By Christie Vanover | Revealed June 22, 2023 | Final Up to date June 22, 2023
The Ooni Karu 12 Pizza Oven is a enjoyable add-on to any out of doors kitchen. Not solely are you able to throw an entertaining build-your-own pizza celebration, however it’s nice for cooking up different fast meals.
Disclosure:Â Ooni offered this pizza oven to me without charge to supply an sincere evaluation. The put up accommodates affiliate hyperlinks.
What’s a pizza oven
Pizza ovens fabricated from clay or brick have been round for 1000’s of years. In Medieval Europe, they have been usually situated in communal areas in cities and villages and fueled by wooden. Within the 18th century, a dome-shaped pizza oven fabricated from volcanic stone emerged in Naples, Italy. This was the beginning of the Neapolitan pizza.
In additional trendy instances, metallic was utilized in manufacturing pizza ovens. They have been fueled by gasoline or electrical energy and included conveyer belts, so a number of pizzas could possibly be cooked quickly. That is the kind of pizza oven generally utilized in industrial pizza eating places.
Whereas supply is okay when you’re brief on time, there was a resurgence in wood-fired pizza. There’s a newfound need to create genuine restaurant-quality pizza with charred crust at dwelling.
Ooni launched its first transportable pizza oven greater than a decade in the past. Since then, they’ve been persevering with to innovate methods to make wood-fired pizzas in your yard.
They provide a spread of transportable pizza ovens with totally different gas sources and in varied sizes priced from $300-$1,000.
Immediately, we’re going to check out a multi-fuel pizza oven. The Ooni Karu 12 may be fueled by wooden, lump charcoal and even propane.
There are two fashions of the Karu 12, the common mannequin, which has a brushed 430 stainless-steel end and the G model, which has a powder-coated carbon metal end. I examined the G mannequin, however they each perform the identical.
The right way to assemble an Ooni Karu 12
Placing the Karu 12 collectively is very easy and solely takes one particular person.
Begin by inserting it on a flat, padded floor the other way up. Slide the door into the bracket. Then, add a bracket to the left aspect. Press it into place and safe it with a screw utilizing the offered torx key.
Subsequent, screw on the plate that catches the door when it opens.
Prolong the foldable legs and flip the grill over.
The torx key may be saved in a slot within the again leg.
You’ll see there are two metallic baskets that stack inside one another. One is the gas tray and the opposite is the gas grate. Place all of them the best way behind the grill.Â
Then, slide within the baking stone.
The Karu 12 comes with an extended chimney. Have a look inside. When the lever is pointing up, the baffle is open, which is able to make your oven hotter. When it’s horizontal, the lever is flat, which is able to allow you to cook dinner at cooler temps.
Place the chimney on prime and lock it into place. The chimney additionally comes with a cap. You’ll solely want this once you’re not utilizing the grill.
On the again of the grill, add the hatch door that covers the gas tray and the draft defender plate.
If you’re prepared to begin cooking, place the grill on a stable, non-combustible floor. I positioned mine inside my fireside underneath my Grillworks Grill. That is essential as a result of the transportable oven cooks at excessive warmth.
The right way to mild the Ooni Karu 12
To start out the grill, place wooden within the gas tray. For greatest outcomes, Ooni recommends utilizing 5-inch lengthy dried hardwood. Add 1-2 hearth starters and light-weight the wooden.
Place the hatch door on prime. This can pressure the air into the oven to warmth the pizza stone. In about quarter-hour the baking stone ought to attain 750 levels Fahrenheit, which is the best temp for pizza.
PRO TIP: In an effort to get the oven as much as temp, I had so as to add wooden logs each couple of minutes. Ooni says it is best to plan on 2.2 kilos of gas for 10 pizzas.
As a substitute of wooden, you too can use lump charcoal. Place a handful within the gas tray, add a hearth starter and light-weight. As soon as the coals are ashed over and the smoke is working clear, you’ll be able to add your meals.
You too can add a mixture of charcoal and wooden.
Ooni additionally affords a gas burner accessory that provides you extra warmth management and a quicker recharge time between pizzas. The gasoline possibility makes glorious pizza, however you lose that wood-fired taste.
The right way to cook dinner pizza on an Ooni Karu 12
Pizzas are supposed to be cooked at excessive temperatures. To cook dinner a pizza on an Ooni Karu 12, it’s a good suggestion to get your entire substances prepared first.
Then, mild your grill. After about quarter-hour, it ought to attain the beneficial temperature of 750F levels.
Stretch out your pizza dough and place it on a floured pizza peel. Add a lightweight quantity of sauce, cheese and toppings. Then, launch it into the pizza oven and shut the oven door.
Each 20-30 seconds, pull the pizza out of the oven and provides it a spin. In 90-120 seconds, the pizza crust ought to be golden brown and the cheese ought to be melted.
The primary time you cook dinner in your Ooni oven, it is probably not excellent. Don’t get discouraged. You’ll get a dangle of the cooking course of shortly and will likely be making scrumptious pizza for all of the pizza lovers in your life.
GCG Professional Pitmaster Pizza Suggestions
- For nice pizza, attempt making your personal dough
- Let your dough relaxation at room temperature for half-hour to make it extra pliable
- In case your brief on time, use pre-made dough; it’s often within the deli or freezer part of the grocery retailer
- Ensure that your pizza crust can slide freely on the peel earlier than including toppings
- If it sticks, add a lightweight quantity of flour beneath it
- Don’t overload your dough or it’ll turn into too heavy to shake off
- In case your crust burns, both your grill is just too sizzling otherwise you didn’t spin if quick sufficient
The right way to cook dinner different dishes on an Ooni Karu 12
Regardless that the Ooni is designed to be a pizza oven, you need to use it to cook dinner so many different recipes.
The baking stone ought to solely be used for dry dough-based substances like bread and pizza. Don’t use it to cook dinner meats or veggies.
PRO TIP: To cook dinner meats or greens, use heavy-duty pans that may stand up to excessive temps, comparable to forged iron. Ooni has a group of forged iron merchandise that match completely within the oven.
The Grizzler pan is a griddle on one aspect and a grill plate on the opposite. It comes with detachable handles to push and pull the pan out and in of the oven. It additionally features a trivet for holding it when it’s sizzling.
It’s nice for dishes like parmesan-crusted halibut and wood-fired asparagus.
Merely season every little thing with olive oil, salt, pepper and parmesan cheese. Then, place it onto a Grizzler pan that’s been pre-heated within the oven to 600 F levels.
After 5-6 minutes, the fish will likely be totally cooked by way of and flaked to perfection.
The Ooni is even nice for breakfast. I like utilizing it to make Dutch baby pancakes.
Modify the chimney baffle, till the oven registers at about 425F levels. Then, warmth a forged iron skillet with a pair tablespoons of butter.
Pour in your Dutch child batter and shut the door. Rotate each 30 seconds till you get peaks of pillowy goodness.
Then prime it along with your favourite candy or savory toppings.
The right way to clear an Ooni
If you’re executed cooking in your Ooni, let it settle down utterly. You possibly can add the chimney cap to cease the oxygen stream extra shortly.
As soon as it’s cool, attain into the again of the oven and take away the gas tray. Discard any cooled ash.
If there may be any particles on the baking stone, merely brush it out of the oven. Don’t use water to wash the stone.
In the event you cooked with forged iron, let it cool and wash with heat water, eradicating any residue. You a lot need to re-season it with a recent coat of high-heat oil. The Ooni guide supplies extra particulars.
Further Options
The grill features a built-in thermometer on the aspect. Nevertheless, it doesn’t present any numeric temperatures or indicators to indicate you the place the temp must be for pizzas. As a substitute, it has a coloration vary from yellow to orange to pink.Â
Ooni recommends utilizing an infrared thermometer aimed on the middle of the stone to get essentially the most correct temperature.
The glass door is nice, as a result of it lets you peek contained in the oven to see how your meals is cooking with out releasing any warmth. And the deal with stays cool to the contact.
As a result of it’s transportable, you too can take the Ooni Karu 12 on the go. The legs collapse and there may be an non-obligatory carrying case with a deal with. This makes it straightforward to load into your automobile in your subsequent tailgate or tenting journey.
If in case you have extra questions on cooking on the Ooni, obtain their app. It consists of recipes, movies, suggestions and information about new merchandise. Â
Ooni Karu 12 Specs
Ceaselessly Requested Questions
The Ooni Karu 12 has an inside cooking area that’s round 13.25 inches large and deep. The Ooni Karu 16 is bigger with a 17-inch inside cooking floor. It additionally has a mounted digital thermometer that gives a numeric readout of the grill’s ambient temperature.
The Ooni 12 is nice for smaller 12-inch pizza whereas the 16 is healthier for bigger pizzas.
The Ooni Koda 12 is a gas-powered pizza oven. It comes with a gasoline regulator and hose that you just connect to a propane tank. The Karu 12 is a multi-fuel grill that’s fueled by wooden, lump charcoal or gasoline. To make use of gasoline, an non-obligatory accent is required.
The Koda and Karu can each cook dinner pizzas in 1-2 minutes, however the Koda will lack the wood-fired taste.
Ooni recommends utilizing dried, hardwood that’s not more than 5 inches lengthy. It’s additionally greatest to keep away from wooden with an excessive amount of bark. You should purchase Ooni’s model or different manufacturers of pizza wooden on-line.
In the event you love pizza and you want making meals shortly, the Ooni Karu 12 is a good add-on to your yard. You should purchase pre-made pizza dough, jarred sauce and pre-shredded cheese for a fast pizza celebration. The grill solely takes quarter-hour to warmth up and pizzas cook dinner in 1-2 minutes.
You too can use the pizza oven to cook dinner 15-minute meals like wood-fired steaks, grilled halibut or Dutch baby pancakes.
No. The Ooni pizza ovens are out of doors ovens and are meant for out of doors use solely.
