Cali wood fired pizza oven!

[larrylamb]

I am eagerly awaiting delivery of my new "gadget", a portable wood fired pizza oven. Couldn't afford or justify a huge brick traditional pizza oven and after doing some research came upon the "Uuni" now in it's 4th revision, mostly 5 star reviews just got to be careful about scorching the pizza base but hopefully better with the new stone included instead of thin stainless steel base previously. I'm hoping it will be great for days out, cooking pizzas in the open air, who knows could be a money spinner. Anybody used one?

 

[DM]

Intrigued - let me know how the Pizzas come out.

 

[shaun5]

Waiting for the Roccbox to come out

 

[larrylamb]

Waiting for the Roccbox to come out

Yes, that is similar in operation, no prices yet but looks expensive.

 

[shaun5]

It is ! About £300 ish.

 

[larrylamb]

Ordered the Uuni late Jan with a mid March delivery for 189, it's now gone up to 199 but has been improved. Just had an email today to say I will be getting the new model,

 

[sbmcd]

Looks like a nice wee project for the manshed!

 

[Skylark2.0]

That's a lot of takeaway pizzas....
I do calzone on my Cobb Bbq. Can be a little a dente though....

 

[larrylamb]

That's a lot of takeaway pizzas....

True, but then the Cali is a lot of B'n'B's or cruises!

 

[Tommy Gun]

Must admit, it does look pretty smart!
We do pizzas regularly on the BBQ & Stone - they come out so much better compared to the traditional kitchen oven, so this will surely be good. Let us know how you get on

 

[Angus Morgan]

I have the second version, it's absolutely brilliant! Doesn't take long to get fired up, and churns out pizzas! 90-120 seconds is all it takes
Just don't go away and do anything else whilst you have a pizza in, otherwise you will come back to charcoal!

 

[Geezso]

£199 - bargain.

However 10 minute set up for 2 minute cooking. Seems to be great for groups but dunno if I would use in the Cali as fuel would surely need changing each time. It is rather cool and could see it being a big hit with groups of 6+

 

[Angus Morgan]

We use it quite often for 2 of us, the oven setup isn't really the time issue, it's making the dough that takes time. But it is very much worth it!

The fuel is wood pellets, you just keep scooping them in the hopper above the fire. It doesn't really get through many, so storage wouldn't be an issue unless you wanted to use it every night for a week!

 

[larrylamb]

We use it quite often for 2 of us, the oven setup isn't really the time issue, it's making the dough that takes time. But it is very much worth it!

The fuel is wood pellets, you just keep scooping them in the hopper above the fire. It doesn't really get through many, so storage wouldn't be an issue unless you wanted to use it every night for a week!

Thanks for the advice Angus. I have 3 bags of pellets, should last ages. They were very cheap from Plumb Center. I need to get some practice in with the dough making though. I think it will be great for a day out or picnic, Pizzas at the beach or National Park, sounds great.

 

[cpjb@btinternet.com]

Don't you have to leave the pizza dough to rise? OK in the winter I guess with heating on, but what do you do in the summer? I guess pre-make it and store in the fridge?

 

[theonecraw]

We made pizza's on our brand spankers Cadac Safari last Friday using the stone. We cheated and bought pizza express small pizza's from the supermarket but we were mega impressed with how they came out, especially as it took very little time to heat. They cooked much quicker than in the oven at home and tasted so much better. Kids loved them...

Now I know it works well we are looking forward to making our own pizza bases and toppings from scratch. The kids are going to love rolling the dough and choosing their own toppings. If anyone has any recipes feel to share.

However, I am suitably jealous of the Uuni - It looks awesome!!!

 

[larrylamb]

Don't you have to leave the pizza dough to rise? OK in the winter I guess with heating on, but what do you do in the summer? I guess pre-make it and store in the fridge?

If you have time yes but If the dough is pre made and left in the fridge it can improve taste and rise gently. It will rise anyway in a very hot oven if it is thin enough.

 

[Skylark2.0]

We used to us a bag of mix and let it rise on a warm day covered with a tea towel just out in the van.

 

[sidepod]

That looks pretty good. We've been on the lookout for a portable unit. Temp sounds good. It's all about caramelising the carbs, apparently.
Dough always seems to perform better after it's been frozen.

Not portable but great fun.......

 

[larrylamb]

@sidepod, that looks fab, did you just use house bricks no vermiculite/concrete?

 

[motacyclist]

I like it, I just wish I liked pizza too!

(maybe I just never had a decent one?)

 

[sidepod]

The base is concrete bricks, the main arch are just normal house bricks.

The mortar is sand/potters clay (3:1) as normal cement won't take the heat.

I laid out the base corse then bent a hardboard former onto which I set the bricks. Same for the entrance.
Once set just burn out the hardboard.

It's got a render coat on top as clay cement isn't waterproof.

It gets up to around 500 dsg in about an hour.

P.

 

[surfer-rich]

I make a large batch of pizza dough in the bread maker, separate into correctly sized portions, put in a lightly oiled plastic zip bags & freeze till required. Just defrost & roll out/toss.

 

[cpjb@btinternet.com]

Makes a lot of sense.

...I was a little bit worried about having to pack the bread maker as well .

 

[estresao]

Did you see that one?