Which is the REAL PIZZA EXPRESS?
The latest pizza ovens promise to cook your margherita in 60 seconds flat. So are they a topping idea — or just a costly flash in the pan?
Finished in polished fibreglass, the oven is super-insulated, while the absence of a chimney also helps it retain heat. To get it going, I light a fire in the mouth of the oven using kiln-dried hardwood kindling.
Once burning well, I push the fire to the back of the oven and add a
couple more small logs. It takes 22 minutes for the oven to hit 400c, but once it gets there it holds its heat long enough to cook perfect pizza after perfect pizza — crispy crusts and bubbling toppings. VERDICT: Big ticket gadget for serious pizza lovers.
★★★★★
YOU’LL NEED A BIT OF PATIENCE
Kadai Wood Fired Pizza Oven, £249.99 (notcutts.co.uk) THE BOAST: ‘Pizza in a couple of
minutes’. THE REALITY: 60 minutes to heat; 5 minutes to cook.
ThIs clay oven sits on a raised metal frame on top of a wood fire. It is designed to be used inside a large cast iron fire bowl of the kind you sit around with friends.
It’s a nice idea, but in practice takes a lot of heat to get going — indeed after an hour on top of a blazing fire the inside is still only at 220c. A few more logs and it finally
hits 300c so I slide in a pizza and wait. And wait some more. After five minutes I remove it and, while the base is done, the top still needs more cooking. VERDICT: For patient chefs only.
★★✩✩✩
AS FAST AS A FERRARI
G3 Ferrari Delizia Electric Pizza Oven, £139.99 (eBay.co.uk) THE BOAST: ‘The real Italian pizza, ready in 5 minutes’ THE REALITY: 10 minutes to heat; 5 minutes to cook.
TrusT the Italians to combine pizza with fast cars. Well, sort of. The G3 Ferrari Delizia is powered not by a petrol engine but by electricity. I plug it in and turn it on for ten minutes, by which time the stone is at the recommended 300c. In goes my pizza and five minutes later the timer pings to tell me it is ready.
I’m amazed by how good the result is. The base is well cooked, if possibly a touch overdone, and the top beautifully melted. While it works well with a basic margherita, the tight-fitting lid makes me think you might struggle with lots of
toppings or a chunky crust.
VERDICT: It does what it says on the box.
★★★★✩
LIGHTWEIGHT PELLET POWER
Ooni Fyra WoodFired Pizza Oven, from £249 (cuckooland.com) THE BOAST: stonebaked pizzas in as little as 60 seconds. THE REALITY: 20 minutes to heat, 90 seconds to cook. hAvInG myself purchased an Ooni
earlier this year, I’m already familiar with the workings of this oven. It’s
lighter than the others and heated by hardwood pellets that are fed in at the rear and which light almost instantly with a natural firelighter (to avoid tainting the food).
The company claims it can hit 500c in 15 minutes, but it takes me 20 to hit 400c. At that temperature the pizza takes just a minute and a half to cook, with a bit of turning to ensure no burnt crusts. Cooking multiple pizzas can be harder — the oven seems to lose more heat while cooking than some of the better-insulated ovens. VERDICT: Easy to use and portable, but be careful when cooking
multiple pizzas. ★★★✩✩