Is there any food more universally loved than pizza? It somehow seems to tick a plethora of appealing boxes. The flavours can be minimal or over the top. The textural juxtaposition of crunch and goo goes down a treat. A slice is a snack and a full pizza a meal. We could go on. The point is everyone gravitates to some element of the pizza picture. But while many order pizza with a few taps on a screen, others fire up the pizza oven and get cooking. You know Big K: we’re purists at heart, so today (despite the awesomeness of modern tech) we’re exploring the potential of the pizza oven.
Want to buy a pizza oven?
If you already have a pizza oven, you can cross reference the info in this blog to evaluate your choice. If you don’t have one of these miraculous feats of engineering, we will plug your knowledge gap. When it comes to pizza ovens, things such as the manufacturer, fuel choice , heat ranges, colours and material composition come into play. No need to wallow in the data vortex – we’ll give you all the key details to help you make the right choice for you
Let’s talk Pizza oven heat!
First thing to note is that Pizza ovens deliver some serious serious heat. Your basic household convection oven clocks in at about 250°C when ramped up to the max. A pizza oven starts from this point, delivering mind melting temperatures of 500°C plus – depending on the oven type and fuel selection.
These Sahara-esque temperatures ensure perfectly crunchy crusts and plenty of melt-in-the-moth mastication.
Pizza oven cooking speeds
If you are using a regular oven, you’re looking at about a ten-minute cooking time once your oven is hot to trot. Other factors such as crust texture, toppings, dough type and cheese type can add a few extra mins onto your cook. With a pizza oven, say hello to circular bliss in as a little as one minute. The best part? You get to enjoy all that powerful charred goodness and smoky flavour infusion too! These are what elevate pizza flavours to another level.
You can cook all kinds of food in a pizza oven
Think expansively. Yes it is a pizza oven, but essentially you are relying on the same mechanics of heat associated with any oven. This opens up the door to pretty much everything – from meats, vegetables and fish dishes to lasagne, bread and steaks.
Convenience and portability
When we picture a pizza oven, it’s hard not to get sucked into the romantic notion of weathered, fixed brick and a chimney worn with the smoky goodness of thousand pizzas of the past. Of course you can go full old school with something fixed. However, there are also lots of portable options too. The lighter ovens range between about 15-20 kg. This means you can take your pizza oven wherever you want – as long as open flamed coking is permitted at the place.
The cost of pizza oven perfection
As with all costs on most things, there’s a range to explore. Portable pizza ovens start at about £300 and upwards. For fixed, larger pizza ovens, the starting point is £2,000. We’d suggest starting with a smaller oven to see how you get on. You can always upgrade when you’re ready.
Other things you need to consider when buying a pizza oven
Fuel
For a truly authentic pizza flavour, crunchy crusts and that salivating hint of smokiness, we defo suggest a traditional wood fired pizza oven. They are low maintenance and you have a vast array of wood and wood pellets to choose from. If you go gas, then you need to ensure that you have the correct canister for your specific model.
Accessories
If you’re going all out on your pizza oven, then you need to make sure you have the right tools to finish the job. Let’s say you have a wood fired oven, then you’ll a rake and brush to clean up ash and debris after each cook. Make sure you grab a pizza peel too. Why? It helps to move your pizza about without chargrilling your fingers. Common sense.
Storage
We might be stating the super obvious but assumption is the mother of all mess ups. You need to have the right space for the appropriate pizza oven type. Do you have enough room for a fixed? Or if you’re going portable, do you have a shed or garage you can use to keep your oven clean and secure?
Brand synergy
There are all kinds of pizza oven manufacturers out there. And often they produce specific accessories for their products – meaning certain brand accessories might not work with different brand pizza ovens. Stay on point.
Pizza oven 101 complete
We hope this blog has cranked up your pizza IQ a good few notches, so you can make the right choice for you. Making pizza is a rewarding and delicious enterprise, so roll up those sleeves and get going.