Woody Pizza Oven Review

The pizza oven kit from Woody Oven is one of the best value pizza ovens to use at home. If you are looking for a wood fired pizza oven in the UK then have a look here. I've recently purchased one of these and my Woody Oven review gives a walk through of the product and picks out some features.

While it is a wood fired pizza oven kit, the Woody oven also has a gas burner attachment available separately which means you can use patio gas as a fuel.

Contents

• Introduction To Woody
• First Impressions
• Unboxing and building
• Woody Oven Pizza Stone Size
• Setting up for first use
• Picking the fuel
• Done in 60 seconds
• Cooling Off and Packing Up
• Woody Oven Review Conclusion
• Your Comments

Introduction To Woody

Now I'm a Woody Oven convert (see my previous post on why I decided to go with Woody) I wanted to write a post about the first few weeks of owning this new pizza oven and what I thought. Was my purchase the right one? In short, yes - however there were a few lessons to learn in the beginning.

First Impressions

From ordering the oven from Woody I was really impressed with the service and process. My order was the Woody Oven Pizza Oven Kit with Gas Attachment. As my previous post explains, I wanted to go for a multifuel oven and have the option for gas or wood when the time suited.

If you are looking for pizza dough options and detailed instructions how to make it, try my pizza dough calculator. This offers all weights and measures to get a great dough.

The order was placed on a Thursday evening and consisted of:

• Woody Oven Pizza Oven Kit
• Gas attachment
• Woody Thermometer

I knew the gas attachment was out of stock but was expected in soon (totalled 3 weeks after ordering. More on that later). The rest of the kit and the thermometer turned up with DPD on the Monday (so 2 working days - not bad for free delivery). I was able to track the order and know when to expect it.

Unboxing and building

If I'd have thought that I was writing a Woody Oven review I might have considered a few pictures but quite frankly, the build was simple. Everything was neatly packaged up and unboxing the contents consisted of removing various parts (chimney and pizza peel) from within the pizza oven itself and then adding handles on things.

An allan key and spanner was included in a neat little bag to allow you to put the various handles on things. All in all the build took 15 minutes at most:

• Add the handle and stove thermometer to the front panel
• Add the handle to the fuel tray
• Add the handle to the fuel hopper
• Add the handle to the pizza peel
• Unpack the pizza stone
• Connect the chimney

While not rocket science, the instructions were available online to be able to make sure you got the right handle attached to the correct piece of equipment.

Woody Oven Pizza Stone Size

Cooking Size & Depth (Thickness)

The Woody Oven Pizza stone is 13 inches square, which is perfect for 12 inch or a bit more pizza. It is 15mm thick and holds heat nicely once heated up.

Curing A Pizza Stone

There is a requirement to cure the stone (as with all pizza stones) before using it to ensure it doesn't crack. This is simple a case of running the pizza oven at it's hottest for 30 minutes. Once cooled, you are then ready to start heating up and then cooking your first cook.

This beds the stone in for use but also helps improve the longevity of the stone. Over time the stone will discolour and get ash and burnt flour, dough etc on it. Don’t worry about this - simply use a plastic dough scraper or spatula to remove the dried remains before the next use.

Setting up for first use

I had overlooked the fact I needed a solid table to put my pizza stone on. Woody have since released a pizza oven table which meets the needs for the avid pizza chef.

Designed to cope with the rigours of everyday use, their table is designed to be strong, versatile and modular. Various options such as horizontal or vertical orientation, wheels or feet and the ability to connect multiple tables to form an outdoor kitchen mean the possibilities are limitless.

For the moment I made use of a few blocks of wood and a baking tray to protect my glass table, but a pizza oven table is certainly something I will be investing in next.

Update May 2024 - Woody have recently released a custom designed pizza table for use with their products. I’ve not used this one but initial reviews look quite good from other accounts.

Picking the fuel

I opted to buy some pellets for the first attempt (because I was still waiting for the gas attachment to be delivered). The pellets I bought from Amazon but there are plenty of options all over. I went for dedicated pizza oven pellets as the reviews stated they were hot and burned well.

I loaded the fuel tray with some pellets and a couple of firelighters and off I went. As it was a windy February day I managed to get the heat up to around 400C for the first effort. Ideally it would have got hotter but the wind really picked up and gave me trouble. I managed to get my pizza stone cure process completed anyway. Not wanting to give in, I tried again the day after for cooking a pizza...

Second attempt was much more successful. A reading of 450C on my thermometer (although 380 on the front of the pizza stone - I'm hoping gas might be a bit more consistent). Best of all, my dough cooked beautifully (admittedly I burned one side but hey, we learn.

Done in 60 seconds

All the hype I'd heard about the pizza cooking in 90 seconds was what tempted me to this in the first place. In actual fact my first pizza took only 60 seconds (a garlic bread).

The pizza peel worked well once I'd got the hang of it. Quick tip - be fast and hard with the peel, ram it under the dough and it will slide on (like a reverse version of the table cloth magic trick where you pull the cloth from under the plates!). Too slow and the dough gets stuck.

I also found the pizza needed a spin around about 30/40 seconds in. Just practise, you'll get there. Don't forget if you want a good dough recipe then take a look at my pizza dough recipe section here.

Cooling Off and Packing Up

The oven just needs to burn out and cool off before you put it away. The Woody Oven comes with a bag which covers over the top and then can be carried around and stored easily. Something they did think about on the design was the portability.

At 12.5 Kg it has some weight to it, but is still manageable. It's not going to blow about or move off the table in strong gusts.

Woody Oven Review Conclusion

I'm really pleased with my Woody Oven. The decision I made to get this one took a lot of thought and deliberation, but overall I'm happy with the outcome. If I could change one thing on the Woody, I'd say for them to round off the corners of the edges as they are a little sharp when lifting it up to fold the legs in.

Otherwise, this is a great oven. I'd recommend it to people and if you liked my Woody Oven review I suggest you check out their website and get yourself one ready for summer!