Pizza is a great invention. If you are entertaining guests, you can customise it to each person’s tastes. Vegetarian? No problem, seafood lover? Throw some anchovies on it. You can of course cook your pizzas in your regular oven, but a pizza oven gives them a much better flavour and convenience. The Ooni Koda pizza oven is one of the best portable gas fired pizza ovens you can get. It is light weight and connects to a gas bottle with ease, making it ideal for making pizzas alfresco.
Pros
- Lightweight
- Compact
- Easy to set up out of the box
- Good guide book with a good dough recipe
Cons
- You need a bit of practice to be comfortable using it
- Can’t store it outside for long periods of time
Verdict
A super easy pizza oven to use and set up. It makes cooking pizzas more convenient and tasty. You don’t get the wood smoked flavour, as it is gas fired. But, what you lose in smokey flavour, you gain in convenience. I takes a couple of goes to get used to cooking pizzas with it, but once you do, you will love it. The Ooni Koda pizza oven is ideal for garden parties and is a cool and convenient alternative to getting the barbecue out.
Ooni Koda Pizza Oven Overview
The Ooni Koda pizza oven weighs 25.8kg and easily connects to a propane tank. If you’ve been thinking about cooking pizza in the summer sun, the Ooni Koda pizza oven is probably where you should start.
It is about 25 inches long and 16 inches wide. This makes it small enough to easily fit on any garden patio (as long as you have room for a propane tank). All you need to do is fold out its tripod legs, slide in the pizza stone and connect it to the gas tank. You don’t need any tools to set it up.
If you are familiar with outdoor pizza ovens you will be shocked how light and thin this one is. If not, you will find that most pizza ovens are huge and heavy. This is thanks to multiple layers of metal, ceramic, or brick that are used for insulation. The Ooni Koda pizza oven has a thin, powder-coated, carbon steel shell, which houses its pizza stone.
The insulation is very effective and makes the outside cool enough to touch, even when it is belting out furnace-like heat on the inside.
The pizza oven’s door is large enough to fit in a 10-inch cast iron skillet. You can buy this pizza oven with or without Ooni’s classic pizza peel. This is a thin, edgeless, aluminium baking sheet. This is good, but to make life easier, you may want to buy a 12-inch pizza peel with a longer handle, or some heat-resistant gloves.
Using the Ooni Coda Pizza Oven
When it comes to switching on the Ooni coda pizza oven, it is super easy. Just turn the dial to ignite the flame, which arcs over the top of the pizza stone. To adjust how intense the flame is, just turn the dial.
You will find it easy to set up, but you will need some practice to feel comfortable using it. However, it comes with a really good guide book, which fills you in on the basics of using a pizza oven. It even has a really good pizza dough recipe.
Following the instructions and tips that Ooni give you within the guide book, it is possible to cook a pizza in 60 seconds. However, you may want to turn down the intensity and wait another 30 seconds, if you find your toppings are getting too crispy.
Unfortunately, you can’t keep your Ooni Coda pizza oven outside for long periods of time. You can buy a cover for it, but we would recommend keeping it in your garage or shed. It is pretty small, so depending on your storage space, you should be able to stash it away until you need it.
Using a pizza oven is a fun and convenient way to make food. The Ooni Koda pizza oven makes it cooking pizzas easier than ever. It’s also worth noting that at it is less than half the cost of the Ooni Pro. Also, because it doesn’t use wood, it doesn’t have a chimney sticking out of it.
It is gas fired, so you don’t get the smokey flavour of wood fired pizza ovens, but it is a lot easier to use. While you are waiting fo it to get up to temperature, you can prepare your toppings, make the dough or make a cocktail.
Your first few pizzas will probably stick to the peel, but the Koda is one of the most convenient, fun and affordable ways to make pizza.
Why Would You Buy A Pizza Oven?
For some people, his is a tough question, especially for pizza connoisseurs. This is because, your regular oven is already sitting in your kitchen, so why would you buy something else for pizza?
Pizza ovens are not for everyone. But, there are a few great reasons people buy them for.
Taste
The taste of a pizza made in an Ooni Coda or any other pizza oven is far more superior to pizzas made in a conventional oven. This is due to the high temperature stored in the walls of the oven cooking it very quickly.
Better for you
OK pizza isn’t particularly healthy, but a pizza you make yourself in a pizza oven, is much better for you. You know exactly what is going in to it. Ingredients such as proper flour (rather than cheap bleached flour), fake cheese or poor quality pepperoni that leaks oil all over your pizza, can all be avoided with quality ingredients.
Experience
Using a pizza oven is a fun way to make dinner. It slows you down after a busy day or becomes an alternative to having a barbecue at weekends. The smell from freshly baked pizza wafting around the place is no bad thing either, especially when you have made your own dough.
Versatility
Pizza ovens are not just for cooking pizza in.
- Veggies – Coat a selection of fresh veggies in olive oil and roast them in your pizza oven
- Fish – Salmon from a pizza oven is super tasty
- Potatoes – Stick a load of jacket potatoes in your pizza oven for a great accompaniment to barbecue food
Save Time
Due to the high temperature of pizza ovens, they cook your pizza very quickly. Therefore, if you are entertaining lots of people, it is a good way to get food out to them quickly. You can even get everyone to put on their own toppings, before you cook them.
Very Social
Just like when you have a barbecue, you can crack open a beer and socialise while your pizzas oven is getting up to temperature and when your pizzas are cooking. You can host your very own pizza parties, where everyone can customise your own pizzas. This is great for adults and kids alike.
Do You Like The Idea Of The Ooni Koda Pizza Oven?
If this sounds like something you, your friends and family will enjoy, please let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
4 thoughts on “Ooni Koda Pizza Oven: Do you need one?”
Another awesome post. I love reading articles from your website, they are full of great products and information. I’m a Pizza lover, and I totally love this post.
Your analysis is well in-depth and comprehensive, complimented by amazing video. I’ll surely consider this product. It’s already in my hit list.
Thanks a lot for sharing this useful information. I look forward to reading more of such posts and products from your website. I appreciate your efforts putting them together.
Hi Akshay,
Always good to hear good stuff out Clubnomnomnom, thanks for your comment! You can expect more articles pretty much everyday. You may also want to sign up to our mailing list for updates.
Uh oh, 580 kg? Is the oven really that heavy? Coz’ it seems pretty light to me. Anyway, I’d love for me and my family to learn how to cook using this pizza oven. Now I’m thinking whether I could convince my parents, especially my brother who’s studying a food-related degree, to buy this pizza oven and have pizza as our main course. Coz’ we’re rice people, you know. The product looks pretty easy to learn and has a neat design for us to cook safely. Storage wouldn’t be an issue and I think I know where exactly to place this oven when we’re cooking. Okay, time to tell them ’bout this oven!
Hi Dominic,
Thanks for your comment. It is heavy in comparison to others on the market, but it produces some of the best results. It is a great alternative and easier to whip out than a barbecue!