Thanks. It all helps.
Probably the best way is the way that gives what one wants from a pizza.
Try as i may I struggled to get some dough thin enough, without them then pulling back.
I’m on 67+ hydration with 2gm yeast on a 2 day prove.
2 Likes
The dough is the difficult part and it’s understanding the water content (the more water the softer the dough, the bigger air pockets in the crust). Temperature is also key to proving. If you think the dough is too cold, place somewhere warm, if it’s room temp then leave at room temp. Once you’ve found the right method you’ll be flying.
1 Like
I’m also - god forbid me - thinking its a waste of 1/3rds of a pizza in a true Neopolitan style.
1 Like
The PizzApp is worth downloading to assist you with ingredient quantities.
You can then slightly adjust ratios as Carruthers has suggested.
Talking of the dough…
Ive always used the Richard Bertinet one and get great results:
- 625g 00 Flour
- 15g fresh yeast
- 1½-2 teaspoons fine salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 6 tablespoons good quality extra virgin olive oil
- 400g lukewarm water
Luckily, German supermarkets sell fresh yeast, but you need half quantity if using the dry sort.
Great topic BTW
3 Likes
I used to get this when cold proving and found bringing the dough out of the fridge 4 hours before bake helped. Also, as you probably already know, the “stretch” during kneading is important.
I’m in Sicily at the moment and have had a couple of pizzas. Quite different, one was so tough, I had to carve a ridge in the base and then try to snap bits off. A real workout!
The Ooni seems very popular on this thread but has anyone seen a Morso in action? I’m very taken by their looks but wondering if they cook a nice pizza too.
I think the Uuni (or Ooni) is popular because it is very good value for money, and it can be kept going continuously for pizza after pizza, perfect for a social pizza party. It also heats up ready for use pretty quickly from cold (Nominally 10 but I think closer to 20 minutes from first lighting to be fully up to temperature). Cooking time is 1-2 minutes (I typically count to 20 approx seconds, then rotate by a quarter, and repeat, after turning so all sides equally it is ready = probably just under 2 minutes including turning time.
The Morso clearly wins the fashion stakes, at a cost. But it is a different beast entirely: one website suggests it takes half an hour to an hour to heat up ready for use, and, though I’m not certain - it looks as if it might not use continuous heat, instead after a while and few pizzas have been cooked needing to be reloaded with wood and waiting to bring back to temperature - but If so, how long /after how many pizzas I’ve no idea. Cooking is then 5 minutes per pizza. I haven’t checked pizza size - may well cook bigger pizzas than the original Uuni (though a larger Uuni also exists now). It might be better cooking thicker pizzas - Uuni running on wood is only suitable for Napoli style thin base and not too thick toppings (gas is adjustable and can be run at lower temperature if thicker is wanted).
There are other pizza ovens around not much different in price from Uuni, but I don’t know how they all compare.
2 Likes
Very happy to see this post. I have sourdough starter that has been alive for 6 years and all that time I’ve been perfecting my pizza dough/ crust. I’ve been looking at these as I consider what I want. I’d thought of building an outdoor brick and stone oven, but this is a heck of a lot easier.
3 Likes
Some additional observations re Uuni running on wood pellets, from my experience:
The ashes can clog up on the grate after a while. I use a piece of stiff wire with the tip bent at right angles to rake out the slots in situ if that starts to happen. It got worse with use, so I contacted Uuni and they responded saying to scrub the grate thoroughly with a wire brush. That fixed it, now I do after each use, using a drill- mounted wire brush for ease.
For prolonged use, topping up wood chip feed hopper is necessary frequently. I extended mine, adapting a piece of aluminium tubing to fit on top, so refills are needed far less frequently. I’ve seen someone selling something for the purpose on eBay.
Re woodchip, I tried another type, not Uuni brand, and a lot cheaper, (Balcas Brites, about £7 or £8 for 10kg bag) available from a local branch of a plumbing/heating supplier (Wolseley) - I compared, by willing with one then the other alternating during a session, and am not convinced I could tell the difference, so we now just buy the cheaper one.
Incidentally, these small pizza ovens like Uuni are easily portable, so can be taken to a friend’s house, or work do, or potentially even on a motorhome holiday. I had comp templated building a pizza oven in the garden, and had delayed only because there was a distinct possibility of us moving how in a short timeframe - then I discovered Uuni!
2 Likes
We vaguely thought about building a brick one in our garden after some friends of ours did that. But then I saw the ooni and after some research thought there was little point going for anything other than an ooni. Though it’s taken quite a long time actually to get around to buying it
1 Like
Thanks for the observations - I hadn’t thought at all about the continuous heat aspect. Will give it some thought. Napoli style pizza is what we like so maybe I will become an Ooni owner after all.
First attempt happening tonight 
The dough certainly rose
Making tomato sauce and waiting for oven to warm up and then we are go!
7 Likes
So not Entirely successful but you have to start somewhere. My wife and daughters had the best ones and I had the worst! The last one turned into a calzone
9 Likes
Yes, it takes a bit of practice, in particular the knack of getting the pizza off the peel where you want it to be, and then back on again - and occasional disasters are par for the course - but usually mostly salvageable. We mostly share pizzas rather than each eating our ‘own’, though of course some people prefer some toppings or not keen on others and anyone with particular dietary requirements may nned their own.Tthat way no-one is waiting to eat, you can appreciate the differences and that is part of the fun - sometimes it becomes a bit of a competition to se who can make the best (=most popular) pizza.
Some tips from my own experience:
- Earlier in the day we divide the dough into appropriately sized balls after the first prove (the Uuni instructions suggest an appropriate weight), dividing by spreading out and cutting into the the appropriate number based on total weight of dough. We put the balls spaced out appropriately on oiled trays and cover with oiled clingfilm. They can be refrigerated until close to the time so that can be done early in the day if desired.
- Be sure to use plenty of flour, or preferably semolina, on the peel.
- If you assemble the pizza on the peel (we do) and if it takes a bit of time to load it how you want it, give it a jog every so often to help the flour/semolina keep it from sticking.
- We bought a couple of extra peels so others can assemble while someone else is cooking, though only at the last party did we break out the third one.
- Don’t overload with topping, or use topping that is too liquid, or there is a risk of the topping flowing off in the oven, causing sticking and burning.
- Similarly don’t put the topping too close to the edge, though I find that with care handling I can take it to within a centimetre or so.
5 Likes
Thanks - all stuff I have seen a few times but it needs to go into my head!
Though trying to persuade my wife not to put lots of toppings on or right up to the edge is not something I have had any success with so far. Told her that in advance, she ignored me, told her afterwards that someone had advised that and she just told me they were wrong!
Prep area is another consideration.
Most pizzeria have either a solid marble or steel/aluminium worktop.
We have a solid melamine type that’s prone to scratches which rules out assembling and then using the peel to slip it off directly from the worktop, using instead a large wooden chop block - which isn’t ideal - resulting in a few disasters.
I bought a plastic/latex pastry sheet which has measured circles on it. It’s non stick and let’s you stretch the dough to the right size before I transfer it onto the peel. Easy to clean and it rolls up really small to be tucked away in a kitchen draw. Really useful imo.
3 Likes
^^^^^
Yep, we’ve got one as well. Very useful.
Brilliant. Thankyou.