Pizza Oven

One of my friends is all in on making pizza.  He bought a pizza oven from Italy.  It looks just like an Ooni, but probably cost twice as much.  Uses gas and gets super hot.  He makes his own dough and sauce and gets meats from an Italian market in town.

He has people over about every other week and cooks 8 or 10 pizzas a night (they are about 12" pizzas).  They are super good.

 
Red Five said:
One of my friends is all in on making pizza.  He bought a pizza oven from Italy.  It looks just like an Ooni, but probably cost twice as much.  Uses gas and gets super hot.  He makes his own dough and sauce and gets meats from an Italian market in town.

He has people over about every other week and cooks 8 or 10 pizzas a night (they are about 12" pizzas).  They are super good.
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I am guessing they get cooked in about 60 seconds?  Neapolitan style? 

I have not made my own dough but that might be the next thing I try.

Today I used 3 small premade cooked crusts and topped them.  They took about 2-3 minutes to finish.  Not bad over all but not as great as a fresh dough.

 
teachercd said:
I am guessing they get cooked in about 60 seconds?  Neapolitan style? 
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Yeah, that's correct.

He pre-makes his dough 2-3 days ahead of time so it can rise.  Also uses San Marzano tomatoes in his sauce.

We were over a couple weeks ago and he had 4 different kinds of pepperoni/salami for us to choose from as a topping that he picked up at the Italian market.  Like I said above, the dude is all in on pizza making.

Everyone tells him that he needs to set up shop at some outdoor place and sell them, but he has no interest in that.  He just likes to make them for friends and experiment with different toppings and sauces. 

He also has always 2 different beers on tap at his house plus a 20 or so whiskeys.  Great place to hang out at.  He's as awesome guy.  Everyone needs a friend like him.

 
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teachercd said:
I am guessing they get cooked in about 60 seconds?  Neapolitan style? 

I have not made my own dough but that might be the next thing I try.

Today I used 3 small premade cooked crusts and topped them.  They took about 2-3 minutes to finish.  Not bad over all but not as great as a fresh dough.
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If you can find a place that makes good pizza dough, that's the best IMO. Making your own dough isn't hard if you have a mixer with a dough hook, but buying it already made is way more convenient and still tastes just as good.

 
RedDenver said:
If you can find a place that makes good pizza dough, that's the best IMO. Making your own dough isn't hard if you have a mixer with a dough hook, but buying it already made is way more convenient and still tastes just as good.
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I know Aldi, Trader Joe's and Fresh Thyme (if those are still around) had it fresh and in a plastic bag.  I am going to hit those up.

I wonder if pizza places sell their dough, never really thought about it but they might.

 
Red Five said:
Yeah, that's correct.

He pre-makes his dough 2-3 days ahead of time so it can rise.  Also uses San Marzano tomatoes in his sauce.

We were over a couple weeks ago and he had 4 different kinds of pepperoni/salami for us to choose from as a topping that he picked up at the Italian market.  Like I said above, the dude is all in on pizza making.

Everyone tells him that he needs to set up shop at some outdoor place and sell them, but he has no interest in that.  He just likes to make them for friends and experiment with different toppings and sauces. 

He also has always 2 different beers on tap at his house plus a 20 or so whiskeys.  Great place to hang out at.  He's as awesome guy.  Everyone needs a friend like him.
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Oh man, yep...those are the ones!

20 whiskeys?????  And an oven from Italy???

What does this guy do for a living?  Let me guess...a teacher?  Those guys have IT ALL!

 
teachercd said:
Hahaha!

Okay, update.  I am going to buy some Neapolitan dough and try to make make it myself. 

I anticipate a huge disaster BUT I am going to give it a shot.   
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My wife makes her own pizza dough. It’s never been bad but there are times it’s better than others. Doesn’t seem to be too big of an ordeal (of course my total contribution is only eating the end result) but I’d say a stand mixer with a dough hook is a must.

 
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teachercd said:
Gas...

My friend has the electric Ninja and it is awesome.  When it hits 700 it really means 700.  We do pizza in 3 minutes, period.  

The wood fired ones are crazy hot, 900+ degrees.  But I sort of got jumpy today and grabbed one at the store instead of just hitting up FB marketplace and getting an old used Ooni

It is not that the one that I got is bad and I do think I get get it closer to 700 but there is just something about that 3 minute cook time that makes the pizza soooooo good.

This is sort of what I do though, my Mom instilled so much guilt about buying anything at all that I end up trying to save some money and buy the cheaper version.  
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I'm in Italy and took a tour of Pompeii.  Literally one of the first things they showed us was a pizza over made with volcanic rock and brick.  Guide said they could cook a pizza in 30 seconds because of the way the volcanic rock held heat.  Your 3 mins sounds like an eternity 

 
MyBloodIsRed16 said:
I'm in Italy and took a tour of Pompeii.  Literally one of the first things they showed us was a pizza over made with volcanic rock and brick.  Guide said they could cook a pizza in 30 seconds because of the way the volcanic rock held heat.  Your 3 mins sounds like an eternity 
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Ha!  Trust me, I know!!!!!

I am trying my first Neapolitan dough right now.  I feel like my conversions sucked and it was off a bit, we will see!

 
Okay, update.

Dough turned out pretty good.  

Made a homemade sauce...got it ready...went to slide it on the pizza peel and it stuck, of course!

So it messed up a little BUT it did taste like a Neapolitan crust.

 
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