Wood fired pizza oven

[b116757]

I scored a wood fired pizza oven today off FB marketplace. I started building one about 15 years ago welded together a base and bought the fire bricks and then lost interest in fooling with it. I saw this one one FB and told my wife if she still wants a pizza oven maybe we should just buy this one because IDK when I’ll finish it. She thought buying this one was a better idea than my 25 year plan.

 

[swat1018]

I want one too!

 

[The Fishman]

I don't have a dedicated pizza oven, but I did buy a cast iron pizza pan. I have not eaten carry out pizza in almost two years now. Even my picky kids think it is better than carry out. You are going to enjoy it. Now you need to find a good dough recipe and start experimenting.

 

[b116757]

My wife picked up several different crusts this evening and made a home made crust also I liked the home made the best but we have to work on getting it thinner

 

[GMan5465]

Sparkling water, flour, and a little salt makes a really thin flatbread crust. Takes a little to perfect the process. You can precook before adding toppings, or not. Cooked mine in Traeger on a cast iron skillet.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

Alright.. Wife has been making pizza once a week and it's always awesome even with pre made dough. But you guys got me curious on other dough recipes for thinnish crusts. What are your favorites? We typically use oven/pizza stone.

 

[The Fishman]

After trying several store bought dough mixes, I like the Walmart Great Value brand crust mix the best. I think the important thing is letting your crust rise after mixing it. I usually lightly coat the dough with olive oil and let it rise for 30 minutes to two hours. Some people on YouTube suggest 8 hours. Letting the dough rise seems to make the crust lighter, fluffier, and not as chewy.

The next thing you need to experiment with is the cheese or combination of cheeses. I use a mix of shredded mozzarella, provolone, and parmesan. You can also try stuffing the crust with cheese.

I usually top mine with pepperoni and Canadian bacon. You have lots of topping options, but PINEAPPLE SHOULD NEVER BE AN OPTION!

 

[b116757]

I wife did one that was fig preserves and Bree cheese it was quite tasty

 

[Turkey Creek]

After trying several store bought dough mixes, I like the Walmart Great Value brand crust mix the best. I think the important thing is letting your crust rise after mixing it. I usually lightly coat the dough with olive oil and let it rise for 30 minutes to two hours. Some people on YouTube suggest 8 hours. Letting the dough rise seems to make the crust lighter, fluffier, and not as chewy.

The next thing you need to experiment with is the cheese or combination of cheeses. I use a mix of shredded mozzarella, provolone, and parmesan. You can also try stuffing the crust with cheese.

I usually top mine with pepperoni and Canadian bacon. You have lots of topping options, but PINEAPPLE SHOULD NEVER BE AN OPTION!

Bear Archery's Hunting 101 podcast just had an episode on venison cheesesteak pizza. Made me want to go out and buy one of the pizza ovens/grills they were talking about! Not a podcast I typically listen to very often. Also they had a number of tips on how to make a great pizza from a chef that is supposed to have some credit to his name.

 

[Skeeter]

I've not played around with trying to replicate a proper thin crust which is often chemically leavened and rolled, however, I find that I am able to toss a very thin round as long as I use a decent bread flour from King Arthur or Gold Medal. I have not liked the results when I've used Dakota Maid's bread flour. Have not tried caputo flour yet but intend to if I ever see it at the local grocery store. Anybody have a recommendation for a favorite brand and type for their dough?

 

[Honker]

I have one and really like it. I had it built during August of 2020 and really got to hone in some of my recipes. I use primary Caputo Pizzeria flour. Disclaimer: Getting into pizza making is as addicting and labor intensive as fruit tree grafting etc.

 

[T-Max]

View attachment 55940 I have one and really like it. I had it built during August of 2020 and really got to hone in some of my recipes. I use primary Caputo Pizzeria flour. Disclaimer: Getting into pizza making is as addicting and labor intensive as fruit tree grafting etc.

You had it built? Was it from a kit? And if so, what did you think of the process?

 

[Telemark]

Venison bresaola is one of my favorite pizza toppings, and it's very easy to make.

 

[b116757]

I thought about venison I pressure can it that would likely be a pretty good topping

 

[MadMadHoosier]

We custom built an Earthstone pizza oven above a fireplace on our house lanai 16 years ago. It has made a lot of good pizza over the years, but we are still looking for the perfect (thin and crispy) crust. Weighing the amount
of work for homemade vs the ease of Publix pre-made crust.

 

[Foggy47]

OK.....color me a tightwad. But I use our gas grill and a stainless steel wood pellet tube (Amazon) to get some smoke. Then we use a ceramic 12:" x 12" floor tile from Menards ($1 or so) for a oven "floor" and I bought a nice pizza "spatula" to handle large pies. Next.....we use a variety of pizza crusts....incluing some large soft shell taco crusts to make some beautiful thin crust pizzas.....which we prefer. (but you could use any crust you like). We could likely do two pizzas on our grill at one time with another ceramic "stone"......but we just do one at a time.

Cheap, easy, wood flavor, perfect crust and perfect pizza....on a low cost set up. Works for me. Fun too.

P.S. I also throw a cast iron Lodge "plate" on our gas grille to do "Blackstone -like" flat iron cooking.

Some of this chit is getting carried away. What's next?....air flying? ;).

 

[MadMadHoosier]

OK.....color me a tightwad. But I use our gas grill and a stainless steel wood pellet tube (Amazon) to get some smoke. Then we use a ceramic 12:" x 12" floor tile from Menards ($1 or so) for a oven "floor" and I bought a nice pizza "spatula" to handle large pies. Next.....we use a variety of pizza crusts....incluing some large soft shell taco crusts to make some beautiful thin crust pizzas.....which we prefer. (but you could use any crust you like). We could likely do two pizzas on our grill at one time with another ceramic "stone"......but we just do one at a time.

Cheap, easy, wood flavor, perfect crust and perfect pizza....on a low cost set up. Works for me. Fun too.

P.S. I also throw a cast iron Lodge "plate" on our gas grille to do "Blackstone -like" flat iron cooking.

Some of this chit is getting carried away. What's next?....air flying? ;).

Worked hard to earn it, no kids to worry about, and thoroughly enjoy spending it.

 

[b116757]

I’ve already thought of using soft tortillas for a very thin crust probably try it Friday evening I believe my wife has invited a few folks over to fool around with it should be fun. We didn’t need this pizza oven either but the price was right and we do entertain occasionally. New the oven we bought was around $5000 I scored this one used for a $1000 from a couple that sold their home and moved in with his parents temporary until they could find a place they where happy with. The entire back yard was full of nice outdoor furniture and grills a couple restored classic cars wedged in the backyard also so much so it was tough to walk back there. I’m pretty sure they where simply trying to make some room he mentioned his wife had to move around chasing her career and this last move brought them back home near St Louis close to family but they had to find a house and with the strange housing market they didn’t know when that might happen. He also had a very nice Sawstop table saw in the garage I may have bought if I didn’t already have one.

Grande36 Portable Wood Fired Pizza Oven Cart - Forno Bravo

The Bella Grande36 portable wood fired pizza oven can bake 5 pizzas at a time and as many as 80 pizzas in one hour. Made in USA. Buy online.

www.fornobravo.com

 

[Honker]

You had it built? Was it from a kit? And if so, what did you think of the process?

Yes the hearth and dome are a kit from Chicago Brick Ovens, I had a base built and a mason finished the brick work. The process was pretty strait forward.