Customer Reviews for Ooni - Karu 2 Multi-Fuel Pizza Oven - Black
Customer Rating
4
Almost perfect
on November 6, 2023
Posted by: Ron T.
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] The Karu 12G oven is almost perfect! Great design with an obvious attention to detail where it counts. Especially in the hidden things like having the air flow from intake to exhause designed to really work. We bought this model primarily so we could create wood fired pizzas and, with one qualification (see below), it really works. Within 10 minutes of firing it us using small chunks of well seasoned hardwood, a lazy double or triple vortex of flame courses from back to front under the ceiling. This heats the stone to 650 to 700F which ensures that the bottom crust is perfectly cooked. The real art of baking a perfect pizza then falls on the chef to closely watch the pizza and deftly rotate it within 45 to 60 seconds. Failure to do so can mean excessive charring — or even a flamer — when the upper flames ignite the puffed crust. Given the tight quarters inside the oven, overhead flame is very close to the pizza. And given the intense concentration of heat at the back of the oven, quick rotation is essential. Since the front door of the oven is not much wider than the pizza itself and quick, decisive action is required to rotate the pizza, this can be challenging. Through the learning curve of using a turning peel, we’ve had some spectacular failures. From accordioning of the whole pie when the bottom crust isn’t sufficiently baked as the peel slides under it, scattering toppings across the oven bottom and even a flamer when the back of the pizza actually caught fire as the peel pushed it too close to the flames, we learned that quick, decisive rotation is an art. There is a learning curve!
We have worked through the issues described above and have a solution that takes the Karu 12G to a new level: a rotating turntable atop the stone. The one we chose is on Amazon and made by NU2U. heavy (3/16” carbon steel, it is made to stand up to the extreme temperatures inside a pizza oven. Using it, we have perfect bakes with textbook leoparding along the outer crust rim. Avoiding excessive charring is easy when the pzza can be rotated 1/4 to 1/2 turn precisely without pushing it to the rear of the oven or having it move the wrong way on a turning peel.
The Karu 12G is a great oven. Almost perfect. A rotatiing turntable inside the oven closes the gap!
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Definitely not built the same as my previous Ooni's, the chimney wobbles about and is extremely unsafe in my eyes.
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Great oven and makes the perfect pizza ! Haven’t tried the gas option only used the wood fired way and it’s awesome.
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Very easy to assemble and use. Weight was a factor when choosing this model because it's not too heavy to transport. Highly recommend.
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Just starting out, but so far so good! Kind of fun to use and I’m sure I’ll get better at it. Can’t wait to try out some other things to cook!
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Great little pizza oven. Used it 3 times now with great results. The oven has reached about 900 degrees which cooks the crust so well.