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[Bentley]

Photos and comments added to Product Review.

[Bar-B-Lew]

You mentioned trying wood chunks.  Are you thinking chips or thinking couple inch type pieces?  Would saw dust or straw type wood strands be helpful to start the fire and then put the chunks on top?

[Bentley]

I am really not sure.  Some pellets probably to start it, then small stick/chunks, will have to see what fits, and what size will work and still stay lit with the convection draw of air!

[Bar-B-Lew]

did the grill come with pellets?  if so, what kind and how much?  How many pellets did you go through to make 5 pizzas and how long from when you fired it up until when you pulled out the last pie?

[ZCZ]

Judging by your last statement about using wood chunks it sounds like you will be changing it from a pellet cooker to a STICK BURNER. Oh the shame of it all. Please don’t tell us you will also be trying charcoal in this unit.
 
Z

[LowSlowJoe]

Looks about as I expected... probably a good unit for someone who wants to tinker and/or doesn't have many other options.

In general , I'm not sure just how much 'value' give to neapolitan pizza.  I mean , I've had some that I really liked, but when I've tried cooking at temperatures up over 700F, I just found the process to be too fast, very hard to do consistently.  I would think that the more consistent your oven is, the easier it might be to perfect. But then , that is the hard part... how to get a oven that's up over 700F to be consistent.  I think that's where big brick/stone ovens become more useful, the mass of the oven itself becomes the key component that gives you a certain amount of consistency.  But then, I personally would not want to have to go start a wood fire in a big stone oven several hours in advance of making a pizza or two. So, I do see the appeal of something like a Pizza Uuni.

 Meanwhile I think I'll stick to my Fast Eddy, or even the GMG pizza oven attachment gizmo.   Or, dare I say it, I really need to get my old Blodgett up and running. Or maybe...   I do have this notion that I could design a pellet powered pizza oven, one that's way better then anything I've seen on the market so far ( I haven't actually 'seen' the CookShack  pizza oven, or at least not enough of it to know if it'd do what I would want myself, but I already know I can't afford one )

[Chris__M]

I have a friend who has one of these, and I have seen him cranking out pizza after pizza with no issues.

No idea if there are tricks that he has learned, to enable him to do this - I'm happy to ask him about it and repost his comments here if that is of help.

[Bentley]

No.

I person with some what more intelligence might have though that was a good thing to note as they were doing the cook.  My guess would be maybe a pound and a half tops (that was start up till end)...and about 50 minutes.

did the grill come with pellets?  if so, what kind and how much?
How many pellets did you go through to make 5 pizzas and how long from when you fired it up until when you pulled out the last pie?

[Bentley]

I was going to, as I am a man of the People...But there is no way it could generate enough heat...although I bet it would be great for Calzone, store bought pizzas, etc...

Please don’t tell us you will also be trying charcoal in this unit.

Yes to stability and larger size!  And I would love to have and cook in a large, 3 or 4 pie size oven, would not even mind it taking 2 hours to heat up as I have plenty of hardwood...but You would need to have a party to get to cook enough in it to make it fun!

Looks about as I expected... probably a good unit for someone who wants to tinker and/or doesn't have many other options.

I would think that the more consistent your oven is, the easier it might be to perfect.  I think that's where big brick/stone ovens become more useful, the mass of the oven itself becomes the key component that gives you a certain amount of consistency.

Please!  I would think the new owner would love it!

I have a friend who has one of these, and I have seen him cranking out pizza after pizza with no issues.

No idea if there are tricks that he has learned, to enable him to do this - I'm happy to ask him about it and repost his comments here if that is of help.

[Bentley]

I tried some wood chunks today.  It does not get anywhere near as hot and surprisingly does not last much longer then the pellets.  I am going to try some cooking with it tomorrow.  It is a cleaner smoke then the pellets...And I am sorry, it is out of our woods, it is a deciduous hardwood, but that is about as close to a species as I can get.

[Bentley]

Some photos of the wood chunks and temperature reading added to PR.

[Bentley]

The only thing I have a chance of doing out of the below items is the post sous vide sear and maybe the English Muffin pizza with pellets.  Everything else, there is no way any of it lasts more then 5 minutes before it is burned, sorry, I just do not know how to control the heat using pellets.

I am going to try and play with the wood chunks and see if I can pull off the Naan, Calzone, Quesadillas & Pretzel

Sorry I have failed you, but I have given it the old college try!

I have researched and applied that to trying to manage the fire and heat source in this unit.  I have come to believe that the heat source cannot be managed, maybe that is a flaw of mine. 
Thick Crust Pizza (At least 20 minutes)
Reverse searing a steak/Sous vide steak sear
Grocery store pizzas (At least 12 minutes)
English muffin pizzas
Indian Naan
Loaf of bread or buns (At least 12 minutes on buns)
Potato skins, wings (At least 12 minutes), quesadillas, Tortillas
Fat mall pretzels
Calzone

[Free Mr. Tony]

Quesadillas will do fine at Max temp. I've made them in my fireplace, and on a smoking hot Blackstone. About 20 to 30 seconds, flip, and another 20 seconds or so. Surprisingly, everything gets melted, and warm.

[Chris__M]

Turns out my friend has the Uuni 2. Although one would expect the Uuni 3 to be an improvement.

His comments:

With the U2 at least it didn't seem to be too tricky to keep it feeding. The thing to remember is to turn the pizza 180 degrees halfway through the process and try and get it back pretty exactly where it came from. The closeness to the fire means that the temperature gradient from front to back is quite significant so if you don't turn it, one end will burn.

Also, the hotter your oven goes, the less water you should put in the pizza dough. If you're cooking in a domestic oven, say, then 100 flour to 60 water is fine, in an Uuni, you'll get better results with 50-55 water.

Don't know if that will help.

[Free Mr. Tony]

Turns out my friend has the Uuni 2. Although one would expect the Uuni 3 to be an improvement.

His comments:

With the U2 at least it didn't seem to be too tricky to keep it feeding. The thing to remember is to turn the pizza 180 degrees halfway through the process and try and get it back pretty exactly where it came from. The closeness to the fire means that the temperature gradient from front to back is quite significant so if you don't turn it, one end will burn.

Also, the hotter your oven goes, the less water you should put in the pizza dough. If you're cooking in a domestic oven, say, then 100 flour to 60 water is fine, in an Uuni, you'll get better results with 50-55 water.

That last part really surprises me...usually one moves to higher HR dough the hotter you cook...63-65% HR for 700-900 degree cooks...at least that has been my experience

Don't know if that will help.

Just for clarity, I'm replying to the bold part at the bottom.My thoughts are in line with chris M friends recommendations.


I've seen alot of people say what you are saying about higher hydration. I believe the info gets crossed when attempting to "recreate" a neapolitan pizza in a home oven environment. The higher hydration is needed in a 550 degree oven to mimic the pillow like interior on the crust. If made with low hydration, the longer cook time dries out the crust edge, so it's more bread like. To combat that you add more water. The water takes longer to cook off in the wetter dough, leaving you with a fluffier crust after the much longer bake time needed in the oven.

When you actually have the heat required for that style pizza, the higher hydration isn't needed. The pizza is not in the oven long enough to dry out.

This is a screen shot of the vera napoletana PDF. If you do the dough math, it comes out to 55%.  I've made pizzas to these specs in a 900 degree oven, and they come the closest to what I've had at restaurants that also use those specs.



After eating at a couple of restaurants that use those strict guidelines, I figured out I like a new york/neo hybrid better for myself when making home pizzas. I like the puffier crust, but lower heat (650ish). Also, a different flour mix rather than straight 00 has become preferable for me.