Pizza connoisseurs love the smoky taste of a pizza oven. They enjoy the crispy crust and the gooey, stretchy cheese as you bite into it. Plus, the flavor just can’t be beat! The Ooni Karu 12 is designed to reach high temperatures and cook a homemade pizza in a fraction of the time over cooking in stove ovens. In terms of excellence, the Ooni Karu will exceed your expectations.
The reviews in this blog can help you make chef artisan pizza! Who knows, maybe pizza will be your next Thanksgiving meal, or you’ll even want to use the Ooni’s Karu to bake cookies! Perhaps, you’ll host a pizza oven camp! Whatever it is, the pizza oven review for the Karu 12 is raving about this multi-fuel pizza oven that can use wood, coal, or gas and will have you cooking up a storm! Ooni provides a great warranty for this multi-fuel oven. This pizza oven retails competitively and requires no active filters.
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The Design of this Chef Artisan Pizza Oven – Now this is a pizza oven!
Most people find the design of this Ooni cute. It has the appearance of a small, tin robot. Yet, while it is adorable in appearance, don’t underestimate the power of this outdoor breville oven. Who needs a kitchen and cookware?! It is a complete beast when it comes to properly cooking pizza using wood or gas.
Made of mostly stainless steel, this Ooni has a great, clean appearance upon arrival. However, the gleaming product does not stay that way indefinitely. I mean, you’re cooking in this outdoor oven, right? The interior quickly turns black from heat and smoke. This causes the smokestack and firebox to discolor.
Additionally, the pizza stone begins to patina after a while.
When experts tested the product against weather conditions, since many users utilize it as an outdoor oven and tend to leave it outside instead of putting it away, they discovered that after snow and rain, the inside of the oven remained moisture-free. Even the burned coal remained dry.
They also discovered that during a rainstorm with high winds, water could be pushed into the oven. In this case, it is wise to place a cover on it.
The opening is 12” wide by 4.25” high. This will allow you to place a 11 ½” wooden peel inside it. With the opening having a low profile, fire dances across the top of the oven. Therefore, you are limited to cooking cuisines with lower depth. Otherwise, you risk burning them.
Assembly of the Karu 12
The assembly is as simple with the Ooni Karu as it is with most Ooni products. The legs on the oven easily fold out. The smokestack twists into position with the cap sitting on the top. There is a removable firebox and tray on the inside which allows ash to drop through. The device simply slides into the machine.
There is also a pizza stone that goes inside as well. No need to add that to your cart! For a pizza stone review that gives tips on how to care for your stone, you can check out the blog OONI KODA GAS OVEN: 10 Hacks You Need to Know.
To the rear of the oven, there is a door allowing access to its firebox. This allows you to load coal or wood. There is also a draft deflector at the back as well. The Ooni Karu comes with instructions on how to install the deflector and comes equipped with an Allen wrench to remove the deflector if you decide to use a propane burning adaptor.
Cooking pizza using the Ooni Karu 12 is easy. You take the cap off the smokestack leaving the baffle open. Wood, coal, or a combination of both, is placed in the firebox, then ignited. You can use fire starters, or they can be lit with a torch.
How does this multi-fuel pizza oven perform? Does it put the chef in artisan pizza?
This Ooni Karu provides impressive results in a fraction of the time. Users can start the fire with little difficulty. Some Ooni ovens can be a little tricky to ignite. However, this was not the case with the 12.
Getting the oven up to the proper temperature may take some time, especially if your temperature is below freezing. This may be due to the need to constantly check on the oven temperature, which leaves the door open more frequently. The Karu 12 oven does better in moderate-to-high temperatures, wherein it heats up quicker.
Most users prefer using lump charcoal to fuel this oven as it burns longer than wood. However, there is a preference to using wood pellet fuel because it generates flames that reach across the top of the cooking space of the oven for a better cook. The tip to doing this is to add the wood just before inserting the pizza. And, of course, there’s the option of using wood or gas (using a gas adaptor sold separately).
On average, it takes 15-25 minutes to preheat the pizza oven product in cooler temperatures. For better weather, it takes 15 minutes. The oven itself is well-insulated, allowing for maximum heat retention.
While Ooni claims that pizza can be cooked with a rotation of 15 seconds, when tested, experts found this was just an estimate. Cooking may need to be adjusted for more complicated pizzas, but for a plain cheese pizza, this is adequate.
With more pizza toppings, you will need to rotate the pizza every 60 seconds for it to fully cook, and this is by placing it in the center of the oven. While there is some risk of burning the sides of the pizza, it should come out nicely. However, always watch how your pizza cooks and adjust accordingly.
In terms of cooking with the 12, this is what was discovered for a pizza with multiple toppings:
- Placed at the back of the oven when cooking, you need to rotate the pizza every 45 seconds
- To the center of the oven, rotate the pizza every 60 seconds
- At the front of the oven, rotate the pizza 90 seconds to fully cook
Heat can additionally be controlled using the baffle found in the smokestack. If it is opened wide, the oven cooks food quickly and cleanly. Closing the baffle decreases cook speed and generates additional smoke.
How Portable is the Ooni Karu?
The Karu 12 is indeed portable. All you need to do is take off the fuel door, front door, and smokestack. To make this oven lighter, you can also take out the baking stone. It does pack down very well, and the carry case is also available to purchase separately. So when you shop for the Karu 12, don’t forget to select the carry case.
Cleaning the oven is also very simple. Once it has completely cooled, take off the fuel box, empty it, and then put it back. Anything on the pizza stone can be cleaned by brushing it off. Ooni sells a high quality cleaning brush. Food or residue can be scraped off, then you can allow the oven to burn using high heats to eliminate the rest. The ash can then be wiped off.
Ooni recommends moving the oven indoors when you’re not using it for long periods.
The Ooni Karu 12 is a wonderful, portable artisan pizza oven that makes a perfect pizza in a fraction of the time. While it uses lump charcoal, wood, or wood pellets, it can be converted to use a gas adapter, although that’s sold separately. The only thing to watch is that it requires constant attention while cooking so your pizza doesn’t burn, and you may need more wood than other models.
Ooni Karu 12 Essentials Bundle
Right now the Ooni Karu 12 Essentials Bundle is on sale on Ooni’s website. It’s a great bundle with all the basics that you need in order to get started cooking great pizza! Act now and purchase this great bundle before the sale ends!
Hey there, I’m Greg Palmer, and I’m thrilled to share my story with you. Together with my brother Tim, I run the website GoodLifePizzaOvens.com, and it’s been quite the journey!
Our roots run deep in a beautiful countryside where we spent our childhood surrounded by nature’s wonders. Those were the days of horseback rides, fixing fences, rounding up cattle, and the never-ending quest to catch chipmunks raiding the grain barrel. But among all the adventures, that one special summer stands out, etched in our hearts forever—a time we both cherish dearly.
