{"id":1985512,"date":"2024-05-08T13:41:32","date_gmt":"2024-05-08T18:41:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/?p=1985512"},"modified":"2025-01-23T08:52:34","modified_gmt":"2025-01-23T14:52:34","slug":"ooni-koda-12-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/ooni-koda-12-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Ooni Koda 12 Review: This Is Our Favorite Pizza Oven for Small Backyards"},"content":{"rendered":"\"Ooni\r\n\r\nAlthough you can make homemade pizza<\/a>, it usually doesn't come out quite<\/em> as good as a fresh pie from your local pizzeria. Residential ovens just can't reach the high temps needed for that perfectly crispy crust. However, outdoor pizza ovens<\/a> are changing the game by making it possible to whip up professional-quality pizza in the comfort of your yard. It's no wonder they're all the rage lately!\r\n\r\nAs a self-proclaimed pizza enthusiast and lover of cool cooking appliances, I knew I needed to try the Ooni Koda 12 pizza oven<\/a>. This gas-powered oven claims to cook perfect pizzas in as little as 60 seconds and can reach temperatures up to 950 degrees! After several weeks of lusting, I finally caved and bought the Ooni Koda 12 for my backyard. It's been over a year since then, and I honestly don't want to live without it.\r\n\r\n[dam-video dam-id=\"50173\" type_of_player=\"jw\" \/]\r\n

What is the Ooni Koda 12?<\/h2>\r\nOoni pizza ovens have been around since 2012, but they recently surged in popularity as people searched for creative ways to pass the time at home. After all, what better way to spend time with family than by making homemade pizza?\r\n\r\nOoni ovens cook pizza at extremely high temperatures and are significantly sleeker and more compact than many other brands. They're designed to be portable, allowing you to make pizza virtually anywhere, and they won't take up a huge chunk of storage space when not in use.\r\n\r\nThe Ooni Koda 12 cooks 12-inch pies in just 90 seconds. It connects to a propane tank, just like your favorite gas grill<\/a>, and fits in tight outdoor spaces.\r\n\r\n[SINGLE_AFFILIATE_PRODUCT superlative=\"We Tried It\" product_name=\"Ooni Koda 12 Pizza Oven\" image=\"1794945\" image_credit=\"VIA MERCHANT\" pr_name=\"Ooni\" pr_url=\"https:\/\/go.skimresources.com?id=131817X1598243&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fooni.com%2Fproducts%2Fooni-koda\" pr_display_text=\"Shop on Ooni\" retailers_2_name=\"Amazon\" retailers_2_url=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B07PN5R5WY\" retailers_2_display_text=\"Shop on Amazon\" retailers_3_name=\"Williams Sonoma\" retailers_3_url=\"https:\/\/www.williams-sonoma.com\/products\/ooni-koda-pizza-oven\/\" retailers_3_display_text=\"Shop on Williams Sonoma\" retailers_4_name=\"BBQ Guys\" retailers_4_url=\"https:\/\/bbqguys.sjv.io\/OeBK6P\" retailers_4_display_text=\"Shop on BBQ Guys\" \/]\r\n

Ooni Koda 12 Features<\/h2>\r\nThe Ooni Koda 12 pizza oven has an extremely sleek, compact design. The oven is around 23 inches long and 14 inches wide, and it stands on three metal legs with rubber tips. The legs fold up when the oven isn't in use, making it fairly easy to store. I have a wooden cabinet on our enclosed deck where we keep the oven, which doesn't take up much space.\r\n\r\nThe Ooni Koda 12 only weighs around 20 pounds, so it's easy to move around as needed and has a gray, powder-coated finish. However, the finish does scratch fairly easily if you're not careful. At one point, we had the oven on a low table and our dog jumped up on it, leaving a few good scratches on the surface.\r\n

How We Tested It<\/h2>\r\n\"Oonie\r\n

As the proud owner of an Ooni Koda 12, I've (slowly) become a pizza master over the past year. Here's how I put the oven through the paces\u2014and what I learned along the way.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Set-Up and Assembly<\/h3>\r\n

When I first received the oven, I was impressed that it was ready to use right out of the box. No assembly was needed\u2014all I had to do was put the pizza stone<\/a> in the oven and hook it up to a 20-pound propane tank. Along with the pizza oven itself, I also purchased the brand's perforated pizza peel<\/a> and an infrared thermometer<\/a>, which allows you to measure the temperature of the pizza stone while the oven is on.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Prepping the Pies<\/h3>\r\n\"putting\r\n\r\nThe first time we used our Ooni Koda 12, my partner and I kept it simple by making ourselves a few pepperoni pizzas. I used the Ooni pizza dough recipe<\/a>, and we topped our pies with pizza sauce<\/a>, fresh mozzarella<\/a> and pepperoni. Yum!\r\n\r\nYou need to stretch the dough very thin to make a proper Neapolitan pizza. You also have to generously flour the peel to get a good \"launch,\" the term for sliding the pizza off the peel into the oven. Pro tip: Top your homemade pizzas with freshly shredded cheese, courtesy of this genius cheese shredder<\/a>.\r\n

The First Few Uses<\/h3>\r\n\"using\r\n\r\nThere's a learning curve to using the Ooni Koda 12, especially if you've never used a pizza oven. But luckily, the process is easy to master.\r\n\r\nAfter just 15 to 20 minutes of preheating, the pizza stone reached a temperature of 650 degrees. The cooking time is typically only two or three minutes, so it's important to monitor your pizza closely while it's cooking. Otherwise, you can quickly end up with burnt edges. Because we were total novices at pizza baking, our first few pies certainly weren't as picturesque as the ones on the Ooni website. However, they were still tasty, and we could see the oven's potential.\r\n

Becoming Pizza Pros<\/h3>\r\n\"a\r\n\r\nWe continued experimenting with the Ooni, and slowly, our pizzas became more and more beautiful. We've learned a lot of lessons along the way. Here are some of our top tips:\r\n