As we learn to use our Ooni pizza oven we would like to share our findings to help other pizza lovers in the process. I am sure these tips apply to other ovens too.
The dough preparation matters
As the pizza is baked on the hot pizza stone in the oven, you cannot easily remove the stone during baking. You need dough that does not stick to the pizza peel and the stone. If it sticks, you cannot put it in the oven, or you cannot remove it from the oven. If parts of the pizza stay in the hot oven it starts to burn with a considerable flame. During the dough preparation, you can take some steps to make it easier to work with it, so it slides off the peel, and you can remove it from the oven to rotate it after 20 seconds.
- If you make more than one pizza, use a scale and measure the dough portions to create similar size pizzas, so you don’t end up with a big one that does not fit in the oven.
- Roll up the dough into small balls by tightening one surface (the tight surface will slide easier)
- Let the ball sit on the table for a few minutes (this will create a light crust that slides better)
- Put flour in a bowl and cover the smooth surface with flour to slide better
- Place the dough with the smooth surface down on the board when you put the sauce on it (it slides better)
Baking
Pizza is baked in a very hot oven, but you don’t want to burn it.
- Pre-heat the stone to 752 °F ( 400 °C) on the high gas flame,
- Reduce the gas flame to the minimum before you put the pizza into the oven to avoid burning it,
- Rotate the pizza every 20-30 seconds to bake it evenly. You can pull it out with the pizza peel rotate it and slide it back, or you can use a turning peel to rotate it in the oven.
