Ooni Pizza Chronicles: The Quest for the Perfect Leopard Spots

2024-12-15

Adventures in high-temperature pizza making, featuring burnt crusts, raw centers, and eventually, success.

Written by: Sparky

Six months ago, I bought an Ooni pizza oven. The logic was impeccable: “I make sourdough already, pizza is just flat bread with toppings, how hard could it be?”

Narrator: It was, in fact, quite hard.

The Learning Curve (Steep)

The Ooni Koda 16 heats to 500°C. At these temperatures, pizza cooks in 60-90 seconds. This leaves approximately zero margin for error.

Early Attempts:

• Pizza #1: Stuck to peel, folded like a taco mid-launch
• Pizza #2: Burnt one side, raw on the other (forgot to rotate)
• Pizza #3: Perfect launch, perfect cook, forgot the cheese
• Pizza #4-10: Various disasters involving dough integrity failures

The Dough Revelation

I tried several recipes before settling on this one:

For 5 pizza balls (~250g each):

• 630g bread flour (Tipo 00 if you’re fancy)
• 410g water (65% hydration)
• 19g fine salt
• 2g instant yeast
• 15g olive oil

Method:

1. Mix everything except salt, autolyse 30 mins
2. Add salt, knead until smooth (or use stand mixer like a civilized person)
3. Bulk ferment 8-12 hours at room temperature
4. Divide into balls, cold ferment in fridge 24-72 hours

The cold fermentation is crucial. It develops flavor and makes the dough extensible enough to stretch thin without tearing.

The Technique

Pre-heating: Get the Ooni to 450-500°C on the stone. This takes about 20 minutes.

Stretching:

• Remove dough ball from fridge 1 hour before use
• Flour generously
• Stretch from center, rotating, letting gravity do the work
• Target: 10-12 inch diameter, thinner in center, puffy rim

Topping:

• Less is more (I learned this the hard way)
• San Marzano tomato sauce (crushed, not puréed)
• Fresh mozzarella (torn, not sliced)
• Minimal toppings (2-3 max)

The Launch:

• Assemble pizza on well-floured peel
• Test slide before committing
• Quick shimmy motion to launch
• If it sticks, abort mission, add more flour

The Dance

Once the pizza is in, you have about 60 seconds. Here’s the choreography:

• 0-20 seconds: Watch bottom set
• 20 seconds: First rotation (90 degrees)
• 35 seconds: Second rotation (90 degrees)
• 50 seconds: Final rotation, check for leopard spotting
• 60-70 seconds: Extract with peel

Miss a rotation? One side burns. Rotate too late? Bottom burns. Too early? Toppings slide off.

It’s high-stakes baking.

The Breakthrough

Pizza #23 was perfect. I nearly cried.

Leopard-spotted crust, charred bubbles, slightly crispy bottom, pillowy rim. The cheese had that perfect brown-spotted finish. The basil leaves added at the last second were wilted but vibrant.

I took approximately 47 photographs before eating it.

Weather Challenges

This is Scotland. Rain is a feature, not a bug.

Adaptations made:

• Gazebo over the Ooni (essential)
• Headlamp for winter evening sessions
• Acceptance that wind will affect oven temperature
• Prep everything indoors, minimize outdoor time

Most surreal moment: Making pizza in sleet while wearing three layers. The pizza was excellent. My fingers were numb.

Current Success Rate

After ~50 pizzas:

• 60% are good to excellent
• 30% are acceptable (edible but not Instagram-worthy)
• 10% are learning experiences (charred offering to the fire gods)

The Addiction

Friday is now pizza night. Weather permitting (and sometimes not), the Ooni comes out. The ritual is part of the appeal:

• Firing up the oven
• Prepping ingredients
• The focused intensity of cooking
• Eating impossibly fresh pizza in the garden

Friends have started requesting “Ooni nights.” I’ve become that person who talks too much about hydration percentages and proving times.

Next Level Goals

• Master the pizza al taglio (Roman-style rectangular)
• Perfect the Marinara (no cheese, just sauce - harder than it sounds)
• Try grilling in the Ooni (apparently you can cook steak in these things)
• Stop photographing every successful pizza (unlikely)

The Ooni sits ready in the shed, seasoned and waiting for the next session. Pizza making has joined the ranks of hobbies I’ve accidentally become obsessed with.

Pro tip: If your first few pizzas are disasters, don’t worry. The 23rd one might change your life.