Hey James, I think you had too much flame rolling over your stone when you put the pizza on, which led to the blackened look. The heat was probably right, but the fire looked too aggressive. If you get an opportunity in the future, I definitely recommend a Gozney Roccbox oven... you get that same rolling flame over the top effect that La Piazza provides but on a much more portable scale. That said, I sold mine when I mastered pizza on the KJ, but they are very very good entry level pizza ovens IMHO. Keep up the great vids. Peace
I just cooked my first pizza in the Yukon Pi Fire. It was darkened by direct flames & smoke partly because I was too excited get to make a pizza. I let the flames die down and did a second round at 550 with much less smoke & flame rising into the chamber - turned out perfect - crispy bottom, brown crust - crispy pepperoni. Can’t wait for the next batch!
I am the owner of an Ooni Karu 12. I'm also an avid camper. I'm also at my friend's call a master fire cooker. I've made pineapple upside down cakes on campfire that turned out perfect. I can take my Ooni anywhere. Camping as well as to friends houses. I feel like solo is a company that just makes stuff throws it out into the market people buy it up and then they come out two months later with something else. The prices are always slashed. It's always 200 or $250 off. Reminds me of the mattress store that's always going out of business. They make these crazy high dollar accessories people buy them and then they fail. They come out with another accessory and people jump on that. This is simply another fail. I think if people understand the science behind pizza making regarding the heat, the heat transfer, the heat rollover with the top of the pizza it would stand to reason that this would produce exactly what it produced. You're basically smoking your pizza with soot. Buy an uni for your backyard deck and the carry bag to take it on the road.
The Solo stove is coming out with a lot of toys! My guess is you had too much fuel and didn't wait long enough because that was a large fire going when you placed the pizza in the oven. I live in Colorado where all available wood at campsites is pine, so I would have to bring in hardwood along with my charcoal. One of the biggest problems with living in Colorado, we have fire bands a lot during the summer and must use LP stoves and firepits. Great test for your first one.
The trick with the Pi Fire is to start cooking once the black smoke has died down. It’s just soot and not burnt. I was cringing at the video thinking “oh no please don’t put that pie in yet! Lol”. Get that clean burn going and then You get a 750ish degree cook for about 8-10 min tops then it starts dying down fast to 450ish. First pizzas come out great, but if you are doing 6 or more pizzas, plan on adding more wood and letting the black smoke die down again. I love mine, but it takes finesse for sure
This add-on to the solo stove looks great, very tempting to try one out. I do have a bit of a bone to pick with your comment on bringing wood into a park and "hope you don't get caught". Here in southern Ontario the Emerald Ash borer has decimated the ash population, and people transporting firewood has been one of the major causes of that spread. The rule is there for a very good reason.
I am not advocating for it, i am pointing out part of the reality / hassle that goes into the logistics of pizza on a road trip. having done this last year buying logs at every park we went to they came in differing sizes (some way to large to burn in even the solo stove) and varying levels of wet wood lol ... im in ON and lost some trees to the Ash Borer
I strongly believe that the pizza stone was put in too early. Too many flames and black smoke = carsonagenics. Give the fire more time to burn then place the pizza stone in then the pizza. Bit longer cook time but will help with the cheese and bottom of the crust. Just my experience. Love your channel, just don't want your family getting ill. Cheers from. AUSTRALIA....
Anytime wood sticks out from the top of a smokeless pit (like a solo stove), the wood above the fire chamber will make smoke that isn't consumed below the rim. Allow the raging fire out of the solo stove AND keep all wood inside beneath the top edge and you won't have all the smoke (which is 'technically' unburnt fuel [wood]) making your pizza take on the color 9f unburnt fuel (smoke).
ya i got too aggressive thinking i needed it for the stone heat, turns out wrong call. i got over 600f stone temp with a really small flame later on and clean smoke
Great video James! It looks like a person could churn out some amazing pies out of that thing with practice and dialing in the perfect distance from the fire, fire size, preheating time etc. Very cool that it's portable. I'd love to take it on a camping trip with friends and flex on other dads by making pizza over the fire lol!
Thanks James, great video, I am also considering the Pi Fire, since I have most of the bonfire ecosystem already purchased over the years... I am curious to see how it does, once the fire gets clean combustion... I am curious to see if the thermal radiation from the top will be hot enough to get your topings ready in time when your dough gets ready via the stone's thermal conduction... Please make a follow up video to show us how you manage to master this new accessory!
That looks cool for camping, nice video. It seems like the fire needs better control in order to minimize the soot. It is viible at 6:01 Using kiln dried, low moisture hardwoods would burn cleaner and produce higher heat, with smaller flame. I would still prefer the ease of a gas fired pizza oven to take for camping.
nice one James. Seems like it will be a good one with some of the adjustments that they said needed to be done anyway. Really like to see it go against the pizza oven. Temperatures are there.. smoke is there.. So should be a very similar result.
Oh, yikes. Just saw all of the soot. I was on the fence about buying this but after seeing your video it's a hard no. I can't imagine how bad long term consumption of soot may be. Not risking it. Thank you for your video.
I think that letting the fire die down a bit before putting your pizza in would result in a better looking pie, but I must admit I would stick to dogs and burger camping out
Yeah, that fire was way too high for that pie! We just bought a Pi Fire (Bonfire size) and have only made one pizza so far -- but the top and bottom of crust came out great. Evenly cooked and with a light smokey flavor. Small chunks of seasoned oak and some 2x4 stud scraps were the fuel. I didn't order a peel as I wanted to see if the one we had would fit. Unfortunately it was too wide so I struggled a bit to make what we had work: a cookie sheet and a long handled bbq flipper. Well, the oven opening is not that tall and there is a lot of heat above the fire -- when launching the pie my angle using the cookie sheet was too steep and top of the pie hit the roof of the oven. User error! Lost some pepper and mushroom chunks but not the dinner. Going to get a 14 inch wide bamboo peel (Solo should offer that size -- seems the one they have is sized small at 12" in order to fit their Pi and Ranger setups along with Bonfire.) The gloves that come with the oven are nice; the vinyl of the included carrying/storage case is thin so I'll cut a round of thick cardboard or some thin plywood or hardboard to put on the bottom so the metal legs don't eventually poke holes in the vinyl. I'd rather leave the legs attached and not bolt and unbolt them but taking off the legs would make the unit a little less bulky for transport. If you do a follow-up, maybe along with a pizza give stromboli or calzones a shot. I'm dying to try them -- just need to keep them fairly thin, I think.
It would be good to see a comparison where the flame isn’t raging. There’s really no comparable where pizza is cooked in that environment. Such a shame for you to have to cook more pizza 🤣
Yuck. Maybe pizza isn't a campground food. I'm having a hard time imagining doing all the prep in the campground. Maybe stick to burgers, hot dogs, and s'mores?
Well you really didnt give it a fair chance, after seing this video inhave no idea if it can make a pizza or not, was hoping that was the gosl of the video.
![“อ.เบียร์ คนตื่นธรรม” มาตามคำเรียกร้อง แหกศาสตร์ฮวงจุ้ย เตือนสติอย่างมงาย | แฉ 7 พ.ย. 67 [1/3]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/5fc4S3xBNfc/mqdefault.jpg)
Hey James, I think you had too much flame rolling over your stone when you put the pizza on, which led to the blackened look. The heat was probably right, but the fire looked too aggressive. If you get an opportunity in the future, I definitely recommend a Gozney Roccbox oven... you get that same rolling flame over the top effect that La Piazza provides but on a much more portable scale. That said, I sold mine when I mastered pizza on the KJ, but they are very very good entry level pizza ovens IMHO. Keep up the great vids. Peace
yep 100% looked much better when i tested it again later on with the fire burning down some more
I just cooked my first pizza in the Yukon Pi Fire. It was darkened by direct flames & smoke partly because I was too excited get to make a pizza. I let the flames die down and did a second round at 550 with much less smoke & flame rising into the chamber - turned out perfect - crispy bottom, brown crust - crispy pepperoni. Can’t wait for the next batch!
This was my learning as well. Once you get the sweet spot though it’s great
I am the owner of an Ooni Karu 12. I'm also an avid camper. I'm also at my friend's call a master fire cooker. I've made pineapple upside down cakes on campfire that turned out perfect. I can take my Ooni anywhere. Camping as well as to friends houses. I feel like solo is a company that just makes stuff throws it out into the market people buy it up and then they come out two months later with something else. The prices are always slashed. It's always 200 or $250 off. Reminds me of the mattress store that's always going out of business. They make these crazy high dollar accessories people buy them and then they fail. They come out with another accessory and people jump on that. This is simply another fail. I think if people understand the science behind pizza making regarding the heat, the heat transfer, the heat rollover with the top of the pizza it would stand to reason that this would produce exactly what it produced. You're basically smoking your pizza with soot. Buy an uni for your backyard deck and the carry bag to take it on the road.
The Solo stove is coming out with a lot of toys! My guess is you had too much fuel and didn't wait long enough because that was a large fire going when you placed the pizza in the oven. I live in Colorado where all available wood at campsites is pine, so I would have to bring in hardwood along with my charcoal. One of the biggest problems with living in Colorado, we have fire bands a lot during the summer and must use LP stoves and firepits. Great test for your first one.
The trick with the Pi Fire is to start cooking once the black smoke has died down. It’s just soot and not burnt. I was cringing at the video thinking “oh no please don’t put that pie in yet! Lol”. Get that clean burn going and then You get a 750ish degree cook for about 8-10 min tops then it starts dying down fast to 450ish. First pizzas come out great, but if you are doing 6 or more pizzas, plan on adding more wood and letting the black smoke die down again. I love mine, but it takes finesse for sure
I just have to give you kudos for trying that lol 🍻
This add-on to the solo stove looks great, very tempting to try one out. I do have a bit of a bone to pick with your comment on bringing wood into a park and "hope you don't get caught". Here in southern Ontario the Emerald Ash borer has decimated the ash population, and people transporting firewood has been one of the major causes of that spread. The rule is there for a very good reason.
I am not advocating for it, i am pointing out part of the reality / hassle that goes into the logistics of pizza on a road trip. having done this last year buying logs at every park we went to they came in differing sizes (some way to large to burn in even the solo stove) and varying levels of wet wood lol ... im in ON and lost some trees to the Ash Borer
Are you going to get an ooni to test? I think we are reaching a point of diminishing returns with this oven.
I strongly believe that the pizza stone was put in too early. Too many flames and black smoke = carsonagenics. Give the fire more time to burn then place the pizza stone in then the pizza. Bit longer cook time but will help with the cheese and bottom of the crust.
Just my experience.
Love your channel, just don't want your family getting ill.
Cheers from. AUSTRALIA....
Anytime wood sticks out from the top of a smokeless pit (like a solo stove), the wood above the fire chamber will make smoke that isn't consumed below the rim.
Allow the raging fire out of the solo stove AND keep all wood inside beneath the top edge and you won't have all the smoke (which is 'technically' unburnt fuel [wood]) making your pizza take on the color 9f unburnt fuel (smoke).
ya i got too aggressive thinking i needed it for the stone heat, turns out wrong call. i got over 600f stone temp with a really small flame later on and clean smoke
Great video James! It looks like a person could churn out some amazing pies out of that thing with practice and dialing in the perfect distance from the fire, fire size, preheating time etc. Very cool that it's portable. I'd love to take it on a camping trip with friends and flex on other dads by making pizza over the fire lol!
haha that would be the best part (the flex)
You need the fire to burn longer. Cook over more coals vs flame. Or, use the legs.
Thanks James, great video, I am also considering the Pi Fire, since I have most of the bonfire ecosystem already purchased over the years... I am curious to see how it does, once the fire gets clean combustion... I am curious to see if the thermal radiation from the top will be hot enough to get your topings ready in time when your dough gets ready via the stone's thermal conduction... Please make a follow up video to show us how you manage to master this new accessory!
That looks cool for camping, nice video. It seems like the fire needs better control in order to minimize the soot. It is viible at 6:01 Using kiln dried, low moisture hardwoods would burn cleaner and produce higher heat, with smaller flame. I would still prefer the ease of a gas fired pizza oven to take for camping.
yep 100% looked much better when i tested it again later on with the fire burning down some more
Yeah that fire was raging! A little less flame and it’s gonna be mint
Have you tried using the Pi Fire with pellets? I just got both and am interested in trying them together.
How did it work? I was wondering the same thing.
Neat
nice one James. Seems like it will be a good one with some of the adjustments that they said needed to be done anyway. Really like to see it go against the pizza oven. Temperatures are there.. smoke is there.. So should be a very similar result.
this pie needs work but i think the foundation for a better pizza is there for sure
first há, nice video again James
Thanks again!
Oh, yikes. Just saw all of the soot.
I was on the fence about buying this but after seeing your video it's a hard no.
I can't imagine how bad long term consumption of soot may be. Not risking it.
Thank you for your video.
I think that letting the fire die down a bit before putting your pizza in would result in a better looking pie, but I must admit I would stick to dogs and burger camping out
Definitely looked like it needed a bit more room with that fire. Looks easy enough though.
yep 100% looked much better when i tested it again later on with the fire burning down some more
Yeah, that fire was way too high for that pie! We just bought a Pi Fire (Bonfire size) and have only made one pizza so far -- but the top and bottom of crust came out great. Evenly cooked and with a light smokey flavor. Small chunks of seasoned oak and some 2x4 stud scraps were the fuel. I didn't order a peel as I wanted to see if the one we had would fit. Unfortunately it was too wide so I struggled a bit to make what we had work: a cookie sheet and a long handled bbq flipper. Well, the oven opening is not that tall and there is a lot of heat above the fire -- when launching the pie my angle using the cookie sheet was too steep and top of the pie hit the roof of the oven. User error! Lost some pepper and mushroom chunks but not the dinner. Going to get a 14 inch wide bamboo peel (Solo should offer that size -- seems the one they have is sized small at 12" in order to fit their Pi and Ranger setups along with Bonfire.) The gloves that come with the oven are nice; the vinyl of the included carrying/storage case is thin so I'll cut a round of thick cardboard or some thin plywood or hardboard to put on the bottom so the metal legs don't eventually poke holes in the vinyl. I'd rather leave the legs attached and not bolt and unbolt them but taking off the legs would make the unit a little less bulky for transport. If you do a follow-up, maybe along with a pizza give stromboli or calzones a shot. I'm dying to try them -- just need to keep them fairly thin, I think.
yep 100% looked much better when i tested it again later on with the fire burning down some more
It would be good to see a comparison where the flame isn’t raging. There’s really no comparable where pizza is cooked in that environment. Such a shame for you to have to cook more pizza 🤣
Yuck. Maybe pizza isn't a campground food. I'm having a hard time imagining doing all the prep in the campground. Maybe stick to burgers, hot dogs, and s'mores?
the idea of bringing dough balls, all the ingredients and the hassle makes it seem like it has a 0 percent chance of happening
But I cannot deny I’ve asked, “Siri, Dominos near my current location.”
This review is not helpful. The product is not used as it's designed.
Well you really didnt give it a fair chance, after seing this video inhave no idea if it can make a pizza or not, was hoping that was the gosl of the video.
Too much fuel, not enough oxygen.
I am sorry you are the god of the BBQ but pizza is not your forte.
lol this one in particular had many issues lol