Image source : ooni.com
Ooni Fyra : Best Portable Wood Pellet Pizza Oven?
Expand your Outdoor Space
Spice Up your Summer Parties
Quick Delicious Homemade Pizza
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Ooni Fyra 12
Wood-Fired
Get the taste of a wood-fired pizza without the hassle.
Portability
Weighing only 10kg and with foldable legs for easy storage and transport.
Delicious Pizzas in minutes!
The Ooni oven is ready to cook in 15 minutes and cooks a pizza in 60 seconds.
Other options
You’ve done the traditional tailgater barbecue and it was fun. But everyone is on the act now and you’d like to do something different this football season.
What would be a good game day treat for this season?
How about cooking real wood-fired pizzas to go along with those ice-cold artisan brews that you’ve packed?
It’s so easy with the Ooni Fyra outdoor pizza oven. In 60 seconds you could turn out hot, tasty pizzas and be wowing the crowd just like your favorite team.
In this review, we’re going to see why you need an Ooni Fyra in 2022.
What’s the Ooni Fyra Pizza Oven?
Ooni (previously named Uuni), has been making the world’s first portable pellet pizza oven and their products have been best-sellers since 2012.
The Ooni Fyra is the latest version of the first portable wood pellet pizza oven made by Uuni. And later became the world-famous Uuni 3.
Fun Fact: Uuni means oven in Finnish. Later they changed their name to Ooni because it was too difficult to spell.
You can make Neapolitan style pizzas in as little as 60 seconds just about anywhere. And that’s not all. Because of Ooni’s fast, high heat, It’s great for cooking many other foods too.
It has several improvements and modifications over the Uuni 3 that the manufacturer said were directly the result of customer comments. We’ll talk about those in a moment.
With just a few parts to remove, the Ooni quickly becomes a portable pizza oven making it great for tailgating, the beach or the park.
The three-legged design makes it great for setting up on uneven surfaces.
PROS
- Ready in 15 minutes
- Cooks pizza in 60 seconds
- Authentic wood-fired flavor
- Heats to 950°F
- Versatile – Cooks Meat and Fish
- Easy Maintenance
CONS
- A bit pricey
- Ooni Pellets often Out of Stock”
- No Built-in Thermometer
First Off, How Does It All Work?
It requires some minor assembly. The 3 legs on the Ooni Fyra fold out and, according to the manufacturer, make the unit more stable. The chimney clamps on the top. It’s designed to be removable, making the oven transportable.
Once assembled, fill up the pellet tray and box. The pellets can be fired up using a torch, gel or paraffin packs, Tumbleweeds Fire Starters or lighter fluid.
Once lit, you’ll be ready to start cooking after a 15 minute or so warmup. Because the Ooni is a wood fired pizza oven, it runs at a very high heat which means there will be some flare ups. Make sure you have plenty of clearance around it.
The cooking is done by drafting the flame and heat over the top of the pizza and stone and out the chimney.
Now, slide the pie all the way to the back of the oven and put the front cover on.
Look how fun it is :
Baking your pizza
Once the pie is in don’t take your eyes off it, you’re going to need to turn it in about 30 seconds. The reason for this is the high temperature I mentioned – 932°F/500°C. It will keep you on your toes.
Depending on how you make your pizzas, you’ll need to experiment with time because there’s no real way to accurately regulate the heat and flame.
Don’t be discouraged as it’s going to take a little practice to master the pizza oven, but you’ll get it down in no time.
When they say a pizza cooked in 60 seconds, they mean it!
Putting the fire out
Once you’re done cooking with the Ooni Fyra, you can let the pellets burn down to a small pile of ash that can be thrown away or used as a fertilizer (check with your plant specialist).
If you’d rather not wait until they burn down, you can remove the grate on the pellet tray and dump the embers into a metal bucket of water. Make sure that you’re wearing a heat proof glove when pulling out the hot pellet tray.
Let the oven cool completely before cleaning or handling the oven. The manufacturer recommends 1 hour.
What’s the Fyra Pizza Oven Cleaning Routine?
The cleaning is easy really. Wipe the housing down with a rag once it’s cooled off. Dump out the pellet tray when the pellets are burned to ash.
Tip: Treat the pizza stone with care. Let it cool completely if you plan on cleaning it. Don’t stick it under cold water when hot or it could crack. If you’re going to wash it, use warm water only. The stone is porous so don’t use detergent or soap. It could absorb the liquid leaving a bad taste.
But know that it’s not required that you wash it because of the high heat.
Most users just brush or scrape off the loose burnt stuff. Then let the high heat burn anything else off.
You can use a pizza stone brush to make sure you don’t damage your stone.
Here Are the Standard Features of the Fyra VS the Uuni 3
FYRA
- Powder-coated carbon steel
- Cordierite ceramic pizza stone
- Wood Pellets
- Removable chimney
- Heats up in 15 minutes
- Temperature of 932°F/500°C
- Three-legged design for stability
- 10 kg
- Viewing hole
- Door hook
UUNI 3
- Stainless steel
- Cordierite ceramic pizza stone
- Wood Pellets
- Removable chimney
- Heats up in 15 minutes
- Temperature of 932°F/500°C
- Three-legged design for stability
- 10.9 kg
One of the things we REALLY like about Ooni, is that they listen to their customers.
Since 2012, they have been improving their original wood pellet ovens to make them more efficient, more portable and generally more user-friendly.
Here are the improvements made on the Fyra 12 over the Ooni 3 :
Improved portability
The Fyra is even lighter, at only 10 kg (22lbs).
What’s more?
The detachable 2-part chimney and hopper fit inside the oven, to make it fit perfectly into the carry bag.
Larger hopper
The hopper size has been increased by 50%.
Which means 20 minutes of uninterrupted cooking time.
Better airflow
The fuel tray and grate has been re-designed, to ensure maximum fuel efficiency.
The chimney vent/baffle lets you moderate the temperature of your oven.
Fuel economy / efficiency
Insulation has been improved with a powder-coated carbon steel shell.
Meaning a 16% faster heat up and 44% less fuel for 90 minutes of cooking.
Viewing hole
Built into the door, the viewing hole lets you check on your cooking pizza, without removing the door.
Meaning no loss of heat.
Door hook
Hang the door on the handy hook when you’re manipulating your pizzas.
Meaning less risks to burn yourself or someone by accident.
What Kind of Fuel Does It Use?
The Ooni Fyra uses wood pellets that are an inexpensive and sustainable energy source for its fire. The manufacturer recommends using 100% natural hardwood food grade pellets. This way, you avoid the chemicals and binders that are found in the cheaper alternatives.
One user’s recommendation was to use the Ooni branded pellets because they will burn cleaner and last a little longer. They are made from 100% American Oak. Unfortunately, they tend to be often out of stock.
The manufacturer states that their pellets are optimized for neutral flavor, high temperatures and sized especially for the Ooni wood fired pizza ovens.
You can use other pellets like the Traeger brand for smokers or any alder or oak pellet. Don’t use Mesquite or hickory as the flavor will be too intense for the pizza.
You’ll need about 3 cups of pellets to get going. Once the heat is up and you’re cooking, it takes about a cup per pizza as you go. You may use more if you use the following suggestion:
One user recommends letting the pellets burn down about halfway and then pop the pizza in to cook. In his experience, he’s found that helps keep the flame from scorching the pizza and gives the pie a nice smoked woody taste.
You’ll get about 50 pizzas per 20 pounds of pellets.
How Long Do I Have to Wait Between Pizzas?
Figure about 4-5 minutes between pies to allow the heat to recover to the right temperature. Opening the door lets a good amount of heat out, so make sure to close it up between batches. Also consider the minute or so to let the pellets burn down.
If you put the pizzas together beforehand, you can save creation time. Keep them covered so they don’t dry out.
Want to make delicious wood-fires pizzas at home?
- Ready in 15 mins.
- 60 seconds cooking time.
Can I Use this in a Commercial Setting?
You might be able to if you keep an eye on the fuel. The problem is that the Ooni burns the pellets pretty quickly, so you need to keep feeding the pellet box.
If you keep feeding the pellets at the right rate and amount to be continuously burning, you should be able to turn out the pizzas fairly quickly.
But it is a small outdoor pizza oven, so keep that in mind when planning events.
Technical Features
- You can find the dimensions and blueprint of Ooni Fyra 12 here.
- Unboxed dimensions: 29.1 x 15.4 x 28.5″ (74 x 39 x 72cm)
- Unboxed weight: 22lbs (10kg)
- Boxed dimensions: 26.7 x 18.9 x 9.8″ (68 x 48 x 25cm)
- Boxed weight: 32.6lbs (14.8kg)
- Cooking surface: 13.2″ (33cm)
- 0.4″ (1cm) cordierite stone baking board
- Folding legs for easy transport and storage
- Durable, insulated, powder-coated carbon steel shell
What Else Can I Make in a Ooni Fyra Pizza Oven?
Like most of the available pizza ovens, just about anything you can fit through the opening and still be able to close the door.
In the case of the Ooni Fyra, its high temperatures are perfect for flat breads, seafood, meat, fish and vegetables as well as pizza.
And if you need a little inspiration, you’ll find 70 recipes stone-baked pizzas, breads, roasts, cakes and desserts in this book by Holly and David Jones.
This beautifully illustrated recipe book makes for a great gift to all pizza oven owners.
It’s available on Amazon
Any Tips or Tricks to Getting My Best Pie?
We’re talking about cooking here, so you can bet there are a bunch of little things to make the food taste better and easier to make.
- Use a thin crust for your pie.
- Go easy on the toppings as they won’t cook as fast as the dough.
- Turn the pie every 20-30 seconds to cook it evenly.
- Keep the door closed as the pie is cooking to keep temps up.
- Brush or scrape off the stone every 2nd or 3rd pizza to avoid any burnt taste.
- Keep the oven closed when prepping pies in between. This helps keep the internal temperature up.
- If you’re making batches of pizza and you need to add pellets because they’re low, fill up the hopper and then let them burn down part way again.
Do I Have to Do Anything Special with the Ooni Fyra Pizza Oven?
Because it’s wood fired, make sure you have plenty of clearance around the Ooni.
Wear heat proof gloves when handling the pellet box.
Keep the oven out of the wind for better cooking results.
Where Can I Buy the Ooni Pizza Oven?
The Ooni pizza ovens can be found at larger BBQ and outdoor cooking stores and sporting goods stores.
You can also buy them directly from their website, but shipping time can be a bit long depending on where you live.
It’s also available directly from the manufacturer at Amazon. You can take advantage of Amazon’s great customer service as well as FREE shipping. If you’re an Amazon Prime member, you get FREE 2-day shipping.
This product is eligible for free return, refund or replacement and if it’s a gift, you can add a gift receipt for easy returns.
Is the Fyra 12 outdoor pizza oven worth it?
Some people complain that the Ooni ovens are too expensive.
It’s true that they are not cheap, but you need to consider all that you are getting for the price:
- 10 years of experience and improvements
- A company that listen to their customers
- High quality and sturdy products
- Wide range of products and accessories
- Plenty of advices and recipes
- 1% for the Planet member : 25 trees planted for each oven sold (2,864,825 trees planted at the time of writing)
- 1% of annual turnover to the Ooni Impact Fund – to support environmental, social and humanitarian causes. (Social Bite, Slice Out Hunger)
- Eco-friendly : packaging is at the very least 96% recyclable. Ooni HQ has a Zero Waste to Landfill policy.
- Social Responsibility : they support the ten principles of the UN Global Compact with respect to human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. Committed to ensuring the human rights of people working within their operations and supply chains around the world are respected and protected.
- Transparency & Reporting : Annual Impact Report.
The Ooni team is a bunch of kind people who are fully committed to making the world a better place while reducing their impact to the minimum. You can read the full Impact Policy here.
So, are they worth it?
For us yes definitely. Beautiful Patio supports companies that are environmentally and socially responsible for their impact on the planet.
But it’s up to you to decide if you want to pay a bit more to make the world a better place.
FAQ
Ooni Fyra 12 is not compatible with gas. It is designed to run on pellets only.
The oven can be stored outside however it’s recommended to keep it dry when not in use. We also offer covers so that it can remain outdoors without worrying about the weather.
The Ooni Fyra is a pellet burning pizza oven only.
The recommendation is a minimum clearance of 1 meter around the rear and sides of the oven and a minimum 3 meters clearance from the top.
Smoke and soot are inevitable with all solid fuel fires. However, when the fire is burning with sufficient airflow the fuel should burn cleanly with minimal smoke being directed up and out of the chimney. Excess smoke is an indicator of damp fuel or poor airflow.
No. All Ooni Pizza Ovens are only certified to use outdoors only.
Let’s Recap
KARU
- 30.31 x 15.75 x 31.5 inches
- 26lbs
- Wood, charcoal or gas
- 12" or 16"
- from 540 $
Ok Then, What’s the Final Word?
A quick, easy and fun change to your standard outdoor cooking, the Ooni Fyra outdoor pizza oven is a sure crowd pleaser.
It’s ultra portable and makes pizzas in 60 seconds. It’s easy to take apart if you want to pack up and go. This would make a great gift – either for you or a loved one who thinks cooking outdoors is the only way to go.
If you love the outdoors and pizza, the Ooni Fyra is a deliciously fun addition to your backyard.
If you think it’s not the right choice for you, check out our full selection of outdoor pizza oven by clicking here.
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