Pizza Making Guide

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By Omar Shahine

I started with the Gozney Roccbox. This oven operates off a standard propane tank or you can convert it to a wood feature. I prefer cooking with gas since it’s very quick to get going.

Ooni makes a model that can be hooked up to a Natual Gas line (which I have). I hate getting propane tanks re-filled so I decided to take our Roccbox to our cabin and purchase the Oono Koda 16 and the natural gas conversion kit for unlimited pizza cooking. The ovens differ in size but they both cook at up to 1000 degrees which will cook your pizza in 60-90 seconds. There are pros and cons to both ovens so I think it really comes down to preferences.

The Roccbox Turning Peel is the best peel period. It’s the right length and I use this with both ovens. The Ooni model is too long. This peel has just one job. It turns the pizza in the oven and removes the pizza when done cooking. I use the launching peel below for only dressing and launching the pizza. This keeps it cool and clean. Any moisture or sticky parts will make launching more pizza difficult.

The Roccbox Pizza Peel is the best peel for launching a pizza. I’ve tried half a dozen - wood, bamboo, metal, metal with holes. What makes the Roccbox Pizza Peel the winner? Nonstick aluminum, just the right size, the dough doesn’t get stuck. I dust it will a small amount of semolina flour.

The Ooni Digital Thermometer is quite good as it can read temperatures up to 1000 degrees.

My friend Kelsi, who has been my Pizza guru, hooked me on the Pizza Dough recipe from Pizza Camp: Recipes from Pizzeria Beddia. this dough requires 28 hours and it’s a bit more of a commitment. What you get is amazing tasting dough. I have tried a few other recipes that you can basically start and finish in 1-2 hours, but the taste is not there and the dough not as easy to work with.

You can make the dough by hand, but I chose to use a stand mixer that we also now use to make pasta!

The Kitchen Aid Artisan Series 5-Quart Tilt-Head Matte Black Stand Mixer is what we own (they also make a tiny small version if space is an issue). I love matte black appliances and they look oh so good. Kitchen Aid even makes Matte Black ceramic bowls if you want that total Darth Vader look.

I use a Cambro 2qt Standard Dough-Rising Bucket for proofing the Dough.

I use the Ooni scale for measuring ingredients and yeast. It has a really cool design with two scales, one sensitive to 1/10 of a gram and the other 1g.

I purchased the complete Yeast Set which comes with Saf-Instant dry yeast and a storage container for the fridge.

I use organic 00 Pizza Flour from Fairhaven Mill (local in Washington).

I like the 15 Ounce cans as this makes enough sauce for 6-8 pizzas and also the Cento Organic San Marzano crushed tomatoes. The consistency of Crushed is just perfect for pizza.