Need Advice on Pizza Oven


 
JRAiona

JRAiona

TVWBB Gold Member
Hey guys. I am looking to get either the Pizza Que or the Kettle Pizza for my Performer and would like your input on which you feel is the better of the 2 and their pros and cons. TIA.
 
I have a buddy who was talking about building a pizza oven, I sent him some of the pizza kettle shots. Personally it makes a heck of a lot more sense to use the kettle and have the multi use system over a dedicated pizza oven. Maybe I'm just not interested enough to invest in one. I will be following this thread though.
More time to spend at the grill, SURE!
 
I have never used the Pizza Que so this is not based on personal experience, but I've never been interested in the concept of a stand-alone, propane fired pizza oven. I'm sure it makes decent to good pizza but my goal with making pizza continues to be reaching extreme heat levels while also using real hardwood to impart a nearly authentic wood-fired taste to the pizza. I have owned the Kettle Pizza for several years and I can vouch that there is a definite learning curve to it, but once you have it dialed it in it is the very next best thing to having a true Neapolitan wood-fired oven in your backyard. It is not the same or as good, and I am not implying as much, but for the cost it is a ton of fun and you can turn out some great pizza with it.

I understand the draw for the portability of the Pizza Que and if you are interested in something to haul around to tailgate or something it might make sense. But I would equate it to a gas-fired grill. It is fine and has its place, but there is a reason we all love cooking over live fire so much more than over gas.

If you are looking for ease of use and portability the Pizza Que is probably right in your wheelhouse. If you want to have some fun tinkering and can handle a few disasters on the way to the best possible pizza you can turn out without a brick oven go for the KP.
 
I have been researching some similar products, and I tend to agree with Joe. If you really want something portable, the Pizza Que will probably work for you. But overall, the Kettle Pizza will probably get you closer to true wood-fired pizza.

For me, if I decide to get a small stand-alone pizza over, I will probably go for the Uuni. It's pellet fueled and is as portable as the Pizza Que. I saw a demo of this at my local BBQ Island store. Really cool. http://uuni.net/
 
Joe, I think the OP was referring to Pizza Que for Weber Kettles which is similar to a Kettle Pizza but made by Pizza Craft. I have their propane Pizzeria Pronto that is a nice little portable Pizza Oven.

Before the Pizzeria Pronto, I used a Weber kettle with some mods. Lately we cook all our pizzas with our Akorn Kamado which has performed best so far.
 
Have you ever tried a dutch oven pizza? Very good stuff, without any gimmicks. All you need is a dutch oven and some charcoal.
 
Hive got a kettle pizza. I've only used it once but worked great. It did get much hotter than the grill alone which was my old method. I dint recall how hot it got when checking it with an infrared thermometer, but the dial thermometer it came with goes to 700 degrees and it was pegged.
 
Bob Ivey said:
I for one am impressed by your approach Robert. Might try this idea. Where did you get the pizza stone for this project? The size and specs are part of what makes it work I think.
Click to expand...
I do a similar thing only I use an upside vegetable basket (BBQ type) to get my stone elevation.
Moving from my rectangular stone to a 16.5" x 5/8" round stone by Outset.
Have not used this stone yet, but it looks to be of very good quality.
Will have to get some cooks on it to be sure.

BBQ-Wire-Basket.jpg


https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B008O88VK6/tvwb-20

As to the OP, PizzaQue looks like the better value if it's the kettle conversions we're comparing.
 
My friend Ben Lobenstein has an Uuni and loves it. I watched him using it at a post-party at a BBQ comp...seemed like there was lots of fussing to make sure the pellets continued to flow properly.

Pody3kq.jpg
 
Mine is a newer model. The Uuni 3. The fire box position and design is different. I haven't had a problem with the pellets feeding at all. I'm guessing the design change is the difference.
 
I'm pretty good at burning pizzas at 550F (on my makeshift setup) - I wonder how my luck would be at those high temps. Nice looking pizza ovens.
 
Well, it's very quick so not much of a learning curve as you have to be on it. Pizza on the peel; quick slide into the oven; 15-20 seconds later a 180 rotation; 15-20 seconds later a 90 degree rotation; 15-20 seconds later another 180; 15-20 seconds later: done.
 
Bob H. said:
Have you ever tried a dutch oven pizza? Very good stuff, without any gimmicks. All you need is a dutch oven and some charcoal.
Click to expand...

I don't want to hijack the thread, but I am curious about this. Can you explain how you do this?
 
I have the kettle pizza. You really do need the deluxe version with the steel to make real pizza and then it starts to get pretty pricey. I enjoy it, but as was said before, it definitely is hard to get down the right amount of heat and manage the fire. I’ve certainly burned my fair share of pizzas figuring it out. I’m finally starting to get
It down. I’ve made pizza probably 90 percent as good in my home oven or just on the grill. As I said, I like it, I use it, but I’m not sure I’d buy it again if given the option.
 
I have the pizza que and I have cooked 1 pizza out of 10 that I thought was really good. every other one either the bottom is burnt, and the top is cooked right or the bottom is cooked right, and the top is under cooked. you can get them cheap on ebay FYI. its entirely too frustrating. I may have to get the bottom cooked right and finish it in the oven over the broiler but that pretty much defeats the purpose of the pizza que in the first place.
 
I got a handful of Pizzaque units for cheap. Given two away, still have two, I remember someone talking about having a steel "heat deflector" cut to sit above the unit let the whole thing come to inferno temp before cooking, I have a friend with steel cutting capability so, I might try that.
I don't know why I have not gotten off my rear and fired this thing up yet, just lazy I guess.
 
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