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Post by gatsby on Oct 26, 2014 6:33:13 GMT 10
Hi, Thought I'd show you lot my new pizza oven. I've only had this for a couple of weeks & have been working on installing it into location. Cut a 1.2m square out of a garden area & put a base down with 400mm pavers. Since this photo I've changed it a bit & put the pavers onto a concrete slab - made it much more level. Still have to tidy up the garden area. Doing pizza tonight - so I hope to have learnt from the last run (temp was too low) & tonight will be fabulous crunchy pizza. I'll (if I remember & the camera is charged - which it wasn't last week ) put up some photo's of the cook.
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Post by captaincook on Oct 26, 2014 6:43:25 GMT 10
Looks good Gatsby, nothing like a new toy to fire up new enthusiasm. Now you need a chainsaw to gather the fuel and a storage shed to keep the wood dry and season it. Don't forget the axe and splitter. Good luck with the cook. Looking forward to some photos if you can manage them.
Phil.
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Post by smokey on Oct 26, 2014 10:42:13 GMT 10
That pizza oven looks fantastic. What is the dome made from? And where do Ya geddit?
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Post by Southern Thunder on Nov 4, 2014 18:48:54 GMT 10
They may be around here, probably our but I have NEVER seen a pizza oven like that. Pizza is something we tend to do in the kitchen not outside.
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Post by chrisg on Nov 4, 2014 19:21:34 GMT 10
Not really mate, ask Bentley, he's not THAT far from you Real pizza and there's lots of real pizza in the US, needs to be cooked at really high heats, way above what a typical kitchen oven will do, hence the growing interest here, where we Australians really do love our pizzas, in pizza ovens for the home, especially wood fired. Get it well and truly fired up and they cook so fast it's hardly any wonder it's referred to as "fast food." I do not have a pizza oven, my wife would wonder what I was smoking, can get by on the BBQ, but there is nothing like pizza cooked in an oven like that. I do know real pizza though, hard to avoid in the areas of Italy that I love and have lived short times in. Italians tend to wonder what all the fuss is about, and how New York stole it Cheers
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Post by smokey on Nov 4, 2014 19:44:49 GMT 10
Jamie, These types of out door ovens are really taking a hold over here. What they can do is amazing. To run one is much revered and takes an effort much like a large US offset smoker does. These cookers have certainly earned there stripes
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Post by Southern Thunder on Nov 4, 2014 19:50:33 GMT 10
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Post by chrisg on Nov 4, 2014 20:05:05 GMT 10
That's sort of a bit decadent, the second link on the left. Believe me mate, delivered pizza is nothing like what a good pizza cook and there are a few on here, can turn out. Pizza can be really, really great food, but it's been sort of sullied by fast food and cardboard boxes with about the same nutrition as the dough Personally if I go to the trouble of making a dough batch and getting in the right fresh ingredients, which is not too often, I prefer to make calzone anyway and smother it in bolognaise sauce, which is sort of heart-attack food so not to be offered to the wife Cheers
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Post by smokey on Nov 4, 2014 20:05:04 GMT 10
Fair enough, However like anything, there is take out , Home made and then there is artisan. There is nothing like wood fired pizza. Closest I can get, and is no slouch is pizza on my big green egg. Im glad all this new stuff is starting to open your horizon.
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Post by captaincook on Nov 4, 2014 20:10:47 GMT 10
I think that you are missing the point Jamie. Gatsby is talking about HIS wood fired Pizza oven. It has the ability to cook many different dishes. Our culture is more about outdoor cooking than sending out for a pizza, we can buy 2 pizzas for 20 bucks but that is not the point of it, it's about creating and in this case using a wood fired BBQ.
Captain
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Post by chrisg on Nov 4, 2014 20:14:53 GMT 10
Artisan is right, all about the dough really, it's a rare pizza shop that really presents the pizza as anything more than thin pre-frozen bread with no integration between topping and dough at all. They do in little Italy in NYC, and down in Silicon Valley and in the rare wood-fired pizza place in Oz but in general a delivered pizza is as close to a real one as McDonalds is to a burger Cheers
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Post by Southern Thunder on Nov 4, 2014 20:52:01 GMT 10
No Captain, I get it. I have a very large offset charcoal smoker as well as a dedicated upright smoker. I understand that Gatsby can do a lot more with the contraption that he has than just cook pizza it's just I'm pretty content with what I have. But as far as pizza goes, for the cost, at least on this side of the world it's hard to beat Papa John's for delivery we also have some good local takeout places. Of course some of the delivery stuff is utter crap but that could be said of most anything. This is a legendary, landmark pizza and pasta takeout place here. www.visitpizzapalace.com/
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Post by Bentley on Nov 5, 2014 1:22:08 GMT 10
I think it depends on the style too! Outside of artesian shops, the 4 dominate types are Deep Dish (aka Chicago Pan), Thick Crust, Thin Crust (aka NY Style) and the afore mentioned Neapolitan. I am sure you all have more then just the Neapolitan style...Although it sounds like that might be the most popular in Australia? Where I grew up, we had a Parlor named Me n Ed's. They were kind of a hybrid between Thin and Neapolitan. An almost cracker crust, they would cook them in 750°F (400°C) metal ovens. At the time 76-77', the best pizza I have ever had. Now my sister loved a Thick crust, a place close to San Diego where she went to college, Carnegie's in Del Mar...A very good pie, but a little to much dough for me. I have never had a "true" Deep Dish, meaning I have never had one in Chicago, had one in LA and Las Vegas that claimed to be "original", but I have to believe not the same!
My point in all this is each of those pies need a different temperature, from about 450°F (230°C) on the Deep Dish to about 900°F (480°C)can one pizza oven do it? I would sure think so.
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Post by Southern Thunder on Nov 5, 2014 3:29:04 GMT 10
I suppose I should clarify that my now deceased step-father loved pizza, I was his primary caregiver and we ate it all of the time.
I'm utterly and completely burned out on it. I don't want to even order a delivery one or bake a frozen one myself let alone make one myself let alone to go to the trouble of cooking one outside.
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Post by gatsby on Nov 5, 2014 5:28:22 GMT 10
Hi - Sorry it's taken me a while to post up some pict's but I've been busy with other activities around the house (making a tool shed). For some reason there were no photo's of the cooked pizza - hunger got to me. The dome is some form of ceramic most likely cement based but I'm not sure - it's maybe an inch or two thick. Trust me these taste great much better than fast food ones (pizza hut & the like) - not as good as a dedicated pizza restaurant but I'm working on it. It also is a fun night - watching the fire, making pizza, watching it cook & the eating. Lot's to learn - while the fire was hot - it was a little low & I didn't keep an eye on it & let it drop a couple of times Lot's of pict's Fire going - warming the oven - takes about an hour or so Made up 6 pizza's 2x Hawaiian (Ham & Pineapple), 2x Prosciutto, Tomato, Basil & Bocconcini 2x Supreme (sort of mix of what was left) Temp was a bit low here - got it up closer to 300 at the start of cooking While it doesn't look hot - it is!! Cooked 2 at a time (each pizza is on a 12" dish) Cheers
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