February 2026 Fireside Chat: PIZZA OVENS w/ Dave Joachim

[Huskee]

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Join us on Facebook or YouTube LIVE this Wednesday 2/25 at 7:30 p.m. CST / 8:30 Eastern for Meathead's Fireside Chat for PIZZA OVENS!

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• Cookbook author, pizza guru, cycle enthusiast, rock band drummer, and AmazingRibs.com's own Editorial Director Dave Joachim will be the special guest.

• Dave says:

"As you know, we review a wide range of ovens on the site. Wood? Gas? Electric? They all have different pros and cons. Does size matter? Outdoor only? Indoor only? If you’re buying a pizza oven, you have lots of choices. Can you just use a kamado as a pizza oven, or a smoker? Can you just slap some pizza dough on your gas grill? Or charcoal grill? In my book with Marc Vetri, Mastering Pizza, I also go deep into the advantages of choosing a pizza dough that matches the heat of your pizza oven. That’s how you get the kind of pizza you’re aiming for: by adjusting the amount of water in your dough to match your oven."

Dave was the special guest last month as well, talking "all things pizza", not so much about the ovens as this week will be. Be sure to catch (or re-watch) that Fireside Chat here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRa6nk3EUE8

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More About Dave:

Dave Joachim (jo-WOK'm) is the co-author of two acclaimed pizza cookbooks: The earliest, from 2018, is Mastering Pizza co-written with James Beard-award-winning Philadelphia chef Marc Vetri. This authoritative book has sold more than 100,000 copies and is an Amazon Editors’ Pick, consistently ranking among the top pizza cookbooks. It focuses on Italian pizza, focaccia, and calzones, including a deep dive into oven types and temperatures, various doughs for thick and thin-crust pizzas, and the affect of different wheat varieties on dough flavor and texture. There’s quite a bit of food science here. For research, Dave traveled throughout Naples and Rome eating dozens of pizzas of various styles.

His newest pizza book is We The Pizza, from 2025, ghostwritten for Philadelphia James Beard-award-winning social entrepreneur Muhammad Abdul-Hadi, owner of the acclaimed Down North Pizza in Philadelphia. This book is all about Detroit-style pizza with unique topping combos like berbere-spiced smoked brisket, pikliz, and harissa cheese sauce. It has been nominated for some prestigious awards.

Over 30 years of researching and cooking, Dave has tasted most of the acclaimed pizzas in Italy and America from Bonci’s pizza al taglio in Rome and Franco Pepe’s Neo-Neapolitan style near Naples to Frank Pepe’s white clam pizza in Connecticut, Ann Kim’s Pizzeria Lola in Minneapolis, Pizzeria Beddia in Philadelphia, Ken’s Artisan in Portland, and Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix. Dave is also the chief pizza oven tester and reviewer for AmazingRibs.com, and he’s done thorough tests and pizza cooks on everything from the $2000 wood-fired Gozney Dome outdoor pizza oven to the $99 Culinary Chef indoor electric pizza oven.

[Huskee]

Here's the recorded version of last night's Fireside Chat w/ Dave Joachim on pizza ovens:

[Alan Brice]

Great Chat, I cannot wait til Dave reviews the Scorpio.

[Alan Brice]

I am in. Thanks Meathead and David Joachim.

[Tracy Evans]

Yeah !!
I am looking forward to learning about Pizza ovens. Thank you Meathead and Dave

[Ace]

I just received the "Mastering Pizza" book and I'm really looking forward to learning all about making great pizzas as I haven't been able to accomplish it in the past.

[Alan Brice]

Great book! We the Pizza is very interesting in it's own right.

[TwinPapa108]

Awesome! Looking forward to learning more.

[Huskee]

Here's the recorded version of last night's Fireside Chat w/ Dave Joachim on pizza ovens:

[Alan Brice]

Great Chat, I cannot wait til Dave reviews the Scorpio.