How To Use Ooni Pizza Oven

Ane of the more than interesting trends that I've seen develop over the past yr is the explosion of at-home cooking and homemade pizza. The Ooni oven is a modest, lightweight woodfire oven that'southward designed to create a taste that'due south remarkably similar to going out to swallow at one of those fancy Italian pizzerias.

If y'all've recently purchased your Ooni oven, yous're probably wondering what the all-time forest for information technology is…

The best wood for an Ooni Oven is the cooking logs fabricated by Smoak Firewood. All of their woods is 100% free from preservatives, kiln-stale for maximum called-for, and they offer the wood in five different varieties (white/red oak, maple, hickory, and cerise).

If y'all're looking for super high-quality wood that's guaranteed to help you bake a keen pizza, and then you can't get incorrect with it!

In today's commodity, I'thou going to break downwards the flavour profile that yous can expect from each type of woods offered past Smoak Firewood. Then, I'k going to explain the deviation betwixt "cooking wood" and traditional firewood that you use in your backyard. I'll besides answer a couple of other mutual questions regarding what you lot tin can and tin can't utilize within of your new Ooni oven.

Choosing The Best Wood For Your Ooni Oven

When restaurants and pizzerias closed during the pandemic, a lot of us were left without our favorite foods and snacks, leaving u.s.a. only two options; pay tons of coin ordering outor making it ourselves!

Personally, I decided to fine-tune my pizza baking skills. I've always enjoyed cooking for myself, but up until the pandemic it had ever been a once-in-a-while affair that I did whenever I was bored or had a 24-hour interval off. These days, I'd wager that I cook effectually 80% of my ain meals.

Ultimately, I feel healthier considering of it. I know exactly what I'm eating and I can make my nutrient exactly equally I see fit without having to feel awkward near asking a waiter to add or remove a certain ingredient.

As part of my quest to become a better pizza chef, I purchased an Ooni oven last yr, along with several other accessories including a pizza stone, and a big metal pizza pare. While they aren'tnecessary, I can attest to the fact that they can broil a phenomenal pizza (and they're tons of fun besides).

Function of cooking with a woodfire pizza oven is choosing the correct cooking wood for your oven. Youdefinitely don't want to but use whatever old woods you find lying around (I'll explain beneath), and so information technology's vital to find a reliable source. I've found that Smoak's cooking firewood produces the all-time results compared to annihilation else I've used so far. It is abit expensive for everyday use, but I only ever use information technology to broil pizzas once or twice a week, so it doesn't carp me.

Smoak offers several different varieties of forest. Each dissimilar type will give the pizza a uniquely different "smoky" season. Although the difference is subtle, it'south definitely noticeable. Here is what you tin await from each type.

White Oak

White oak is the same wood that's used to make the barrels where bourbon is anile in. The tree is known for producing a light, slightly sweetness flavour with hints of vanilla and spice. Information technology's a bully all-around forest that's great for a Neapolitan-style pizza.

Ruby Oak

Ruddy oak is known for burning extra hot, so information technology's a great choice if you're cooking a thicker pizza like a deep dish or a meat-lovers stacked with thick chunks of meat. It produces a slightly stronger mesquite/smoky flavor than white oak does.

Maple

Maple has a wonderfully calorie-free and sugariness flavor. It'southward an first-class choice for thin-crust pizzas similar a Margherita-manner pizza or for any pizza that uses white meat similar chicken or turkey.

Hickory

If yous eat bacon, so hickory is probably something that you've tasted before (as many bacon companies offering hickory-smoked salary). It burns at a medium temperature, produces mild fume, and has a spicy, tangy flavor.

Cherry

If you desire to alter things up a fleck and add together an actress hint of fruitiness to your pizza, then I definitely recommend trying crimson wood. It pairs especially well with a good supreme pizza that's heavy on the veggies or a pineapple pizza (don't come at me with the detest).

Tin can I Use Any Wood For My Ooni Oven?

Information technology'south important to utilise cooking wood for your woodfire oven because information technology's the simply real fashion to guarantee that your forest is clean (no dangerous chemicals, cleaners, or pesticides) and dry (wet/damp woods burns horribly). While it does price a bit more than grabbing sticks out of your lawn, it's worth it.

Can I Use Woodchips or Pellets For My Ooni Oven?

If you're simply cooking a smaller appetizer or a really thin-chaff pizza, so you lot can get away with using wood smoking chips or pellets in your Ooni oven. Withal, these smaller chips burn at a lower temperature, meaning that information technology will take longer for a big pizza to cook.

What Is The Divergence Between Firewood And Cooking Wood?

At this betoken, yous may be wondering if y'all tin can use firewood with your Ooni oven. Again, the respond isno. While good sometime-fashioned firewoodis dry, it's besides full of sap. The sap is dandy for keeping the bonfire burning, only it's toxic to eat/inhale and will add a very bitter sense of taste to your pizza. Final but not least, the sap can be a major pain in the behind to clean off of your pizza stone.

Can I Utilize Charcoal For My Ooni Oven?

If y'all take nothing else, and so you lot tin can become away with using clean-called-for charcoal in your woodfire oven. However, I wouldn't recommend it as information technology volition give your pizza an odd "hamburger season." The thick, black residuum that it leaves inside your oven is also a lot harder to get rid of than traditional cooking wood fume.