Disclosure: This post is NOT sponsored by Ooni. This post does contain affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I may earn a commission if you click-through and make a purchase.

When quarantine first started, a daunting question kept crossing my mind, “what am I to do with all my free time?” Naturally, I knew I was going to start some type of food project but what now? Like many of you, I’ve spent my quarantine making count-less carb-filled goodies. Pasta, naan, bagels… pizza…

That’s it! PIZZA!

So I figured if I’m going to do this, I’m going to do this right. Of course, I could just focus on making epic pizzas in my oven but I knew that I wanted that Neapolitan style pizza with the fluffy, bubbly crust and crispness that I wouldn’t be able to achieve within the limits of 550F degrees.

So I started on my quest for a pizza oven.

First, I had to decide a few things:

What kind of heat source? (wood-fired or gas) – While wood-fired sounds sexy (and probably tastes delicious), I decided it wasn’t going to worth the hassle, at least for my first pizza oven. My thought, once I get propane mastered and if I still want more, I could upgrade to wood-fired, but for now, propane it is!

How big? – As you’ve probably already noticed, there are many size options for pizza ovens. If I could have it my way and I had unlimited space and money, I’d get one of those massive pizza ovens that you can find at some of my favorite pizza spots like Paulee Gee’s or Harvest in Columbus, OH. Again, this is probably not realistic for my first pizza oven. Because we are a family of two, and because I know the pizzas would cook super-fast at such high temperatures, I was leaning toward a smaller oven.

With these specifications in mind, I came across the Ooni Koda. Not only did it have great reviews, but I also loved that it would be mobile so I could take it on-the-go for vacations, tailgates, and camping.

Once ordering, I received my Ooni Koda within only a few days which was very exciting! I couldn’t wait to put it to work!

To summarize, I have been very impressed with the Ooni Koda and I can confidently say it has been my favorite purchase of 2020!

Pros:

• User friendly – Even my first attempt at using the Ooni Koda was a great success (see pic below)! All you have to do is connect the regulator to the propane tank, turn the knob, and you’re rockin’!

• Light and mobile – At only 20lbs and with foldable legs, the Ooni Koda is easily moved from one place to the next!

• Fast – After properly preheating the oven for 15-20 minutes, you can cook a professional-looking pizza in under 2 minutes.

• Cleaning – it doesn’t really require any heavy cleaning! I just brush off the pizza stone after the pizza oven has cooled and boom, you’re done!

Cons:

• Starter – While I love my Ooni Koda and I hate to critique it in any way, sometimes it is difficult to ignite. Even following the directions precisely, it sometimes takes 5-10 minutes and numerous tries to get it to ignite and stay on. If it wasn’t for this minor inconvenience, I could honestly say that the Ooni Koda is perfect!

Now that I’ve got the hang of using my pizza oven and perfecting my dough, I decided it was time to make a legit outdoor pizza making station. I ordered a stainless steel table that is big enough for prep area and holding the oven itself. I highly recommend making a designated station as things can get messy when your playing with the dough (lots of flour involved)!

A few Tips & Tricks to get you started:

• You NEED a pizza peel. I did not buy the pizza peel from Ooni because I thought I could get it cheaper somewhere else. I ended up finding a pizza peel at a local restaurant supply store for only $15 bucks whereas Ooni charges $40. If you want to make life simpler, just buy one from Ooni or order one from amazon.

• Do not put toppings on the dough until it is on the pizza peel. Once you put toppings on the dough, it will be too heavy and your dough will rip once moved.

• Use a heavy hand with flour. The worst thing that can happen is that you make this beautiful pizza and then it sticks to the pizza peel preventing you from launching it into the oven. This is super sad and we learned the hard way a few times. I encourage you to regularly shake the pizza peel as you are putting on your toppings to ensure that the pizza is still movable. If it has started to stick, try to lift up a small part of the pizza at a time and toss some extra flour underneath the dough.

• Don’t overdo the toppings. The heavier the pizza, the more likely it will stick to your peel.

• Don’t allow toppings to fall over the dough onto the peel (especially liquid toppings like olive oil or red sauce). Again, this causing stickiness and will make launching your pizza difficult.

• Don’t put your pizza into the oven and then walk away. This oven is VERY HOT and it will cook quickly. You need to babysit your pizza, it will cook in like 2 minutes so it shouldn’t be too much trouble.

• To turn your pizza, you must completely remove the peel from the oven.

• Make sure you let the pizza oven heat up for at least 15 minutes before launching your first pizza to ensure the pizza stone is very hot.

That is all I have for now… please don’t hesitate to drop me a question below!

You can check out the Ooni Koda and other Ooni Products by click here!