew Leonards and Restaurant Depot.