Struggling with an undercooked pizza base? Try this.

Portable, high temp pizza ovens are very popular right now, but a common struggle is getting the bottom of your pizza cooked before burning the top and outer crust. Here's an easy technique that will help you solve that problem.

🔗 LINKS

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

❤️ I THINK YOU'LL LOVE THESE VIDEOS

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

VODKA SAUCE FOR PIZZA
(makes about a quart)
Cheap Vodka, 76g (2.67 oz. or 1/3 Cup)
Garlic, 28g (4 cloves or 2 Tbsp.)
Dried Oregano, 1/2 tsp.
San Marzano Tomatoes, 794g (1-28 ounce can)
Calabrian Chile Paste, 15g (1/2 oz. or 2 tsp., or sub dried chile flakes to taste)
Fine Sea Salt, 12g (about 1/2 oz. or 1 1/2 tsp.)
Heavy Cream, 76g (2.67 oz. or 1/3 Cup)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 28g (1 oz. or 1 Tbsp.)

DIRECTIONS
1- Simmer the vodka or medium heat for a few minutes or until slightly reduced.
2- Add the minced garlic and oregano, and cook for a few more minutes.
3- Stir in the San Marzano tomatoes and Calabrian chile paste. Continue to simmer.
4- Stir in the salt and heavy cream. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
5- Blitz with a stick blender or break up the tomatoes by mashing them with a whisk.
6- Stir in the extra virgin olive oil, then transfer the sauce to a container and let cool.
7- Chill in the refrigerator until you are ready to bake pizza. It'll keep for about a week.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

🔪 MY KITCHEN EQUIPMENT (Affiliate Links)

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

⏰ TIMESTAMPS
Intro - 00:00
Wrong Way to Bake Pizza in a High Temp Oven - 00:20
Building the Next Pizza - 02:14
Temping out the Pizza Stone - 03:41
Correct Way to Bake Pizza in a High Temp Oven - 03:59
Showing a Properly Cooked Pizza Base - 04:53
Finishing the Pizza - 05:28
Taste Test- 06:58

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

#pizza #kitchenandcraft #ooni

[KitchenCraftFood]

These tips probably seems like common sense to the more experienced users, but there are many (mostly newbies) who overlook what I cover in this video.

[John-viys]

I know this sounds strange, but I actually spent 5 years perfecting my New York style pizza dough, sauce and cooking method in my home oven. To myself and family and friends it is the best pizza we had ever had, anywhere. BUT; when I saw your video on overnight pizza dough and using the Ooni Koda 16, we just had to try it. My 2 sons bought me the oven for my birthday, and it revolutionized my pizza making. The first time I tried your dough and the oven, it blew my old home oven pizzas out of the water. Man; I can’t thank you enough for taking the time and effort to share with us, you are the man. You keep things simple and straight forward and entertaining taboot. We just made 4 more pizzas last night for a total of 136 pizzas in my Ooni so far; all using your dough recipe and methods. Everything is perfect; but I admit I do struggle successfully though in keeping my outside top crust from getting to black and charred. Burnt anything doesn’t taste good so you have to stay right on top of it. I haven’t purchase a shield yet to block the flames, primarily because the videos you did on them didn’t look like they worked well or made much of a difference? My method is once I launch the pizza, it has to sit on the stone without moving it for 30 seconds to release the dough before starting the spinning process. I guess the effort is a small price to pay for amazing pizza. Thanks again for doing what you do for all of us, God bless!

[cccheeks]

Nice job! I have the Koda about a year. I need to UP my Temp. I used cornmeal to shape dough a few times, and it was fine. Last time though, there was too much that got in the oven and it made a Burt taste and the cornmeal caught on fire. I guess I will go back to flour. I sometimes try to make it a little firmer, you know how the first 2" flops over (that's what she said) when you pick it up. As soon as I got my Oven I added the Stainless Steel Door, makes a big difference in heat up time. BUY one if you get a Koda for 100%. Great Job as Always Sir!

[yasssem]

thank you so much!!! i got a pizza oven for christmas and i lit my first pizza on fire on accident and it still ended up underbaked 😗 these tips helped me a lot!!!!

[bonro]

I will usually add a light brush of olive oil to the visible crust to turn it a nice golden color. Could also use butter, will try that next time. Great video!

[sKid]

You're definitely right that a longer preheat is the key to a better crust, but I think it's more about getting the stone completely saturated with heat for a long period of time rather than getting the top surface of that stone up to a certain temperature. In fact, in my Koda 16, there are definitely surface temps that will result in instant blackening of the crust. I pretty much don't go over 750F and I've noticed the problem go away, but like 850F surface temp would be instant blackened and burnt crust. I've heard that the Karu can do hotter surface temps though. Must be something different with the stone's ability to transfer heat. In either case, the absolute most important thing is saturating the stone with heat for a long period of time. Then it actually has enough heat to transfer into the crust and cook it correctly.

[etherdog]

Good tip, Tim! I like to put a little layer of parm down before the sauce and then dust it again before firing. It is like two octaves of flavor. For those without an OONI oven, a pizza steel preheated for 30 minutes in a 500F oven gives good results in about 5-8 minutes. Not quite as good, but any pizza you make at home (from scratch) is going to taste better.

[kylesustin]

Hey there! Thank you…excellent video. Informative and to the point. Got my Ooni 12 a few months ago(charcoal/wood burning) and my pizzas typically look like your first one. Very good but lacking that under crunch. I let the oven heat up about 20-25 and it’s typical 700-750 so another 5 minutes or so should do the trick. January Ohio weather takes more time lol. Subscribed! 👊🏻

[RozsaAmplificationLLC]

100%! Initially, the pizza stone wasn't hot enough. He then checked with infrared thermometer to ensure hot enough and BOOM....perfect AND perfect bottom (this time)!! Great job!

[Name-jwsj]

The bottom at 1:35 wasn’t that underbaked. It looks slightly underbaked but definitely edible. Also, 850F for the stone seems a bit too high and 900F is definitely too high. The second pizza base looked too cooked for me lol. I guess it’s a matter of preference. 750F stone is what I aim for.

[Tony]

Wow, so that's why. I'm a pretty good cook but this had me confused, Thanks so much 🙏 ☺

[captainobvious]

Tried my Ooni 16 for the first time (before finding your video) the top was perfect but my bottom was raw. I'll use your recommendations, thanks!

[bernardbenlevi]

This was exactly the video I needed at exactly the right time. Love your channel, thank you! 🙏👌🍕

[supergreg]

Always informative and relevant! Keep up the good work!

[scottyflamingo]

Can you do anything about that flop for a firmer pizza? I wouldn't think i needed 2 hands to eat a slice. Pizza should be a single hand experience.
Is the crust still under cooked?

[caseykittel]

My setup is quite different, but if I get my stone over 650F it burns the bottom of my pizza immediately. Smokes and blackens and gets super bitter.

My setup is different. I have a stone on my gas grill and I have added a burner under a second stone about 4 inches above my pizza. The bottom stone is heated from the built in gas burners below. Both stones are big green egg brand ceramic stones. Other stones crack. The big green egg stones are super high quality ceramic.

It ends up looking like the ooni and other pizza oven with the flames just over the pizza.

If I launch the pizza at 650f on the bottom stone it comes out great. Top browns with small black spots and bottom gets nice and dark.

I had to make a metal rack to hold up the top stone and I also had to cut out a small opening in the back for the top burner. I came up with a splitter off the propane tank and the burner I bought from Amazon has its own control I attached to the splitter.

Anyway, it works well, but could be very dangerous if set up wrong. The entire gas grill gets way hotter than normal, which my Webber seems to be able to handle. I also had to craft some parts to keep the lid open at a few different heights depending on how high I have the flames up. High flames need more air or the burner will either go out or kinda starve for air.

I also have developed a technique for throwing a handful of apple chips on the top stone when I launch the pizza and it tends to add a nice Smokey flavor. Sometimes I place a thin sheet of metal with some holes in it over the wood chips after they start to burn to get them to smolder nicely.

[rilesmcguiles]

congrats on the upcoming 100k milestone

[Nsss]

Nice and clear video 👍very good info for any beginner or someone upping their pizza game. Though it kills me to hear about the vodka sauce, a drink that is meant to taste like nothing.. :)

Maybe you could set us up with a red wine sauce margherita recipe? Or something experimental could be interesting. Since red wine goes beautifully with pizza as well, cheers from Finland!

[Jassman]

LOVE YOUR CHANNEL..SUBSCRIBED..Try putting a lil less sauce and cheese (even though I like it the same way you do) to possibly not get so much of a flop. I just made some 65% hydration dough and will try it on my Alpha hybrid Friday...first cook on this new oven. I tried your other recipe (reduced crema and caramelized onion) and it was a hit..

[Grinfactoryphotobooth]

great video! going to try heating mu oven a little longer/ hotter!