Ooni Karu 16 + table. We don't have any neopolitan-style pizza options in the area. I love pizza, but HATE feeling bloated and shitty after eating super bready pizza. This thing RIPS. I did the initial 30 minute start-up burn and it topped out at 900F. We'll be doing our first cook this weekend.
ULTRA incredible machine! I use my buddy's all the time! If you're in a pinch, Mark Bittman's 2-hour dough is great & can be ready in as little as 20 minutes if needed:
Posts about Mark Bittman’s Pizza Dough Recipe written by Foodie Joanie
foodiejoanie.wordpress.com
This is a great, very approachable starter NY pizza:
The keys to New York-style pizza perfection are kneading the dough in a food processor and freezing the cheese before baking for tender, chewy crust and perfectly browned cheese.
www.seriouseats.com
I used to run a pizza shop & can tell you that the tools, ingredients, and information accessibility have all converged to allow you to make really amazing, legit pizza at home! If you like to prep ahead of time, these containers are amazing:
I recommend getting an extra-large pastry mat to do the rolling on:
Hormel's Cup & Crisp pepperoni is my favorite:
Create a pizzeria favorite with savory HORMEL® Cup N’ Crisp Pepperoni slices from the maker of America’s #1 selling brand of pepperoni. (Based on the latest 52 week Circana data.) Each 5-ounce package of pepperoni is uniquely crafted to cup and crisp when cooked, bringing high-quality restaurant...
www.hormel.com
Mike's Hot Honey is fantastic on pepperoni pizza:
Mike's Hot Honey is the original honey infused with chilies, a flavor combination of two of nature's most unique and delicious foods to drizzle on all your favorite foods.
mikeshothoney.com
If you do sous-vide, runny egg-yolk sauce is awesome:
You will be the Champion of Breakfast
www.theverge.com
If you haven't gotten into
sourdough, it'd SUPER easy to make & maintain. Sourdough adds flavor and, if super bready pizza gives you tummy troubles, fermenting it for 24 hours lowers the gluten quantity! I actually use sourdough discard a lot. I have an easy system for getting started if you're ever interested! 00 flour is fun to get into as well.
Invest in a conveyor belt peel for perfect launches every time: (use a thin metal peel with holes to rotate & remove)
I've owned every pizza-cutter on the planet, from rollers to giant rocker knives. I HATE to say it, but the pizza scissors win lol:
Join this forum:
Pizza Making Forum
www.pizzamaking.com
I aim to make pizza every week. I like to freeze the dough into doughballs to thaw & rise later to roll, which means I don't have to do much prep when I want pizza. Sometimes I par-bake the crust, decorate, wrap in Press 'N Seal, and freeze for quick & easy homemade frozen pizzas. There's a whole WORLD of pizza for you explore that you can spend the rest of your life pursuing & enjoying with your Ooni! I suggest creating a Google Drive folder & opening a few Docs lists:
* Flours to try
* Tools to save up for
* Crusts to try
* Regional styles to try
* Flavors to try
* Sauces to try (bottled & recipes)
* Cheeses to try
I was a pepperoni & cheese man my whole life until my eyes were opened haha! A GREAT one to try is fig, onion, and goat cheese pizza:
This fig caramelized onion pizza is full of flavor and ready in no time. You'll love this flavor packed pizza and be craving it all. fall. long. Trust me, this pizza needs to be made ASAP!
www.nutmegnanny.com
I live in CT close to NYC. We have New Haven "apizza" here, as well as other styles. One of my oddball favorites is "Skippy's Dare" from Wooster Street pizza, which is peanut butter, bacon, and provolone. Good on Bittman's dough:
In my post about the Big E a couple of weeks ago, I mentioned one of the items that has become a staple for us every time we go - th...
sweetandsavoryshenanigans.blogspot.com
There's all sorts of fun flavors out there! Once you master a good, reliable dough & figure out the workflow of firing the oven, then it's just a matter of playing with the toppings, like this Jalapeno Popper pizza:
Extra cheesy thin crust jalapeño popper pizza with salty bacon crumbles! Your favorite appetizer in pizza form!
www.bakedbyrachel.com
I pop into the city whenever I can. One of my favorites is L'industrie Pizzeria. They do this
phenomenal burrata pizza that I've been trying to replicate:
Anyway, just remember that
Persistence is King! You are going to make a LOT of terrible & mediocre pizzas before you find out what works, what you really like, and get the hang of it! It's a fun hobby because it's fairly brainless, so it's easy to just zone out & enjoy rolling some pies after work, there are infinite flavors available to try out, and it's not too expensive after you get the initial gear! Large pizzas are $24 EACH where I live!
As far as education goes, I've been working my way through the massive 1,708-page Modernist Pizza library for quite some time now haha:
By The Numbers Years of research in the making, Modernist Pizza takes a deep dive into the world of pizza. Housed in a red stainless-steel case, the multivolume set not only captures the history, culture, and global styles of pizza, it contains all of the essential tools both professional and...
modernistcuisine.com
You can also make other cool stuff, such as calzones!
Calzone resources
Garlic knots:
These homemade garlic knots are extra soft and fluffy, made from my favorite pizza dough, and are topped with flavorful garlic herb butter.
sallysbakingaddiction.com
Dessert pizzas:
Pizza as Dessert I'm a little obsessed with pizza. And that means any pizza! This Strawberry Nutella Pizza has jumped right to the top of my pizza list, because it's so easy to make, and it's
chefshamy.com
Here's what you need: all purpose flour, refrigerated pizza dough, McCormick® Ground Cinnamon, unsalted butter, brown sugar, old fashion oat, McCormick® Ground Cinnamon, unsalted butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla extract
tasty.co
Ingredients: Pastry for single-crust pie (9 inches) 2/3 cup sugar 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon ground Cinnamon 4 medium apples (like Gala, Fiji, Braeburn, Empire) peeled and diced into 1/4 inch pieces TOPPING: 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 1/3 cup packed brown sugar 1/2 cup...
feminologie.com
https://www.simplystacie.net/peach-blueberry-pizza (this one counts as breakfast lol)
When I started my career in pizza nearly 25 years ago, nobody had access to 900-degree ovens or 00 flour or really even the Internet at home. Now you can get up-to-speed on real pizzeria-style pizza in a matter of DAYS! I'm still finding new stuff to make & do even after all this time!!