Unbelievable Gift from My Beautiful Bride!!

[GolfGeezer]

My wife and I just returned from celebrating our 41st wedding anniversary at Pebble Beach (god, that place is just beautiful!). I know, expensive, but worth every penny to us! Spectacular room overlooking the 18th fairway and green. We were supposed to stay until today (Sunday), but we decided to return yesterday. And then she gifted me permission to get a pizza oven as we "saved" a day's stay in room and food charges. - a lust I've had for quite a while! I mean, I did not even have to concoct some scheme to hide and MCS purchase!!

Back to the Pizza Oven Question. I am a very novice pizza maker. I bought some King Arthur 00 and Semolina. I made one round of Neapolitan style per King Arthur's recipe with a 24h cold fermentation and cooked in our regular oven that has a max temp of 500*. They were OK - the crust was too thick as my stretching skills definitely needs work.

I have always lusted after an Ooni, especially the 16" Karu although there are now a number of other products nowadays. I like the idea of a hybrid oven to allow imparting a wood oven flavor, while having the convenience and ease of using propane. So, my MCS helper friends, which to get?? I'm not a fan of Blackstone products, mainly due to the struggles I had with one of their griddles - couldn't get it seasoned, and I had rust struggles before switching to the Pit Boss Ultimate. Now I see Gozney, Thor and Solo.

Fire away!! And thanks in advance for your help!

(Views from our room)

[Jerod Broussard]

Wow, I've heard that place is nice enough to have a golf course.

[smokenoob]

Love that cove, can’t help ya on the pizza oven 😁

[carolts]

I really like my Gozney Roccbox. Would have liked to get the Dome but wasn't in the budget. If I was purchasing now I would definitely look at their new Arc and Arc XL. No wood option, but I really don't use wood on the Roccbox even though I could. I don't have any experience with the Ooni or the others.

[RonB]

I can't really help either, but I have made pizza in my Kettle using wood splits and I love the flavor the wood imparts.

[Duanessmokedmeats]

Congratulations on 41 years!

[CRO]

Check this site out. I use his dough recipe, it's very good.

https://bakingsteel.com/

[GolfGeezer]

Thanks. I already have the Baking Steel Original that I use in my oven.

[Panhead John]

Since your better half has given you the green light, I’d go ahead and get this one…

https://fornopiombo.com/products/palazzo?currency=USD&variant=43447802855640&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Google%20Shopping&stkn=986dee27b5ed&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=&utm_agid=&utm_term=&utm_content=&utm_device=c&utm_placement=&?keyword=&gad_source=1

[GolfGeezer]

You are such a help! Couldn't make this decision without you! 😁😎🤔

[surfdog]

Ah dude, so close! It’s just not the right shade of blue. The search continues.

[Uncle Bob]

If you're going with dual fuel as your baseline there are only a few choices. The Karu 16 is a bargain compared to the rest, and Ooni quality is outstanding. I've been using the Koda 16 for a few years now and it never fails to satisfy, though as I noted in the write up I did, it requires you be interactive and attentive.

As noted above, the Gozney dome is an alternative in the dual fuel world, but unless you can find someone doing a clearance it's 2 grand which gets closer to PJ's "helpful" suggestion. I tried to buy one from Gozney on their launch sale a couple or so years ago, and it didn't go well. I did the process the way they instructed but couldn't get past their automated completion process. I got ahold of customer "service" and they acknowledged their servers were overloaded at that time. But they also said something that boiled down to "we don't care, we don't have to.". They'll never get a dime of my money. Yeah, yeah, Gozney loyalists will tell me they've had great service............I don't care..........I didn't and I don't need them (end of rant).

The last few months I've been using an Everdure Kiln R, gas fueled, large format, rotating stone. The rotating stone makes the cooking process much easier regarding turning the pie while cooking, and this has enough fire power to do Neapolitan style in roughly two minutes or less, and can be dialed back enough to do a New York style well. I could easily recommend either it or the Ooni as both perform well and are relatively well priced for the features included. It's just a matter of what the user is looking for.

[GolfGeezer]

Uncle Bob Thank you very much for your detailed and thoughtful reply! The Everdure looks very cool - the only problem I’m having researching it is that Amazon only shows the S series, and the Everdure site does not seem to have an ordering function. The reason I like the multi-fuel option is about the flavor impact of using wood (or in Ooni’s case, charcoal). But being a total novice, I’m not sure how much difference that makes in a homemade pie. Yeh, Gozney’s double the price of those.

[Uncle Bob]

For these small, backyard ovens I'm not convinced that wood does much for flavor, but that is subjective. One, the temps are very high which produces less smoke from the wood, and two, the residence time in the oven of a couple minutes to say five, depending on style of dough, isn't very long under low smoke conditions. YMMV...........

[Uncle Bob]

GolfGeezer here ya go, on sale too; https://www.bbqguys.com/i/3130581/ev...otta-ekiln2tus

[Finster]

How did manage to bear that horrible scenery? 😁
Congrats on the new toy, and 41 years with your Beautiful Bride 🥂

[GolfGeezer]

Heh-heh! My picture taking and my Android phone does not due it justice! As a golfer, and knowing history, it is magical to see it and play it. I imagine seeing and playing St. Andrews would be similar.

[Draznnl]

I can see why you left early. A person can stand only so much of a view like that. Congrats on 41 years together and enjoy your new toy.

[fuzzydaddy]

Great photos, happy 41st anniversary and hope you find the pizza oven that’s perfect for you and your family/friends to enjoy!

[jlazar]

I don't have one but have been looking at a lot of reviews the past couple of years. Most say duel fuel aren't a big deal and most recommend going with just the propane. I was looking hard at the Ooni 16 or the Gozney Rockbox. But things are changing all the time. Looking at price, size, features, ease of use, and results, if I could afford it today I would get a Gozney Arc XL.

[JoeSousa]

Can't comment on the wood options other than I don't think I would bother with the wood. The temperature is high enough that I don't think the wood will really impart much flavor.

I currently have the Gozney Roccbox, the Solo Stove PI Prime, and the Ooni Koda 16. All of them are great and they all have some big benefits.

Gozney Roccbox - Probably the best built of the three and I think it cooks the best pizzas. But the cooking chamber seems to be quite small and it is a bit tricky to effectively turn the pizzas. This one seems to be the smallest and is easily portable but is heaver than the others. Gozney makes the highest quality accessories of the three as well.

Solo Stove PI Prime - Probably the easiest to cook on of the three. Plenty of room inside to turn pizzas, heats up well and retains heat well. It is also the cheapest of the bunch at around $350-400 depending on what day you get it.

Ooni Koda 16 - The 16 inch size is nice since you can cook larger pizzas. It also has an L shaped burner so you get heat on the back and on one of the sides. That cooks the pizzas quickly but also gives more areas that can quickly burn on the crust.

If I had to pick one of the three it would probably depend on which one I used most recently. But I think the Solo Stove PI Prime. is probably the one I would recommend for most backyard users.

I haven't had a chance to try the Gozney Arc or Dome but from what I have seen those two are the next good steps above these three.

[Samtang]

I’ve had best luck starting with a cold peel lightly dusted with semolina, then launching fast with a little shake—makes all the difference in avoiding sticking or misshapen pies.