It was the biggest box under the Christmas tree, and it was for me. As a dad to two young boys, that doesn’t happen much. It turns out Santa brought dad a Solo Stove Pizza Oven for Christmas!
We live in the Pacific Northwest so it took several months before the rainy season stopped and we could get our Solo Stove Pizza Oven up and running.
The wait was worth it.
This summer we’ve had probably 4-5 pizza nights already and plan to have several more before school is back in session. It’s become a fun family night with smiles, laughs, delicious pizza and cheese everywhere!
Unboxing Your Solo Stove Pizza Oven
The stove works almost straight out of the box. There are only a few small steps to take before your pepperoni is popping and mozzarella is melting in your first pizza cook-off.
The main step includes putting in the two-piece pizza stone (cooking surface), the firewood holder and that’s just about it. You’re ready to bake.
If you purchased the Wood Fired version, make sure you’ve already purchased your cooking wood so you can fire it up.
Fire Up Your First Pizza
I was gifted the Wood Burning stove, which means there is a compartment in the back of the stove that you fill with special cooking wood.
Just like starting a campfire, a little kindling, heat and air and voila we’ve got ourselves a wood fired pizza oven.
This is how we cooked our first pizzas and they turned out delicious. However, using wood creates some big challenges.
The inside cooking temperature should be around 650 degrees. The small pieces of wood (about the size of a Snickers bar) burn quickly keeping the core temperature of the oven hot enough can be challenging. The temperature would fluctuate significantly as wood burned and you added more, which meant I spent the entire time manning the oven while everyone else was inside prepping.
This isn’t the end of the world but it certainly can take some of the enjoyment away.
I went through an entire box of wood in just two sessions. At $35-50 a box, that can cost some serious dough.
Going Gas
Solo Stove makes a gas burner propane attachment that works just like your BBQ and, for us, made a massive difference.
Turn it on, let it heat up and you’re good to go for the rest of the night. Adding the gas burner was a game changer in terms of simplicity and we’ve experienced no noticeable effect on the taste of the pizzas.
Now everyone can be part of the fun in building and cooking their own pizza.
I very much understand the purists who want to stay with true wood fired pizza and I fully support that. But for our family, convenience and time are a huge bonus and so the gas burner will be staying put for us.
Accessorize Your Pizza Oven
Prep hack – assembling the pizza on the peel (large spatula) itself is key so all your toppings don’t fall off when transferring. But what we discovered is if you only have one peel, you can only make one pizza at a time.
We purchased additional peels and have them lined up and ready to go for the boys to make their pizzas on. That way we can cook the pizzas one after another and everyone is eating within moments of each other.
For cooking perfection, every 30 seconds or so, it’s best to turn your pizza so it cooks evenly around the edges. Using the wooden peels to do this is a challenge since thy are a bit big. So, I added a stainless peel turner to my arsenal as well.
Finally, to make sure your internal temperature is staying hot, I bought a temperature gun to keep check. It’s a fun little toy to have around too.
Homemade Pizzas Make Everyone Happy
I’ve loved getting to cook homemade pizzas for the family and our boy’s friends. We’ve had my parents over for a pizza party as well and everyone always has a great time.
We’re experimenting with new ingredients and learning something new every time we cook.
The Solo Stove Pizza Oven has been a fantastic addition to our backyard experience and with several more weeks of summer weather remaining, I fully intend on cooking up pies for just about anyone who wants one.
This is not a sponsored post, all opinions are my own. I may receive compensation from advertisements when you click on links to those products on this page.
