At a lookProfessional’s Score
Execs
- Lovely design
- Effectively engineered
- Simple to make use of
Our Verdict
The Volt 12 is the last word solution to make selfmade pizza from the consolation of your kitchen. Sure, it’s dear and also you’ll want loads of area for it, however it’s onerous to fault its design or efficiency.
Value When Reviewed
$999
Greatest Costs At present: Ooni Volt 12
$999.00
Not everybody has been capable of get in on the pattern for selfmade pizza, for the straightforward incontrovertible fact that not all of us have the surface area wanted to make use of a pizza oven.
That’s the place Ooni’s Volt 12 is available in.
Ooni is a pizza oven firm that started its life in London and now sells worldwide. We’ve beforehand reviewed two of their outside ovens: the Fyra 12 and the Karu 16.
The Volt 12 is the results of a number of years of improvement. Ooni has designed and constructed an oven that may attain the excessive temperatures essential to cook dinner pizza, whereas nonetheless being protected for a home kitchen. And what a chunk of engineering it’s.
The Volt 12 a correct pizza oven, giant sufficient to cook dinner a 12-inch pizza, however the twist is that you need to use it indoors – though if you happen to assume that wooden burning or gasoline fired ovens are an excessive amount of problem, you need to use the Volt 12 exterior as nicely. Nevertheless, it’ll nonetheless must be saved inside.
Design & Construct
- H28 x W53 x D62cm/ 24.2 x 20.8 x 10.9in
- Prime quality stainless-steel and glass construct
- Three dial controls
When the Volt 12 field arrived, I used to be floored. Not actually, though I’d have been had I attempted to raise it. I simply wasn’t ready for the scale of it. When it’s unboxed, the oven appears a bit extra manageable, though it’s nonetheless a mighty measurement.
The Volt 12 is undoubtedly one of the best trying equipment in my kitchen
At 28(H) x 53(W) x 62cm(D) (24.2 x 20.8 x 10.9in), it ought to be capable of stand on a normal kitchen counter, which is round 65cm/25in deep. However if you happen to’re pondering of shopping for the Volt, it’s nicely price measuring up first to make sure you have an acceptable spot to put it.
And it’s as heavy as it’s giant, at 18kg/39.2lbs. However there are handholds on the edges and I discovered that, as soon as freed from the packaging, I might raise it onto the counter with out a lot hassle. Nonetheless, it’s not the form of equipment you’ll wish to transfer round typically. And also you gained’t be capable of transfer it in any respect when it’s scorching after use.
However it’s fantastically designed. Its form is bevelled, and its physique is matt black, with a chrome steel trim. The door makes up your entire entrance of the oven, and it’s shiny black, with a viewing window within the centre so you’ll be able to see your pizza cooking. It’s undoubtedly one of the best trying equipment in my kitchen.
Beneath the door are three management dials that gentle up when it’s switched on. It’s a slick, minimalist set-up. The primary dial is a timer (as much as 20 minutes), the second controls temperature (as much as 450°C/850°F) and the third is a steadiness dial that permits you to alter whether or not the warmth is coming primarily from the highest or the underside heating ingredient, or whether or not it’s evenly balanced between the 2.
There’s a really helpful setting for every temperature, however you’ll be able to alter it by hand throughout cooking. The third dial additionally capabilities as a lift to warmth up your pizza stone between cooking pizzas.
There’s an On/Standby touchscreen button on the entrance and a big On/Off rocker change on the equipment’s facet. The position of the latter is a little bit annoying as you’ll want to succeed in down the facet of the equipment and really feel round to show it on and off.
The Volt 12 is essentially made from stainless-steel, with a triple-paned door of borosilicate glass. That is the kind of glass Pyrex was comprised of: it’s famously powerful and thermally secure. In different phrases, it’s a wonderful materials for the door to an oven that’s going to get actually, actually scorching.
The door has a big, easy-to-grasp deal with that’s protected to the touch all through cooking.
The Volt 12 comes with a brief energy twine to cut back the danger of the oven being pulled from the countertop. This does imply that you just’re restricted to the place you need to use it and might have to make use of an extension twine, wherein case, see above and take care.
Arrange is simple. All it is advisable to do discover a countertop spot with a couple of inches of clearance all the best way round, insert the Ooni-branded pizza stone into the oven and season the oven by setting it to 450°C/850°F for 20 minutes.
When the oven reaches its set temperature, there’s an audible alert and when the timer runs down, an alarm sounds – and continues sounding – till you intervene. The Volt won’t change itself off on the finish of a cooking cycle.
As soon as it’s cooled, you’re prepared to start out cooking.
Efficiency & Options
- 20 minute heating time
- 90 second cooking time
I went to the Volt 12 launch occasion some months in the past and noticed the indoor ovens in motion. The pizza the ovens produced was wonderful however, maybe due to letting a bunch of writers and influencers experiment with their very own pizza cooking, the ovens did start to smoke and ultimately set off the fireplace alarms within the constructing.
As my kitchen is tiny, I used to be apprehensive that the identical factor would occur at residence, or that the kitchen would get unbearably scorching. So, I began off the testing with a little bit of trepidation.
I started by making my very own pizza dough from scratch a couple of hours earlier than utilizing the oven – it is advisable to give the dough time to rise. I’d by no means made pizza dough earlier than, so I used Ooni’s recipe.
Surprisingly, it was simple sufficient and some hours later, I had 4 fairly convincing trying dough balls – sufficient to make 4 12-inch pizzas.
I switched on the oven to preheat and formed the dough whereas the oven was heating. Then got here the difficult half: launching the raw pizza into the oven.
To do that, you’ll want a pizza peel. The Volt 12 doesn’t include one however it’s an important device. Ooni’s personal 12-inch peel prices $59.99/£59.99 and as a plus, it’s giant sufficient that you possibly can use it to shovel snow out of your driveway if the necessity arises (please don’t do that).
When your dough is stretched and formed, you then flour your peel, place your dough on prime and add your sauce and toppings. Then, when the oven has reached the goal temperature, slide it into the oven.
It’s a little bit of an engineering marvel. It’s sturdily constructed, nicely insulated and straightforward to make use of – the standard of your pizzas, nonetheless, will rely in your dough making and dough stretching expertise
In my case, that is the place issues went awry. I’d been apprehensive about over-flouring the peel and making the oven smoke, so the pizza dough received irretrievably caught to the peel and ended up in a mangled ball within the bin. The second try was far more profitable.
The oven takes round 20 minutes to warmth up, after which just one.5-2 minutes to cook dinner a Neapolitan-style pizza. It’s also possible to use it to make New York, Tavern-style and Detroit pizzas – amongst different choices – and the oven comes with an Necessities Information to present you some suggestions as to settings.
The primary pizza I made was no less than recognisably a pizza, if a bit thick – and each pizza I made afterwards confirmed an exponential enchancment.
As you’ll be able to see via the oven door, you’ll be able to verify in your pizza and guarantee it’s not burning. Regardless of my fears, I by no means had issues with the oven smoking.
As for security, the edges and prime of the oven get heat sufficient throughout cooking that you just couldn’t snug relaxation a hand there for lengthy – however not scorching sufficient to burn you if you happen to contact the oven.
And extremely, the Volt 12 launched much less warmth throughout cooking than my inbuilt oven .
Altogether, it’s a little bit of an engineering marvel. It’s sturdily constructed, nicely insulated and straightforward to make use of. The standard of your pizzas, nonetheless, will rely in your dough making and dough stretching expertise.
What’s extra, you need to use it for different forms of cooking, though you’ll want a appropriate cooking dish. Ooni additionally sells a cookbook, Cooking With Fireplace, with plenty of recipes you’ll be able to attempt.
Because the Volt 12 was simply sitting on my counter throughout the testing interval, I used it for every type of cooking, from heating up frozen pizza (use a little bit of flour to cease it sticking to the stone) to crisping up gnocci and roasting greens.
It proved helpful for every part however one of the best dish I made was roast potatoes, which I cooked in a ceramic tray as I didn’t have a steel pan that match within the oven. They took much less time than in a standard oven and so they have been simply one of the best roast potatoes I’ve ever made. The extra warmth helped, as did the precision cooking from adjusting the steadiness dial: I might select to crisp the highest or the cook dinner from the underside of the dish as required.
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Keep in mind, although, that if you happen to use a taller dish, you gained’t be capable of view the progress of your cooking via the viewing window as simply as with a flat pizza.
Value & Availability
The Volt 12 is priced at $999/ £799 and, on the time of writing no less than, you gained’t get it for much less. Nevertheless, Ooni does have bundle offers obtainable that’ll get you cash off helpful equipment similar to covers and peels.
Within the US, you should purchase direct from Ooni, or from Amazon, amongst different retailers. Within the UK, you should purchase from Ooni, Amazon or John Lewis.
By way of its price to run, the Volt 12 is a 1600W equipment, which suggests that it’ll nonetheless be cheaper to cook dinner in than an inbuilt oven – if you happen to cook dinner for brief intervals, no less than. On my present power tariff, it price me round 14p to cook dinner a pizza.
However on condition that this can be a luxurious product, it appears absurd to be discussing any form of cash saving. You can order your self a supply pizza each week for near a 12 months for the value of the Volt 12.
Must you purchase the Ooni Volt 12?
The Volt 12 is just not for everybody: you want the area and funds for one, in addition to the will to cook dinner pizza in your kitchen recurrently sufficient to take a position closely in it. And pizza aficionados will nonetheless desire their wood-fired outside ovens, though there’s a sure luxurious in making pizza from scratch in your kitchen all via the winter months.
However if you would like the Volt 12, you actually gained’t be dissatisfied if you get it. It’s a fantastically designed and engineered equipment, and utilizing it’s a pleasure.
