First Attempt on the Ooni.

[pkadare]

Well what started out well enough turned into a disaster of epic proportions. I'm going to blame it on the grocery store dough being weak and I think I stretched it a little thin. Stuck to the counter and ripped trying to get it on the peel. Stuck to the peel when I tried to launch it and then of course it was ripped on the bottom so it stuck to the stone. It didn't help that it was too windy and the flames were roaring out the front when I took the door off. Oh well, the tiny part that was edible was good. Not a failure but a learning experience, right? I have a pizza stone heating up in the house oven for the second pizza. Need to figure out what to do about wind though. UPDATE: I found a splatter screen for a stove that looks like it will work perfectly as a windscreen. https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B08...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Started out well
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Hmm, perhaps a calzone instead of a pizza? ​​​​
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Well, at least the unburnt bits were really good.
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The second pizza, cooked in the oven in the kitchen was much better.

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[Polarbear777]

Higher temps usually require a less hydrated dough so it won’t stick to the stone. Many doughs are formulated for 500F.

It should be slippery enough on the peel so you are stressed about it dropping on the way to the oven (don’t ask).
Lots of extra flour and/or cornmeal and key is working quickly when loading toppings on the peel so that dry layer doesn’t have time to hydrate.

The next ones will be amazing I’m sure.

[pkadare]

Yeah, I have no idea what the hydration on the dough was as it was frozen dough balls from the grocery store. I'm just waiting on some Caputo Pizzeria flour and some semolina, along with the wind screen until I attempt my next one. I have full confidence I'll master this, besides, nothing wrong with being able to eat at least part of my mistakes. :-)

[snowswamp]

"Quickly when loading toppings" doesn’t seem to get through to my kids.

[Argoboy]

Glen and friends on You Tube did a series on pizzas with a new pizza oven and I remember him saying you can get the oven too hot. Perhaps that was one of your problems? I do think there is a learning curve to pizza at home. I am sure the next one will be better.

[pkadare]

No, it was plenty hot, in fact with the wind and billowing flames it was too hot. The problem wasn't really the oven but the fact that I'd stretched the dough to thin and ripped it getting it on the peel. The sauce leaking through the rip is what caused the launch failure and it was all downhill from there. The rip also caused it to stick to the stone in the oven. :-)

[Argoboy]

I am making pizza tonight as we had topping left over. I used the PC 00 flour from Italy, I may try to cook on Primo this time. Wish me luck.

[grantgallagher]

I had some similar experiences my first few times with my ooni. Cant remember what model you have but might would rip to 900 easy with little means of control and i always had sticking problems. But thats all my fault, pizza is not my thing.

[fzxdoc]

With your attention to detail and analytical brain, I'm sure you'll have the technique perfected in no time. Besides, that's why they call it a learning curve. Enjoy your next cook on your new Ooni.

Kathryn

[jfmorris]

I imagine the dough itself was at least part of the problem. That store made dough is likely formulated for use in an oven at 350 to 450, and not a pizza oven at 700+.

I got my kamado too hot one time, and scorched the bottom of the first pizza I did. For me the sweet spot is 650-700. Any hotter and the bottom of the crust burns on the stone before the top is done. I know that will likely be the opposite for you though, since the pizza oven puts the heat above the pizza rather than below it.

[DTro]

pkadare That looks like something I would do! It took me many tries and ruined pizzas to get the feel for a slick peel. If ever you have tacky dough like that again, you can use a piece of parchment paper between the dough and the peel. Put the dough and the paper in the oven. Once the dough cooks a bit and you turn your pizza you can easily pull the paper out and re-use it for the next pizza.

[Grillin Dad]

That's exactly what I do with my pizzas. I preheat my stones (I do 2 at a time in my oven) form the pizzas on parchment, and then transfer the parchment and pizzas to the stones. Works great and I don't have to mess with a peel. I usually get 3 uses with the parchment before it falls apart.

[jfmorris]

I use this technique too when cooking pizza on my kamado at 650 to 700 degrees. I give the pizza about 30 seconds, then do a quarter turn, and yank the parchment paper out at the same time. If you don't do it pretty quickly, I've found the parchment paper bursts into flames and scorches due to the heat being way above the rating for parchment paper.

In the oven the parchment paper is fine and can be left for the entire cook I expect.

[Bogy]

I make pizzas with thick dough and lots of toppings. After many frustrating episodes trying to get the pizza transferred to the hot stone, I also started using parchment paper. Much, much easier. I'm usually cooking in a 500 degree oven, and I can leave the paper under the pizza the whole time. Scorched, but no flames.

[pkadare]

Just to be clear this was most definitely not the fault of the oven, it was entirely on me. The disaster started when I stretched the dough too thin and it tore. I was doomed before I even left the house to get to the Ooni. As much as I'd like to, I can't blame my tools for this one. 😁🍕

[shify]

Did you get the perforated peel from Ooni? I use a wood peel indoors but find the Ooni perforated peel to work really well and also helps to get rid of some of the excess bench flour. An easy launch is critical on the Ooni cause it runs so hot so if you wind up too deep, that thing will burn before it firms up enough to turn it.

I also find the doughs made with Caputo 00 flour to be much easier to work with than standard AP flour or store bought dough (not to mention so much better results)

[pkadare]

I have a perforated peel on the way along with Caputo Semolina and Pizzeria flour. I already have a bag of the Caputo chef's flour. Once the wind screen arrives I'm going to try again with my own handmade dough. I'm sure it will be much better. Thanks for the tips.

[RichardCullip]

I use a healthy sprinkling of rice flour on my wooden peel to help keep the pizza dough from sticking. I also shake the peel to move the dough a bit after each layer of sauce, cheese and toppings are put on. A shake or two while moving from kitchen to my pizza oven helps to keep the pizza dough from sticking. Just don't shake it so much that you have a premature launch of your pizza. I cook my pizzas in the KettlePizza attachment on my Weber kettle, while not an Ooni pizza oven, I do get the oven up above 800degF before cooking.

[JoeSousa]

I like to use a wooden or bamboo peel to launch. I stretch/roll the dough, put some semolina on the peel, and then put the dough on the peel and add the toppings. Of course there are still a few here and there that get stuck to the peel but that is becoming more and more of a rare thing. Then I use a metal peel to turn the pizzas once they are in the oven.

I don't think anyone has ever had their first pizza oven experience go well BTW so you are not alone. Either the pizza doesn't launch from the peel or it gets burnt black.

This is the dough recipe I generally go with: https://www.seriouseats.com/basic-ne...a-dough-recipe There are dozens of other similar recipes out there so just play around and find the one you like the best. And store bought dough does work but I have always had trouble getting it thin enough.

[Old Glory]

I find if you build the pizza too far in advance it will stick to everything. I also use parchment paper. Stretch out dough and place on parchment paper, top with sauce, cheese, and other toppings then slide into oven. Give it a couple of minutes to set then slide out parchment paper. This is on my BGE at 650-700 though not sure if Ooni is the same.

[Attjack]

Try using parchment paper next time.

[radshop]

Same thing for me on my first one on the Ooni. And probably 5 times or so within the first 25-30 pizzas. Since then I've done hundreds without any major disasters.

So yeah, just keep practicing. FWIW here are some things I do to avoid problems.

1. Get the stone hot, keep it hot. I wait until the stone is at least 700 degrees before I put the first pizza on.
2. If I see the dough looking like it might tear, I don't take chances. I pull a little dough off the edge and patch it.
3. I have both a wood and metal peel, and I find the wood one less sticky. YMMV
4. I use plenty of corn meal on the peel.
5. I try to time things so the prepped pizza sits for the least amount of time. As soon as that sauce hits the dough, it starts soaking through and making the bottom sticky.
6. Right before I put the pizza in the oven, I give the peel a little shake to make sure it isn't sticking (just don't dump the pizza - almost happened once). If there's any sticking at all, I use a thin spatula to work some corn meal or flour under the dough until everything is loose.
7. And when I've reached that point, if things aren't working, I try to convert it to a calzone, and if that doesn't work it goes in the trash. It's not worth putting a sure disaster in the oven.

[xaugievike]

I struggled in every which way with pizza, and on my Ooni, until I read Ken Forkish' book "The Elements of Pizza." Once I learned about dough hydration, it all just opened up for me.

[Argoboy]

We did pizza tonight, our dough made with 00 pizza flour from Italy was good. I cooked the pizza on the gas grill at 550F, I used our 14” Lodge cast iron pizza pan as pizza stone with parchment paper underneath and that trick worked well. Everyone liked the finished product.

[Andrrr]

The Lodge pizza pan works really well on the grill. Good looking pizza ya got there.

[jfmorris]

I love my Lodge CI pizza pan. I have shied away from actual stones after the last one we cracked 10-15 years ago.

[Michael_in_TX]

I've been doing all of my pizzas in my cast iron skillet (12"). I love the flavor a bit of EVOO plus some italian herbs and red pepper flakes give the underside of the crust in that pan.