The Official Pizza Discussion thread (was: Cooking Neapolitan Pizzas with the Uuni 3)

jpaul · 30 May 2019 at 11:47

tom_nieto said:
If not, other than the crazy price of the wood pellets

you'd queried the price earlier in thread so I assumed you were being ironic. ... or are you burning through them too fast. ?
but - if the gas option pays for itself and heats up much faster .. that's a significant pro.

tom_nieto · 30 May 2019 at 12:43

Psycho Sonny said:
i've already recommended pellets in this thread which are £4 for 10kg. whereas i believe official one is like £20 for 10kg.

https://www.wolseley.co.uk/product/balcas-brites-wood-pellet--non-trade-10-kg/

i bought 2 of these last year in preparation for this summer. i managed to buy them using trade discount somehow must have been a link so look through the thread for it.

they were like £4 a bag or possibly £4.50 for 10kg.

10kg is enough i would say for 20 hours of use. it depends a lot on the wind though. i found the more windy it was the more they burned quicker.

They're softwood rather than hardwood like the Ooni ones, so didn't pull the trigger initially on those because of that. It's fairly specific that hardwood pellets should be used. Clearly you've had good results with the quoted ones.

Hardwood pellets are pretty pricey whichever brand you go for by the looks of things.

Psycho Sonny · 30 May 2019 at 13:00

NiCkNaMe said:
Nice one - can collect those tomorrow from local stores.

Doesn't mention food grade - but given you're recommending sounds like you've found them ok?

there is a special regulation for wood pellets. these are the highest grade available. there is no such thing as food grade under the regulation iirc they are graded into 3 classes. A1, A2 and A3.

ENplus A1 quality

that is what matters

https://enplus-pellets.eu/en-in/?option=com_attachments&task=download&id=103:ENplusHandbook_part3_V3

more information on the grading

Psycho Sonny · 30 May 2019 at 13:05

tom_nieto said:
They're softwood rather than hardwood like the Ooni ones, so didn't pull the trigger initially on those because of that. It's fairly specific that hardwood pellets should be used. Clearly you've had good results with the quoted ones.

Hardwood pellets are pretty pricey whichever brand you go for by the looks of things.

I don't see what difference that would make tbh? do they burn hotter or longer? these are used for bio mass boilers, etc normally rather than ovens. also at £4 a bag I don't care so long as they do the job.

plenty of people have recommended these as an alternative on forums / facebook, etc.

just do a few google searches with ooni attached to it or pizza oven.

200sols · 30 May 2019 at 13:15

Softwood burns quicker than hardwood and people use it(hardwood) in wood ovens etc as it leaves behind coals that burn for a long time where softwood tends to go into a flaky ash, but in pellet form for cooking pizza it probably doesnt matter at all.

jpaul · 30 May 2019 at 20:27

article on neapolitan pizza school 2K/2weeks https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0005f3w ~18:50
- putting lard on the pizza as a topping , also italian guy talks about using a 'scaffia' some kind of slab for airating / prepping the dough ????

moreover https://homeguides.sfgate.com/pine-vs-oak-burning-95838.html

Energy Content
Oak is a type of hardwood, while pine is a softwood. A cord of seasoned hardwood has about twice the energy content -- measured in British thermal units -- as a cord of seasoned softwood, according to the Chimney Safety Institute of America. For example, white oak contains 29.1 million Btu per cord, compared to 15.9 million Btu for white pine, according to the Utah State University Extension. This means you get nearly twice as much heat from oak as you do from the same amount of pine.

so if the oak is <2x price of softwood you're in.

NiCkNaMe · 30 May 2019 at 21:51

I've used Loki's dough recipe on page 1 and after kneading stuck it straight in the fridge

I probably only need half of it tomorrow, is it just a case of tearing off what I need (assume measuring 220g balls as mentioned by Rob earlier in the thread is way to go?) And leaving the rest in fridge for another day?

Should I be resting it outside of the fridge for a while before using?

jpaul · 31 May 2019 at 08:15

yep (like cooking a steak) need to bring it to room temp > 1hr before handling/forming/using.

jpaul said:
so if the oak is <2x price of softwood you're in.

hardwoods are harder to ignite and get burning so that's a con ... unless you have planned a pizza party.

looks like softwood maybe cheaper than propane too https://nottenergy.com/our-services/resources/energy-cost-comparison/ ( 1Kg wood = 3KW/h = 40p )

Rotty · 16 Jun 2019 at 18:40

Garlic bread (with sharp provelone) came out good

jpaul · 16 Jun 2019 at 22:24

I'd commented before, I'm now steering clear of acid cheeses like cheddar (and provelone?) on pizzas(even mac'n'cheese) they seem to split under high temp, and go oily too easily.

your dough seems to have quite a lot of olive oil, but I guess you used a different recipe to a pizza dough ?

Rotty · 16 Jun 2019 at 22:41

No olive oil or any oil at all, standard pizza dough

The provolone was shaved thing and was very good

roccles · 17 Jun 2019 at 10:31

Rotty said:
Garlic bread (with sharp provelone) came out good

Looks amazing, will be picking one of these up soon I had considered the pizza stone for my BBQ but from everything I read its seems like I would be much better off with one of these, plus it leaves BBQ free to cook on as well.

Rotty · 17 Jun 2019 at 11:00

roccles said:
Looks amazing, will be picking one of these up soon I had considered the pizza stone for my BBQ but from everything I read its seems like I would be much better off with one of these, plus it leaves BBQ free to cook on as well.

yes, the ones that go on BBQ don't seem anywhere near as good

Phil W · 17 Jun 2019 at 20:39

Homebase have these on offer at the moment. Ooni 3 is £175ish and the Pro is £349.

Have a 3 myself, had the pilot run a week or two ago, going to have another blast soon!

fwb2006 · 17 Jun 2019 at 20:55

I've recently been burning kiln dried oak in my ooni 3 instead of the pellets. I got the modified fire guard and have to say it's a real step up. I always found cooking with (ooni) pellets left a taste even when correctly burning. The small kiln dried oak logs are great and can easily get upto a sustainable 400 degrees.

Phil W · 17 Jun 2019 at 22:14

fwb2006 said:
I've recently been burning kiln dried oak in my ooni 3 instead of the pellets. I got the modified fire guard and have to say it's a real step up. I always found cooking with (ooni) pellets left a taste even when correctly burning. The small kiln dried oak logs are great and can easily get upto a sustainable 400 degrees.

I've bought a Lidl charcoal basket to modify for this purpose, I'll have to invest in a JJS Fireguard too. I believe it allows more focus on cooking pizza rather than keeping the pellets in check.

fwb2006 · 17 Jun 2019 at 22:19

Yup, it's the JJS fireguard I use and its great. The cost of using just kiln dried logs offsets the £25 cost of the fireguard quickly enough. It definitely helps shape the flames wider as well as holding back all the fire.

Brian The Snail · 18 Jun 2019 at 05:23

fwb2006 said:
Yup, it's the JJS fireguard I use and its great. The cost of using just kiln dried logs offsets the £25 cost of the fireguard quickly enough. It definitely helps shape the flames wider as well as holding back all the fire.

You got a link for the fireguard please?

robj20 · 18 Jun 2019 at 06:35

Brian The Snail said:
You got a link for the fireguard please?

Think this is what he means.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Turn-an-...836750?hash=item3fc11ce80e:g:w3AAAOSwdQBc--kC

I dont bother i use the pellet tray without the grate in it.

fwb2006 · 18 Jun 2019 at 14:00

Its called the Houlker Flame Guard, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruF0prpqlRc

I can't see it in stock anywhere but you can get get in touch with him via the Ooni Facebook group.