You’ll want to set up your pizza oven in a well ventilated space. Just dust it with some corn meal before cooking so that the pizza dough won’t stick. If it sticks to wood, you’re MUCH more stuck… so beware and give it a really good dusting with cornmeal or flour beforehand. If you buy from a link, we may earn a commission. A black stone is actually a seasoned stone, so don’t worry at ALL about your stone growing darker. Sit back and get ready for the most delicious homemade slice yet. You Need This Portable Pizza Oven in Your Life, DIY Lawn Games You Should Play This Summer, 3 Brilliant Ways to Use One Oversize Flower Pot. How does the terracotta pot help? It may take a bit longer to preheat than your backyard gas grill, but it also needs to get a LOT hotter. These Christmas Front Doors Are Nothing but Merry, 27 Most Delicious Christmas Dinner Casserole Ideas. Country Living editors select each product featured. However, the guys at Hey Try This have come up with an answer to all of our pizza problems: a DIY pizza oven using a terracotta pot. Feel free to comment below with more tips and tricks, or further questions! (If you want more on how a wood-fired oven works, by the way, click here.). It gets extremely HOT… and you will want to be able to dedicate some space around it for safety. You sliding the pizza slightly out of the oven and using tongs to rotate it. Then use a thin metal peel to turn/remove the pizzas from the oven because it’s much easier to slide a thin blade under the cooking pizza. Allow it to cool down gradually or it will crack. As soon as you notice the bottom of the pizza getting dark, if you’d like the top of the pizza to have a few more minutes, use a metal pizza peel to tilt the pizza up off the stone. Burning pizza after pizza is frustrating but it’s pretty much a given with pizza ovens that at first you’ll have to experiment a little to figure out what works best for you. Just be aware that the thickness of your crust, the amount of sauce you use, and the types and quantity of toppings you add will all affect your cooking times. This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. To execute this tutorial you will need a fire pit, grill grates, a pizza stone, charcoal, and a large terracotta pot. This allowing the heat to continue cooking the top but stops the bottom from further cooking. If you don't have a fire pit, try making your own out of a wheelbarrow. Experts advise newbies to have 2 different pizza peels… wood for prep and insertion, and metal for turning and removal. If you’re considering getting an outdoor pizza oven, or have recently purchased one, here’s some helpful information for you all about how to use a pizza oven.. What follows is not a “how to”, or a step by step guide… you can find those in the instruction manual of the particular model you get, or on YOUTUBE, where there are guides galore. If you have a long handled bbq metal flipper, you can rotate the pizza wholly inside the oven by slightly lifting and rotating. After preheating your pizza oven so that your pizza stone is thoroughly good and hot, you’ll slide your prepared pizza off of your pizza peel onto the hot pizza stone. … The stone is stationary (on most models). It traps the heat and circulates it around the dough, leading to that perfectly crisp crust. There are lots of different varieties and sizes of peels: wooden and aluminum/metal are the two top choices. Can I use parchment paper under my pizza to stop it from sticking to the pizza peel? It may take some practice to get the hang of what works best for your particular model and preferences. You’ll want to have plenty of cornmeal or flour on your peel so that the pizza will slide easily. Why? FAQs, with tips & tricks woven in, all aimed at beginners. Cooking time should be about 5 minutes, this is because this oven generally produces more heat than your everyday oven. Country Living participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. Most people find that thin crust pizzas with minimal toppings are the easiest to do well (cook evenly and consistently),  while thick crusts or pizzas with plenty of “wet” toppings (like vegetables) are more challenging to get right without a lot of tweaking and perfecting of their techniques. As hard as we try, we can never seem to get our homemade pizzas to be quite as good as the carryout pies from our favorite pizza joint. While the pizza is cooking, you can be prepping your next pizza on the wooden peel, so it is worth it have both if you plan to be cooking for a crowd. Rori is the web editorial intern at CountryLiving.com. How do I actually cook a pizza in this oven? The key to a crispy crust is high temperatures, but investing in our own professional-grade pizza oven probably isn't very practical. Ever wonder how the pie makers at your favorite pizzeria get the crust so crispy-crunchy and delicious? The perfect conditions are a calm, mild-warm day. If you have any questions or feedback, comment on any post and I’ll get back to you quickly! Also try making the dough about 1/4″ thick overall and limit your toppings to two or three (including cheese) so the pizza and toppings can cook through all at the same rate, Reduce the cooking temperature (especially if it’s a thicker crust), Clean the excess food off, but don’t use soap on it (soap will strip any oils/seasoning that has been done. The pizza is turned using a peel and tongs. The terra cotta pot cover covers, the pizza pan. • Ready-to-use terracotta and stainless steel outdoor wood ovens. Absolutely! Certified for Food Preparation. Anything else you want to know about how to use a pizza oven? If you like to have the crust super crispy or lightly browned, you can do either. One thing is for sure: Pizza night may never be the same. Do You Know How to Hang Christmas Lights? What can I try if I keep burning my crust bottoms? At the end of it all, you should have an evenly cooked dough, with toppings cooked just right. I wanted fire brick. Editor's Note: Please be careful and use extreme caution when handling hot items and devices. These can also be used as a pizza stone. These tiles are manufactured by hand in our plant and are fired to extremely high temperatures. What do I do if my pizza sticks to my pizza peel? ), your pizza cooking time will also adjust. Give it at least 15 minutes to heat up to high temperature – that way the stone will be extremely hot and the oven will be ready to cook a fabulous pizza from the top and the bottom. You can try a combination of the following: Do weather conditions affect how my pizza oven works? They say prep the pizza on a wood peel, over a thin layer of corn meal to help it slide off, because raw dough doesn’t stick to wood as easily as metal. Your pizza oven is ready for the next pizza – there’s no need to reheat the oven. If you’re considering getting an outdoor pizza oven, or have recently purchased one, here’s some helpful information for you all about how to use a pizza oven. For the full tutorial, check out Hey Try This. I wanted it to look nice, serve a function and be replaceable if they crack over time so they could not be "concreted in" like you might see on some larger ovens. Either way, it can be a little awkward at first, but it gets very easy after some practice. If it’s a gas model, keep the fuel supply hose directed away from any heated surfaces (the hose should not be routed under the oven). Just make sure that wooden peel is dry (no sauce drips, cheese, condensation) before prepping the next crust, or it’ll stick. Almost all the ovens i saw used either a large terra-cotta tile or a pizza stone on smaller ovens. It just depends on how long you leave it on the stone and how hot you set the oven. As the oven is easily capable of temperatures of 700+ºF, and most parchment papers are described as being oven safe to 450ºF, the answer is no. A little scorching won’t hurt, but it should only enter the oven for 2-3 seconds. What additional items will I need to buy? However, the guys at Hey Try This have come up with an answer to all of our pizza problems: a DIY pizza oven using a terracotta pot. Can I make ANY pizza in an outdoor pizza oven? Regardless of the speed, you’ll want to be rotating the pizza during the cooking process at regular intervals. Your Christmas Dessert Table Needs These Recipes. What follows is not a “how to”, or a step by step guide… you can find those in the instruction manual of the particular model you get, or on YOUTUBE, where there are guides galore.