Should you buy a Pizza Oven?
Should you buy a Pizza Oven?
In short - Yes! Pizza ovens are all the rage at the moment and we will go through some key points to help you on your journey to cook the best pizza in the best pizza oven.
How long do you cook a pizza for?
At high temperatures of 400°C - Authentic Neapolitan style pizzas take as little as 60 seconds to cook.
Making Dough
Making traditional neapolitan dough is not too difficult. There are only 4 ingredients used to make pizza dough (Flour, Salt, Yeast & Water). We work with each ingredient on a “baker's percentage” which is calculated as a percentage of the total weight of the flour you use.
We generally work to 60% hydration, 2% salt and 1% yeast - see below for the calculation for 100 grams of flour
- 100% of 100grams = 100 grams of “00” flour (“00” flour is the best type of flour for Neopolitan style pizzas.)
- 60% of 100grams = 60grams water
- 2% of 100grams = 2grams salt
- 1% of 100grams = 1gram yeast
You may notice that the % is more than 100, this is normal as you calculate water, salt and yeast to the weight of the flour, not the total weight of the dough you are making
The above recipe would make a dough ball of approx 160grams.
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What types of pizza ovens are there?
- Portable pizza ovens
Portable pizza ovens are generally made of stainless steel and are a great alternative to a brick wood-fired pizza oven. They can vary in price depending on size, weight and general construction build quality.
Generally, the best pizza oven is well insulated and has a sturdy base that you can take from house to house.
The trade-off of buying a portable pizza oven compared to a brick pizza oven is that they are smaller in size and may not retain heat for as long, however on the flip side they do heat up much quicker than a brick pizza oven.
- Brick wood-fired pizza ovens
Brick wood-fired pizza ovens are the classic and authentic pizza ovens you can buy. The best pizza oven can set you back $5000+
With a highly insulated brick dome, these units can take some time to heat up but once it's heated up they can reach and maintain high temperatures for a long period of time.
The downside is that they are very heavy and cannot be moved easily and can take some time getting used to maintaining temperatures you need to cook different styles of food.
- Barbecue top pizza ovens
These simple little ovens sit on top of your barbecue grill and use the heat from underneath to cook your pizza. They do take longer to cook pizzas than a portable or brick pizza oven.
Can Woodfired pizza ovens be used to cook much more than pizza?
Absolutely! A woodfired oven is an extremely versatile oven that enables you to cook absolutely anything that you would normally cook in a conventional oven. From roast vegetables and roast meats to baked or grilled fish and of course pizza! You’re really only limited by your imagination!
What accessories do you need?
A pizza peel - made of either wood or metal, these paddles allow you to place the pizza in the oven as well as remove them from the oven at a safe distance.
Spinner - allows you to rotate or “spin” the pizza in the oven whilst it's cooking to get an even cook.
Brush / Rake - allows you to move the fire and brush down the stone before you start cooking your pizza
Shovel - to remove the cold coals once you have finished cooking.
Check out the Flaming Coals 5 piece oven toolkit here.
So should I buy a pizza oven?
Yes - Pizza ovens are absolutely worth it! Traditional Neapolitan style pizzas cooked in a woodfired pizza oven is one of the best tasting pizzas you can ever have!
Being able to cook a pizza in as little as 60 seconds makes hosting pizza parties great fun, making it quick and simple to feed a whole lot of people in a short period of time.
You don't need to spend a fortune building a brick one - unless you want to, but there are more affordable and more portable pizza ovens that work incredibly well like the Flaming Coals pizza oven which you can check out at BBQ Spit Rotisseries.