In crust we trust... And in the Ooni outdoor oven

Almost every Sunday I’m taking my little ones to the farmers’ market. It’s not much for the fresh veggies, occasional live music or for hoping to run again into my celebrity neighbours (see you on Sunday, Thandie!;) but for best pizza served here in this tiny corner of London, made by two true Napolitano guys and their tiny fire oven on wheels.

Because I do love my pizza. Occasionally I enjoy making my own in the kitchen oven, but until now I didn’t realise playing with dough and fire can be easily achievable in my very own garden.

While it is determining all of us to spend more time in the outdoors and less on the sofa waiting for the alarm sound of the kitchen oven! I must add that my neighbours were a tad jealous in the beginning – but don’t worry, they have already tried my pizza and some of them are now making their own arrangements for getting their own pizza maker 😉

After careful research and weighing up what was truly important for me (especially in terms of #sustainability), I decided to go for the Ooni Pro Pizza Oven because it had most of those key features which ticked my boxes and keep me happy in the most cooking/baking circumstances:

• HOT – this oven gets to the required temperature and is ready to cook in 20 minutes counting from lighting it up

• FLEXIBLE – I like choices and so I enjoy the flexibility of fuels I can use with it; this is a portable oven so no matter where I take it in our city escapes, I can fire it up with wood, charcoal, wood pellets or gas (2 extensions bought separately for gas or pellets). By default it comes ready for firing it up with wood/charcoal which is my usual choice of fuel anyways as it gives the pizza that special taste.

• VERSATILE – I can cook smaller or larger (up-to 16-inch) pizzas & a range of our family’s favourite dishes or bake bread – I’m a bread maker enthusiast 🙂

In the box you’ll find the Ooni Pro Pizza Oven with Stone baking board (4 parts easy to assemble), an oven door with built-in thermometer (for when you’ve had enough of those delish pizzas and want to go for cooking other dishes – please ensure you’re using special cookware inside the oven – or bake bread), a pizza door with postbox-style entry (this is the one I recommend to use for pizzas), a wood & charcoal burner tray, Essentials Guide & Manual, Allen key and Ooni Pizza Oven Gloves.

I also got a Ooni 14 “ Classic Pizza Peel and a Ooni Infrared Thermometer which I would add to the essential pizza-enthusiast’s list of handy tools.

Dads are all about technical details though so here goes:

• Dimensions: 29.13 x 19.29 x 31.1″ (740 x 490 x 790mm)

• Unboxed weight: 48.5lbs (22kg)

• Cooking surface: 17.7 x 17.7″ (450 x 450mm)

• Brushed stainless steel with ceramic fibre insulation

• 15mm cordierite stone baking board

• Ooni Pro Gas Burner - which is compatible with large propane tanks (normally used with barbecues), as well as 1-Lb propane tanks along with a suitable adaptor. Maximum power: 7kWh (20472 BTU)

There is a fine Father’s Day giveaway on my AllDadsTalk insta grid, one lucky winner will win a Ooni Pro prize pack which includes the Ooni Pro, Ooni 14” Classic Pizza Peel, and Ooni Infrared Thermometer. Enter here or here.

Being able to prepare dishes I enjoy outside our kitchen is rather cool.

It encourages the kids to spend more time running around in the garden, help us prep fresh ingredients and eventually making the kind of great memories I want them to have when it comes to spending time with their dad.

This article has been written in partnership with Ooni, the Ooni Pro has been gifted and all thoughts are mine. So is the pizza I just made 😉

Gotta leave you now, daddy's gotta chop some wood! Happy baking