Time to get serious about a new pizza oven

[Jeff Lebowski]

2-3 minutes tops in the oven. The difference for me is that I don't have a rotating stone, so I have to be out there to turn it throughout the cook time.

I tend mine too. My wife preps the pizzas while I cook them.

[USUC]

A few thoughts so far on the pizza oven. I love having it. It is fun to try new things with it. I think that I might fire it up again tonight.

I may get killed for this, but for making pizzas for the kids (and there is way too many of them in the house), I actually have bought the dough balls from Trader Joes. They are super cheap (only $1.50/each). I also still such at stretching the dough, so I like having some cheaper stuff to work with to practice.

Also, I would suggest getting the 2 wood pizza peals. I am realizing it would be really nice to have a second one to prep on while a pizza is in the oven.

What style of crust are you going for? (Thin, NY style, etc)? The Trader Joes crusts aren't bad. My wife uses them in a bind. I like to make a NYC style crust and make it 4 days before I use it. I go a little thicker than New York style though. When I use the Trader Joe's dough, i work it into a ball and leave it out on the counter covered for 4 hours. It'll be easy to stretch. I learned how to stretch on Trader Joe's dough like you using this guy as my tutorial.

[Northwestcoug]

When I was in Minny a couple years back for some depos, I made it a point to eat at Pizzeria Lola. Legitimately, the best pizza i've ever had (right up with Bianco's and Grimaldi's--those are the gold standard for me). They had a french-designed, Maine-made, copper, wood-fired pizza oven that was awesome. The more traditional pizzas were awesome, but their pizza called the "Boise" was unreal. Paper-thin russett slices, cream, gruyere, caramelized onions, etc. Best non-traditional pizza flavor combo i've ever had. I still crave it nearly 18 months later.

EDIT: I posted about it back then. So good:

I was looking back at some excellent pizza picks in this thread and found this. I went here with my daughter last year. Can confirm. Pizza was absolutely terrific. Wings and another appetizer that I can't remember right now were also great.

[Donuthole]

I was looking back at some excellent pizza picks in this thread and found this. I went here with my daughter last year. Can confirm. Pizza was absolutely terrific. Wings and another appetizer that I can't remember right now were also great.

Nearly 8 years later (I think I went there in late 2016) and I still tell people about this pizza. It was actually one of the biggest bummers of Covid-19 for me (way worse than millions who died) because I was planning on going to BYU @ Minnesota in 2020 and taking the family to Lola's.

[Northwestcoug]

Nearly 8 years later (I think I went there in late 2016) and I still tell people about this pizza. It was actually one of the biggest bummers of Covid-19 for me (way worse than millions who died) because I was planning on going to BYU @ Minnesota in 2020 and taking the family to Lola's.

I'm happy to report it is open and doing very well. We needed reservations. ~20 million Americans didn't die in vain.

[MartyFunkhouser]

Pizza oven continues to be great. I've got my technique down. The kids love pizza night on Friday. The TJs dough works great for kids. If I want to make pizzas for me and my wife, I get better dough.

Highly recommended. The Solo is solid.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Pizza oven continues to be great. I've got my technique down. The kids love pizza night on Friday. The TJs dough works great for kids. If I want to make pizzas for me and my wife, I get better dough.

Highly recommended. The Solo is solid.

That is great. Happy for you.

We did a ton of entertaining over the summer, including a couple of big parties in September/October with over 20 people each time. Pizza oven plus our soft serve ice cream machine is a killer combination.

[USUC]

I really like whole milk Mozzarella, preferably in a block that I shred right before putting on the pizza. But over the last couple of years it's really difficult to find in stores.

BTW, the Herriman WinCo now sells two options for whole milk mozzarella in a 2 lb block. Reasonably priced and makes homemade pizza so much better than part skim pre shredded mozzarella.

[MartyFunkhouser]

BTW, the Herriman WinCo now sells two options for whole milk mozzarella in a 2 lb block. Reasonably priced and makes homemade pizza so much better than part skim pre shredded mozzarella.

I'll definitely check that out.

[Shaka]

Sometimes I hate you guys...

For some reason I ended up reading this thread a couple of weeks ago. Since then I've been fixated on on pizza ovens and researching them. I came close to getting one like Funk's but I would have wound up driving to Vernal to get it. There's a bunch of Ooni's on the Facebook and KSL marketplaces and they looked promising. Then someone offered to give me a Bighorn 12" pellet oven which they stated worked about the same as the Ooni Fyre. I picked it up this morning and am going to give home pizza making a whirl tomorrow. I. figure this oven will be a good place to start and can upgrade to gas later.

I'm going to do what Funk did and get some Trader Joes dough until I figure out how the oven works. Then I'll take JL's advice and head for Nico's for dough. Ultimately, I will make my own. After Trader Joes I'll head to Harmons for the rest of the ingredients. It will be interesting to see what their cheesemonger recommends for pizza cheese. I prefer grated cheese so no slicing up wet mozzerella balls for me.

I'm not entirely a novice. As a teen I worked at a pizza joint and learned how to hand toss pizza dough. I doubt I'll be able to toss anything since I'm limited to 12". Hopefully, I can figure out how to stretch without ruining too many dough balls.

Wish me luck.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Sometimes I hate you guys...

For some reason I ended up reading this thread a couple of weeks ago. Since then I've been fixated on on pizza ovens and researching them. I came close to getting one like Funk's but I would have wound up driving to Vernal to get it. There's a bunch of Ooni's on the Facebook and KSL marketplaces and they looked promising. Then someone offered to give me a Bighorn 12" pellet oven which they stated worked about the same as the Ooni Fyre. I picked it up this morning and am going to give home pizza making a whirl tomorrow. I. figure this oven will be a good place to start and can upgrade to gas later.

I'm going to do what Funk did and get some Trader Joes dough until I figure out how the oven works. Then I'll take JL's advice and head for Nico's for dough. Ultimately, I will make my own. After Trader Joes I'll head to Harmons for the rest of the ingredients. It will be interesting to see what their cheesemonger recommends for pizza cheese. I prefer grated cheese so no slicing up wet mozzerella balls for me.

I'm not entirely a novice. As a teen I worked at a pizza joint and learned how to hand toss pizza dough. I doubt I'll be able to toss anything since I'm limited to 12". Hopefully, I can figure out how to stretch without ruining too many dough balls.

Wish me luck.

Welcome to the club!

After you try the Nico dough you won't bother making your own.

This is a really good dough recipe.

https://www.seriouseats.com/basic-ne...le-pizza-dough

I recommend letting it sit in your fridge for 3 days. For both homemade dough and Nico dough, make sure you take it out of the fridge and let it sit on your counter for 3 hours before cooking. Or you will pull it and it will shrink back into a tiny pizza when you are cooking it or putting on the toppings.

Stretching the dough is pretty easy. Just pull it out to a circle, use your fingertips to make an edge, then pick it up and work it over the top of your fists to stretch it.

BTW, my foodie daughter was just gifted a really nice gas stove/oven for her kitchen and it features an oven that will get up to 750 degrees. They ship it with a stone, pizza peel, etc. I am excited to see how it works out.

[USUC]

I prefer grated cheese so no slicing up wet mozzerella balls for me.

Pre grated cheese is ok, but grating your own ensures better melting and browning. Pre grated stuff has potato starch on it to prevent from clumping. You also should be using whole milk low moisture cheese if you want a New York style pizza. Fresh Mozzarella only really works with Neopolitan pizzas... which aren't as good.

[Shaka]

First attempt went well. Trader Joe's dough was ok for a trail run. I think I'm ready for Nico's. The Bighorn stone reached abougt 950F. The first pizza was good but I didn't have the ingredient ratios right. Also, the sauce I got at Trader Joe's wasn't great. However, the second pizza was excellent! I baked that one with a stone temp of 750F and everything was more manageable. I turned every twenty seconds and the crust turned out well. The Bighorn pellet oven uses a lot of pellets but it sure was cool watching the flame roll across the roof of the oven. It took about five minutes to get back up to temp after the first pizza.

IMG_3646.JPGScreenshot 2025-08-24 at 8.53.06 PM.pngScreenshot 2025-08-24 at 8.54.26 PM.png

[Bo Diddley]

Looks delish!

[Green Monstah]

I got a low end Komodo grill for Father’s Day (Char-Griller Akorn). Last night we cooked naan bread pizzas on it.

The smoke was subtle, but really a tasty addition.