ooni pizza dough

I first learned about the Ooni oven from a friend. She and her husband had invited us for supper, and the day of, she sent me a video of the supper in progress: homemade pita baking in her Ooni oven. I stared at my phone, mouth open, as the pita puffed into a perfect ball. From start to finish, it took about 45 seconds. They tasted incredible, too. Chewy and soft and toasty, they were the best pita ever. I was smitten.

At my request, my family went together and got me an Ooni for my birthday.

The kids made pizza with it that night, of course, and it was pure chaos — mountains of dough, the wrong kind of wood, all the toppings, a fair bit of scorching, and they’d forgotten to cure the oven, too. Even so, we feasted.

Since then, I’ve been working to refine my pizza-making skills.

But first, what makes the Ooni so great? Oh, let me count the ways!

• It’s wood-fired — it uses only the tiniest amount of wood — which adds wonderful flavor. (If you prefer a gas-fired oven, you can get an Ooni that cooks with either gas or wood, and then get the gas attachment.)
• It takes only 20-30 minutes for the oven to heat to about 900 degrees, and only about 2 minutes to cook a pizza.
• Ooni pizza is completely different from kitchen oven pizza. Both are good — just, entirely different.
• PITA.
• It makes for a fun “event” meal. Serve drinks, set out salad fixings, and then make pizzas while everyone mills about.
• It’s portable! We took it with us when we went to New York for Thanksgiving and made Friday night pizzas for the whole gang. People were so impressed that two or three of the other households immediately began research into getting their own Oonis. 

After a bunch of trial and error, we’re finally falling into a pizza-making routine.

Thus far, I’ve learned that King Arthur’s 00 pizza flour makes a huge difference. I haven’t tested AP flour vs 00 Flour for oven pizza, but I have compared the two with the Ooni: the 00 flour is much easier to handle and yields a more chewy, thin crust, while regular flour makes for a more doughy, puffy crust. I found some bags of 00 flour at Costco, but they were expensive (about $7 for a 3-pound bag). However, at the Thanksgiving gathering, my brother-in-law (who happens to be a grocery store distributor) sourced a 50-pound bag from Webstaurant for $48. Ba-BAM.

Also! Shaping the dough into balls and then letting them rest for 30-60 minutes prior to the final shape yields perfectly round pizzas. Throwing dough is easy, fun, and effective. A proper pizza peel minimizes the clumping of raw pizza and oven-baking casualties. And cook-time works best as a two-person job: I shape and assemble pizzas while my husband bakes, slices, and serves. 

Go easy on the toppings. These are thin pizzas, and they are all about the crust. Think of the toppings as garnish. (White pizza is a hit. Drizzle the oil from some marinated feta over the crust and then scatter some chunks of mozzarella and a bit of crumbled feta over top. That’s it.)

Pizza dough without toppings tastes an awful lot like really delicious na’an, and pita’s a breeze. I mean, seriously. LOOK:

the pita is AMAZING

They say you can make all sorts of other food in an Ooni, like steak and veggies, but I haven’t branched out much. I have roasted peppers, which were delicious, and I think I’d like to roast some chopped veggies while the oven is heating — you know, to put on the pizzas — but besides those things, I’m perfectly content with using the Ooni just for pizza. 

I realize that a one-purpose tools feels gadgety, but the Ooni doesn’t feel that way to me. We have always regularly made pizza, and the Ooni transforms the process and elevates the end result. I still have lots of experimenting to do — I’d like to try a thicker crust pizza, and make more flatbreads to go with curries and stews — but the truth is, just using it to make plain old pizza is worthwhile enough.

 Ooni Pizza Dough
Adapted from the Ooni Recipe Website

If you don’t have 00 pizza flour, use regular bread flour. It’ll still be delicious.

I make this dough frequently enough that I’m writing down the recipe for several different proportions, for easy mathing. The number of people each batch will feed depends on what else is being served, of course. I recommend a giant salad, or raw veggies for munching.

If you’re aiming for a 6:00 p.m. supper, start the dough at around 2:00 p.m.

I make my dough in the Kitchen Aid mixer, but you can also do it by hand.

for five pizzas (feeds 5-7 people)
368 grams warm water
3.5 grams yeast
613 grams 00 flour
18 grams salt

for eight pizzas (feeds 8-12)
552 grams warm water
5.25 grams yeast
919 grams 00 flour
27 grams salt

for ten pizzas (feeds 10-16)
736 grams warm water
7 grams yeast
1226 grams 00 flour
36 grams salt

Mix the yeast and water. Let it rest for 5-10 minutes. Add the flour and salt. Knead for 6-10 minutes. Let the dough rise for 2 hours. 

Divide the dough into 200 gram pieces and then shape each piece into a ball. Set the balls on an oiled tray, or a tray sprinkled with semolina or flour. Dust the tops with flour and cover with a damp towel. (Do not cover with plastic — it will stick to the dough.) Let the dough rise for 30-60 minutes, or just until relaxed and slightly puffy.

To shape the dough: place a ball of dough on a floured surface. Using your fingertips, press it into a circle. Using a rolling pin, roll it into a bigger circle. Throw the dough: toss-spin it in the air 8-12 times. 

Place the dough on a floured (or semolina-ed) pizza peel. Spread with toppings. 

Bake in the ooni, watching closely and turning as needed. Transfer the pizza to a cutting board. Slice and serve!

regular AP flour makes a thicker crust

This same time, years previous: 2023 garden stats and notes, the talk, the 2020 book list, a Christmas spectacle, right now, balsamic-glazed roasted butternut squash and brussel sprouts, 2016 garden stats and notes, remembering Guatemala, a mistake-based education.