Ooni Fyra 12 Unopened!

[RlsRls]

Just rec'd an early Christmas present, Ooni Fyra12' pellet fuled pizza oven! Not sure I'm gonna keep it though, depends on input from fellow owners out there! How adjustable is the temp control? Can pizzas be cooked at 5 or 6 hundred degrees instead of 900? (don't really need a pizza in 60 seconds, I'm retired with nothing but time to cook in a leisurely manner!) Has anyone tried a more traditional pan pizza in it? How versatile is it for other foods? If only cooking 1 or 2 pies, how much Fuel (pellets) does it consume? I've never owned a pellet cooker before! Don't see a way to extinguish oxygen after use, does it take a while to cool down? Should I upgrade to the bigger oven with a propane option?? Of course my biggest issue and one none of you can help me with is , where to put it!! Any help from any Ooni owners out there would be greatfully appreciated!! It looks like fun and it wouldn't take much to convince me to keep it!! Thanks in advance!!

[RonB]

Congrats.

[Clawbear57]

Can't help with that but congrats.

[treesmacker]

I had the Fyra 12 and found it to be too difficult to control the fire, very hot, too small to easily turn pizzas in, and dealing with ash and a great deal of creosote build up in the chimney. I sold it off and replaced it with a Koda 16 (propane model) and have been much happier with that. I also use it quite often to sear meat that has been sous vide.
I would definitely recommend the Koda 16 over the Fyra 12; there really is no advantage to using pellets for flavor, as the pizza is in there for only a couple of minutes and no smoke flavor is imparted. The Ooni Karu 16 Multi Fuel also looks interesting, though pricey.
There also seems to be a lot of similar ovensappearing on the market - here is one I just saw for the first time tonight - interesting... https://www.solostove.com/en-us/p/pi...MaAuxvEALw_wcB

[treesmacker]

RlsRls Yep, as a gift from daughter I would probably keep it as well. I did use the chimney baffle and it can somewhat be controlled. You just need to be on top of the pellet feed. Just keep in mind that it is not only for pizza - it is so hot that a steak can be seared to perfection.
Here is a video from a guy who converted his to gas - looks like it works well, but I think I would come up with a more stable way to mount the burner. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpoDF0euPbI

[RlsRls]

Has anyone out there who owns an Ooni oven ever try to get the temp down to the 350-375 range? If that were manageable, It would make the oven more versatile for sure and I would be tempted to use it more for other dishes!

[treesmacker]

RlsRls I think it would be difficult to get the temp in Ooni down that low and keep it steady. It really is made for a lot of heat. Even on the lowest setting of my Koda 16 I'm thinking it would probably come up to 600 or so. I sometimes get the pizza in there and then turn it to low, then after about 60 seconds of rotating the pizza I turn the gas off to finish the cook.

[Attjack]

I say get the bigger gas version or the smaller gas version.

[Allon]

Congratulations on the new hardware!

Propane is always easier and cleaner.

But I didn't get a propane smoker... I got a charcoal drum smoker.
I bought it not because it was faster or easier than gas, I got it for the flavor...

[Uncle Bob]

treesmacker nailed the shortcomings of the pellet 12 vs the gas 16. In your reply you mentioned two time issues. 60 seconds to cook a pizza isn't just about temperature, it's also about the dough style and textural outcome, and in reality most small ovens are going to be around 90 seconds (and sometimes more) which gets to the second time factor. You mention the kamado taking 45 minutes to heat up. If you want a good outcome with the small ovens, even with propane, you're going to want to let it heat up for at least 30 minutes. Not for the air temperature inside, that goes quickly, but for heat soaking the stone base so that the bottom of the crust gets done properly. Some newbs will use an infrared temperature reading of the stone surface, which gets hot quickly, but then wonder why the bottom of the crust didn't brown because they didn't realize without heat soaking the surface temperature drops instantly when the dough hits it.

[Murdy]

My wife has one of those pizza stones that go in the oven. Makes good pizzas, but she heats it up for nearly an hour before using it.

[rlozinak]

Congrats on the new cooker!

[treesmacker]

RlsRls this might be helpful - I never tried it like this when I had my Fyra - worth a try... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMYZq2kPhLI

[RlsRls]

Nice tip! Thanks. Looks like the key to a more moderate temp is to pre-heat the oven well, let the fire die down a bit, insert food so it can "roast" a bit, then add more pellets for a top sear. Really nothing new, just fire management!!

[bep35]

I didn't even know what Onni Frya was until checking out their website. After watching a couple videos I could see over/under cooked pizza's coming out and after a few of those it probably would just sit on the shelf.

If it were me I would be honest with my daughter and let her know I was going to exchange it for either a gas model or a multi-fuel model. Being up front with my daughter would be better than her watching me burn pizzas or it sitting unused.

Take her with you to pick out one that is easier to operate and then the two of you can cook a pizza together. She will appreciate the honesty and the memory. Have fun!

[Allon]

Agreed...

[jfmorris]

I kinda like the idea of a wood fired pizza oven myself, and being a gift from my kid, I would probably just learn to adapt my pizza recipes to work with it. The video someone posted that I just watched, the guy let it burn through a fill of pellets (15 minutes?) and then launched his pizza, adding a handful of pellets mid cook. Didn't look too hard.

The advantage of fast cooks is getting multiple pizzas done quickly. On my kamado, at 600 degrees, it takes me 45 minutes or longer to get to temp, then 8-10 minutes per pizza. So the first pizza is cold by the time the second pizza comes off, and I seem to always be doing at least 2 pizzas if I go to the trouble of setting up for them.

[Attjack]

Maybe you should grab some boxes from a pizza place to help keep them warm in a low oven or even one of this insulated pizza delivery bags?

[jfmorris]

Attjack I think I may have held in an oven set to 170F the last time I did pizzas on the grill. It's been a while though! Unfortunately, if I do the pizzas in the oven inside, I can't hold a second one as the oven is in use. There are times I wish we had not chosen to get rid of the double oven when we remodeled 20+ years ago. SWMBO wanted the kitchen more open though, and with no huge floor to ceiling cabinet like the double oven was in...

[RlsRls]

After watching dozens of videos of the 3 Ooni ovens (Fytra, Karu, Koda) , I'm keeping the Fyra 12. I figure over the Winter and into the Spring will be enough of a test to see if an up-grade is needed. I've been cooking live fire meals for decades, I think I can master those cute little pellets without too much of a learning curve! Besides, it is a gift so....there's that.

[rickgregory]

As others have mentioned, high temp pizza (neopolitan, mostly) isn't just about being fast, it's a different style than NY etc. The speed of the cook is a side effect of using a high temp but the idea is that the high temp gives you a char on the crust and a different taste and feel than baking a pizza at 500F. Both can be very good and both need different crust recipes.

My take would be to use the Ooni for what it's good at. Even if you can, don't try to make it a copy of your home oven and bake NY pizzas at 500 for 8 minutes. I mean, you have a home oven for those. Try Neopolitan recipes. Learn what you like about different styles.