One factor about me: I’m a pizza particular person. I grew up in a pizza-loving household, I married a fellow pizza particular person, and I’m grooming my almost-one-year-old daughter to be a pizza pipsqueak. You get it.
My husband’s from Chicago, and I grew up in New York—and one in all our favourite arguments, sometimes held over a melty slice or two, is who does pizza higher. Over time, we’ve hit many a parlor—nationally and internationally—to attempt to settle the talk, as soon as and for all.
However since coming into parenthood final yr, eating out has turn out to be extra of a novelty than a weekly routine. And whereas I have been investing time in cooking my faves at house, pizza was the final frontier I needed to cross. As a lot as I like pizza night time, an at-home oven all the time felt like a hefty funding (and a hefty piece of kit) for restricted use, and I used to be uncertain whether or not it may meet my *very excessive* requirements. So after I heard concerning the Ninja Wooden-Fired Pizza Oven—which gives eight totally different cooking settings and features similar to the internet-favorite Ooni Pizza Oven, at a fraction of the worth—my curiosity piqued.
After studying up on the Ninja oven, I made a decision to grab the summer season sale (psst: it’s $99 off proper now) and provides it a attempt. It arrived simply in time for a vacation weekend spent with family and friends who hail from Miami to Paris—with world, gourmand palates to match. After a really seamless unbox, plug in, and preheat course of, the evaluations had been unanimous: Neglect New York or Chicago—this oven will transport you straight to Italy.
Ninja Woodfire 8-in-1 Outside Oven & Smoker with Pizza Peel & Cowl — $300.00
Initially $399, now $300
- Cooks restaurant-quality pizza in lower than 10 minutes
- Easy unboxing and requires zero meeting
- Comes with a pizza stone, roast rack, smoke pellets and extra
- Has eight versatile settings for cooking all the things from complete turkeys to baked items
- Extra reasonably priced than different outside pizza ovens (and at the moment on sale)
- Requires ample area (close to an outlet) open air
- Transferring dough out and in of the oven takes a little bit of follow
The menu for our inaugural at-home pizza celebration was wide-ranging: pesto, veggies, and sausage; a severely gooey pepperoni calzone; and some on cauliflower crusts. Regardless of the totally different textures and elements, each cooked evenly (and in lower than seven minutes, as soon as the oven had preheated). It took a little bit of follow with the pizza peel to nail the switch of dough into the oven—however after just a few tries, we had been firing up pies that had been simply the fitting combo of crispy, pillowy, and tacky.
Past the straight-from-Italy flavors and its user-friendliness, the Ninja wood-fired oven grew to become an immediate summer season staple after we realized all the warmth we had been holding out of the kitchen. (Is there something worse than sweating over a stovetop when it’s 100 levels exterior?) And it’s not only a warm-weather toy: The oven is made to face up to all of the outside parts, all yr lengthy.
The Ninja wood-fired oven does much more than simply pizza, too—the eight totally different prepare dinner settings make it extra like an electrical everything-maker. We haven’t examined prime ribs, casseroles, or baked desserts but—keep in mind, we’re pizza individuals—however the ease of use means we’ll be making an attempt out every kind of recipes this summer season. Oh, and my husband’s already speaking about assuming turkey responsibility for my prolonged household’s Thanksgiving this yr. (He’s courageous.)
So sure, it is official: We’re pizza individuals turned pizza cooks—and we’ve put aside our household feuds for nightly journeys to Naples, not less than in our desires. If that sounds molto bene, properly, it’s.