Let’s Do This: Making Your First Pizza

So you’re looking to how to make your first pizza in your shiny new Ooni oven? You can practically taste the hot, fresh pizza.

Here’s a quick guide to get you prepped, baking and (most importantly) eating as quickly as possible.

Setting up

Every Ooni oven comes with an owner’s manual, and we highly recommend checking it out before you start up your Ooni. Setup should be pretty effortless, but if you find yourself struggling or have a question, just get in touch with our incredible support team any time, 24/7. 

Before your first cook:

• Make sure your oven is on a sturdy, heat-resistant surface that’s well-ventilated
• Season the baking stone by running the oven at its max temperature for about 30 minutes
• Once cool, wipe down the inside of your oven with a dry paper towel 

Getting ready to cook

You’ve got a seasoned stone, and your oven is cool. It’s time to fire up your Ooni (that’s a metaphorical “fire up” if you’re using the electric Volt 12). 

• Review your Getting Started guide or the Essentials Guide that came with your oven for detailed instructions
• If you’re using a solid fuel oven–like the Karu 12G, Karu 16 or Fyra 12–make sure to use high-quality wood or pellets. We just happen to have some right here.  

Preheat your stone 

A blazing hot stone cooks your pizza’s base and helps the dough rise. Preheating is essential for that crispy crust we all know and love. 

• Preheating can take up to 20 minutes (depending on the oven you’re using)
• Check the stone’s temp with your handy Ooni Infrared Thermometer
• When the stone reaches 750 °F, you’re ready to cook

Gather up your dough

The oven’s getting hot, now you just need something to put into it. Delicious pizza starts with healthy dough. If you’re making your own pizza dough, here are some tips:

Do

• Use high-quality flour. For most pizzas, that means “00,” a finely ground Italian style of flour.
• Pick the recipe that’s right for you. Our Classic Pizza Dough recipe is simple, reliable and delicious. 
• Make more dough than you think you’ll need.
• Keep experimenting. When it comes to dough, practice makes perfect.

Don’t

• Stress. Most people’s first pies aren’t even close to perfect. Even the pros make dud dough sometimes.
• Forget that we have your back. Just give our customer support team a shout if you have any questions. 

Stretching the dough

This is, perhaps, the most intimidating part of making pizza for the first time. Here are some tips to remember, and with a bit of practice, you’ll be stretching dough like a seasoned pro in no time. For detailed instructions and tips, check this how-to guide (and video).

• Cold dough is hard to work with. If your recipe calls for cold-proofing your dough, give it about four hours outside the fridge before you try to stretch it.
• On the flip side, dough that’s too warm can get sticky
• Get plenty of flour on your hands and work surface 
• If you get a hole or two, you can pinch them together to close them
• A generous sprinkling of semolina flour on your peel should keep your dough from sticking
• Don’t forget about the Recovery Calzone

Tips for topping

Heed our advice: Less is more. Overloading the dough makes it much harder to launch and retrieve your pizza.

• Go light on the toppings (at least until you get the hang of things)
• Be careful when you spread out your sauce. A few drops of sauce or other liquid on your peel can make your pizza stick. 

Preparing to launch

Confidence is key. You want to move quickly and decisively when launching your pizza. The longer the dough sits on the peel, the more likely it is to stick. Check out this guide for more in-depth tips and tricks.

• Use the “hovercraft technique” (there are instructions in the guide linked above) to create a pocket of air between the dough and your peel.
• Angle the peel towards the back of your oven, then quickly and confidently start shimmying the peel away from the pizza

Now, you’re cooking.

Your pizza’s in the oven. Now what? Keep these tips in mind:

• Keep your Ooni Infrared Thermometer handy!
• Hotter is not always better. We find 750-850 °F to be ideal for cooking Neapolitan-style pizza.
• At those temperatures, your pizza will cook in 60 to 90 seconds. Use your peel to turn the pie every 20 to 30 seconds for an even bake. A turning peel works great here but takes a little practice.
• Once the crust is looking nice and crisp and the cheese is bubbling, carefully use your peel to retrieve the pizza. 

Slice it up and enjoy!

Congratulations, you just made your first pizza with Ooni! Now it’s time to make another, and another and another after that. The more pizzas you make, the better you’ll get at it. We’ve got plenty of recipes for you to try. But for now, take a big, cheesy bite to celebrate.