I am currently cooking pizza on my Reqtec Bullseye pellet grill with a pizza stone. My results have been less than desired. The crust is getting hard (not burnt) while the top is not not done.

I am looking at the dedicated pizza ovens like Ooni where you cook a pizza in 2 minutes. The prices are out of control and you can pay $600 for a 16" dual fuel oven.

There are a bunch of cheaper versions out there but don't really know how they will compare.

It seems the 16" oven is the way to go but I am not sure if there is a big difference between a wood pellet, propane or dual fuel model.

Are there any recommendation either way for any of the pizza ovens?

Save yourself the $600.

Home oven and stone/steel preheated to 550F (or as high as your oven goes) for 30+ minutes. Stretch your dough and apply your sauce. Put the dough into the oven until it just starts to turn brown. Remove, place the rest of your toppings on, brush a little EVOO on the crust, and return to the oven. The toppings and the crust will be done at the same time.

I wouldn’t mind having one of the Oonis, just cuz, but I can’t see spending the money they want for one, going through the extra trouble of lighting the thing and nursing a fire up to temp, for a two minute cook when the above method works just fine. I think the novelty of it would wear off rather quickly.

Just my opinion.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:

Home oven and stone/steel preheated to 550F

What home oven goes to that? That's like self-cleaning cycle hot

I have a family member who swears by the Vortex which is a stainless steel insert that goes in a Weber kettle grill, a pizza stone and the pizza oven adapter to make really good pizzas. I think he said he's gotten it up to 750 degrees or so

My best friend has a 16" Ooni wood burning and loves it. He had a 12" from another brand and hated it, biggest issue was the size didn't allow for any errors; make it too big or, get sloppy with the peel and the pie came out damaged.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:

Home oven and stone/steel preheated to 550F

What home oven goes to that? That's like self-cleaning cycle hot

My Kenmore Elite gas range's maximum oven temperature is 550F. A quick Internet search will show self-cleaning temperatures get around 900-1,00F.

To the OP's question, I have used an Ooni (don’t own/have one). It was a propane-fired oven with an L-shaped burner inside (back and left sides). Some comments:
-- It takes some time to completely heat up the thin stone on the bottom of the oven.
-- Don’t take your eyes off the pizza as it cooks – it will burn the moment you turn away.
-- As the pizza begins to brown, it needs to be turned several times to prevent those parts, especially the crust, that are closest to the L-shaped burner from burning.
-- IIRC, the top was done before the bottom. Compared to my gas oven with a stone on the oven floor, the bottom was done before the top.
-- Using an infrared thermometer, temperatures often got up to 800-900°F inside the Ooni.

Bought the wife an electric Ooni pizza oven, thinking we would use it more often since it's indoor/outdoor. It makes some really good pizzas in just a few minutes. We've been very happy with it!

JP

I can’t speak for the dedicated pizza ovens but will “ditto” what Gustofer said. I make pizza regularly in our home oven as well as in our gas grill during the summer.

I’m curious what temperature your stone is when using the pellet grill. Temps should be around 500-525 degrees for dough with standard flours. If your stone temp is too high, the crust will cook faster than your toppings/cheese. The first time I used the gas grill, my stone was over 650-700 degrees and I experienced the same issues with cooking crust/toppings. It took me a couple of tries to determine where the fuel knobs needed to be for my desired temperature. Once found and marked, there is no difference in the pies cooked outdoors or indoors.

My SIL got a freestanding Pizza oven, SS, wood fired, they used it maybe once or twice, he ended up selling it for less than half what he paid in less than year.

I would check FB Marketplace, see if you can find a lightly used one for about half price.

I believe it was an Ooni

This message has been edited. Last edited by: HRK,

I bought a Gozney ARC XL Propane fired 16” oven.
Hits 900 degrees easily. Cooking back to back pizzas is easily done, no appreciable temp loss between pizzas.
Neapolitan pizza cooks in 2 minutes; have to start turning it on the stone in 30 seconds or the pizza can burn.
I passed on the dual fuel Gozney as I read in multiple places online that above 700 degrees there is no benefit from wood burning.
I am still a rookie at 12 pizzas so far but am happy with the results as all 12 of them were eaten, but I am still in a steep learning curve. Billy

Another Gozney Arc XL here and love it. I never used an Ooni but a lot of people love them and I'm sure they're good too. I think the Gozney is a step above an Ooni but the price also reflects it.

I do pizza in my home oven on a steel too and it's great Buffalo pizza but it's not to be confused with a pizza oven that gets much hotter and does things to dough that a home oven can't match.

Most Friday nights are pizza night at my house, always homemade dough, and any toppings we desire. Dedicated pizza ovens are the best things for backyard entertaining ever IMO. You can slam pizza after pizza and everyone gets to build or top theirs how they like, they're a lot of fun to use. I've only used propane, pizza cooks so fast that a wood fired oven really wouldn't impart any flavor and from what I read isn't worth the trouble.

Gozney has a youtube channel that's well worth checking out. Video recipes and they've been making their own series with pro's teaching new folks how to make pizza. Entertaining and educational.

I just noticed your location too, you can get your Caputo flour and great pepperoni right at Penn Mac. I got a 50# bag last time I was down that way.

Here is an article I saw on them just a couple of days ago:

https://www.foodandwine.com/oo...-oven-review-8761451

Maybe this will aid in your decision (either pro or con).

I have a pellet fired Ooni 14. It was a gift. I like the way it cooks the pizza. I just totally suck at making the crust. I've yet to make one that even remotely looks like a well made pizza. If I could routinely make a halfway decent pizza crust, I'd probably use it a lot more than I do. Takes a while to heat the stone. Pizza cooks pretty quick. When you start cooking, you have to take it out and turn it a couple times. Otherwise it will burn on one side. But it's a better pizza oven than I am a pizza maker.

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Originally posted by XinTX:
I just totally suck at making the crust. I've yet to make one that even remotely looks like a well made pizza. If I could routinely make a halfway decent pizza crust, I'd probably use it a lot more than I do.

Visit Vito Iacopelli's Youtube channel. Multiple videos/recipes/techniques.

This one is a good place to start.