Interesting... I could probably make one for way less than they'd sell/ship it to me. I did the same thing with my BBQ... same principle... I made a CRAZY heavy grate (almost 100lbs) for my previous BBQ so that it would soak in and retain a shit-ton of heat.
Unless your home oven gets up to 900 degrees this is not true at all. The steel is better than a stone but not close to an OONI (assuming your are using it correctly).
I don’t know, I guess I just wasn’t blown away by it (or my dad sucks at making pizza). But my oven definitely does not get up to 900F. It’s get up to 550F at most. I can get my Green Egg up near that range (700F or so) and have had good results there also. Conducts heat better, which means it gets to higher temps, and cooks the crust on the bottom much quicker. Also, you won’t deal with any potential thermal shock issues that you could with a stone. The downside is that a steel has fewer other applications. You can cook bread on a stone, but probably not a steel.
What's your experience with the ooni? (And the pizza steel) I came across the ooni brand maybe 6mo ago and randomly read about it again and now it is stuck in my head. We have an area with a fire pit I would LOVE to have a pizza oven along with other outside kitchen setup stuff. Just trying to figure if it lives up to its hype.
I just don't have pizza enough (or make enough of my own) to justify one. I look at people with the monster custom wood-fired built-ins in the backyard and think, "just how much fucking pizza do you eat that it becomes a lifestyle choice for you".
That's why I was thinking the ooni was a better choice compared to an immobile brick wood burning grill (though it could be used for other food depending on the design). I do make a lot of pizza. A. LOT.
I thought the whole purpose of those giant pizza ovens was thermal mass? I don't get how these little countertop units can match that.
If the thermal mass isn't a big factor, or at least the difference is too close to matter, maybe something like Nett rigged up plus a pizza steel plus a couple good pizza peels would yield the desired results without being too specialized.
The 12 inch one is too small. The 16 inch one that hooks up to gas and has a door is awesome. But expensive. The pizzas cook in roughly a minute. There is a learning curve. Launching the pizza and turning it may be difficult. The pizzas cook in 60-90 seconds so everything happens really fast. It also sears a steak really well. most of the time I use a pizza steal in the oven. Heat the oven as hot as it will go. Let it warm up for like an hour. A hand tossed pizza cooks in 5-7 minutes. It crisps the crust really well and the crust will do some caramelizing. It’s a lot more forgiving because of the longer cook time. both are tons of fun if you love making pizza.
anyone have a favorite beef jerky marinade/seasoning? Normally I just do the generic worcestershire/soy sauce/black pepper/garlic, but I'm curious what else is out there. Thinking I'm gonna use a coffee stout as the marinade base (I always marinade with na beer because the alcohol makes it too mushy when you do it for a long time), but beyond that I'm open to whatever. I'd rather not make it too spicy because my boys are gonna eat it. I'll be smoking it in my upright smoker with oak.
Guuhl I hate when I cook something for the first time. Completely knock it out of the park and then the second time I make it, it is nowhere near as good somehow. Made some Mushroom soup a month or so ago and it was 10xs better than any canned stuff Ive ever had. Went to make it again yesterday and it may have well have been a can of Campbell's. Dont know where I went wrong.
I figured it out I must have used a different recipe on google. For whatever reason the recipe I used this time (which I thought was the same) didnt have me reserving 1/3rd of the mushrooms and then emulsifying the rest with an immersion blender. Just a thin gruel with mushrooms. Ive blended now it is much thicker and mushroomy. This must be why the Campbell's ones sucks so bad. Thank god too as it was going to be a portion of my weekly meal AND as an ingredient in a broccoli casserole. Nothing worse than bland food that youve worked hard to put together.
Mind sharing the recipe you liked so much? I just bought barley malt powder and agar powder to make agar plates for mushroom growing and cloning. Hopefully I'll eventually have plenty to use for something. I just want to see if that mushroom variety @GTE was talking about before really tastes like crab.
Just basic cream of mushroom soup recipe. Like this one but half a cup of white wine and ful cup of cream. https://healthyrecipesblogs.com/cream-of-mushroom-soup/ Funny you mention all that. I had defrosted some lion's mane I had found last year but refroze it since I wanted to save it for crab cakes. I used some maitake and Chicken of the Woods I had frozen instead. Maitake is the best mushroom Ive found in the wild so far (havent tried the lions mane other than frying some up fresh when I first found it). Ive actually cloned the lion's mane I found and got it to the grain spawn stage. I put it in the fridge and have been meaning to respawn it and actually do an actual grow run. I have all the bags and wood chips as well. Just dont have time to do everything these days.
Life hack that has changed a small part of my life... Using a big, sharp pizza cutter and a mixing bowl to chop and shred cooked chicken for soups and such. One with a 4"-5" wheel works well, and a large mixing bowl. I imagine a small wheel works less well. Much less messy than breaking out my big carving board and chopping with a knife or cleaver You're welcome.
I tried those, too, but this is my new go-to for chicken soups. I put whole pieces of boneless chicken in stock and boil it until done, then in the bowl to be chopped with the pizza cutter, before going back in the pot to complete the soup. I used to use whole bone-in chicken and pull it all off the bone after boiling, like my grannys. That shit was too much work to continue that method.