I have the original Koda. Went for ease with gas. Have to believe if I went for the gas/charcoal version, I’d wind up using gas 90% of the time. Ease and convenience. Already having a smoker was another deciding factor. No regrets
I don’t have one yet, but I have seen this question asked in other places and it seems like the most common answer, by a good margin, is that people don’t find wood worth the hassle and they end up sticking with gas.
My wife ordered me an Ooni for my birthday and went with the Karu. Due to backorder issues (ordered in June, arrived a couple of weeks ago) I have only done a few cooks on it. My thoughts: I like the options that the Karu offers with charcoal, wood, or gas (she did order the propane converter) Thus far I have been cooking with B&B hardwood oak lump. I can get the deck to 700+ degrees. I wanted to have the gas attachment for the winter and I’m guessing with gas you may be able to achieve higher oven temps. My biggest learning curve has been the dough especially since living/cooking at altitude. It’s been fun trying different hydration % and gauging results.
We’re breaking in our new Fyra tonight.
Koda 16 scheduled to be delivered tomorrow. I think my wife ordered it back in June.
Does it matter if I use a wood or a metal peel?
I have found that a wood (better yet - composite) peel is best for placing the pizza and a metal one best for removing it. I’ve found a metal peel much too sticky with the raw dough (too much flour required) and the wood is harder to get under the finished or partially finished pizza without pushing it to the back of the oven.
After my first cook I completely get it. Will be ordering a metal peel immediately.
How long do you rest between pies? The bottom of my first was nice and charred but subsequent not as nice.
My favorite pie tonight was just olive oil, cheese and garlic.
We have the original (back when it was still spelled Uuni) pellet fired version so I’m not sure how closely our experience tracks with the current ovens. In our oven I don’t rest at all between pizzas - it’s basically as quickly as I can get one to the table and back with another. I’ve found the ideal floor temp for the first pizza to be between 700-800 degrees. That provides a 60-second cook time and no need to rest between pizzas. Above about 850 the bottom of the crust burns before it is baked through and below about 650 cook time is longer, the stone does need some recharge time between pizzas and the pizzas get chewy and a bit smoky. It’s a little finicky to keep the pellet box full while the pizzas are going in and out that fast but as long as I do and keep a good temp, it works great.
For anyone looking at the composite pizza peels (sold under the Epicurean brand name), I recommend checking webstaurant.com, which has a huge range of styles and sizes at a fraction of the price of the branded ones from Amazon (limited to two sizes). I ordered two round peels just the right size for our Uuni and they are exactly the same quality as the Epicurean peels we got from Amazon (neither of which fit the Uuni very well). I am certain that are the same manufacturer.
Same experience here. I’ve also used a pizza screen.
I usually get mine up to temp, then as I am putting in the pizza, I turn it right down. Cook the pizza, then remove, turn it back up full again. Eat pizza and then come back out and cook the next one. Gives it a chance to warm back up again and the 2min it takes to cook each one doesn’t really ruin the eating experience. I tend to make mine like a std store bought type, not a wood fired minimal topping one.
Does anyone use it for anything other than pizza? I seem to recall seeing some videos of making shrimp scampi, but did not seem to be worth the trouble.
I have used mine to sear steaks after low and slow
On a screen in the Ooni? would think you’d lost the bottom char
I had been using wood. Now prefer metal. Shake it every so often when making the pie so it doesnt stick to the peel. That was a duh moment for me.
May have mentioned above that I switched out the stock pizza stone for a steel one. better char
Not on Ooni. Pizza Kettle. But, on a baking steel. Don’t keep the pizza on the screen. Use to to put the pizza on the steel. It works but I think a wooden peel is still better for putting pizza in and metal peel better for pulling it out.
I just bought the Ooni pizza turner. I’ll report after I use it.
Received the oven today. 3 month wait. Converter apparently following this week or early next, so I may break this in using some non-refill propane tanks we still have for a now returned weed torch. Bought a alu peel to go with my wood one and a stainless prep table from a resto supply store, so I can set up beside my Weber outside and have a larger work area as well.
Making pies this weekend 
Like Eric, I have the original before they changed from u to o. His advice about cooking temps and peels is spot on to my experience and my son-in-law’s experience as well. After a couple of years of use, I can honestly say that fresh made pizza dough, fresh made sauce and the uuni result in some of the best pizza i’ve ever had – that includes pies from numerous pizza joints all over southern Italy and the US. I do like to use toppings sparingly, too. I’ve cooked just about all the usual suspects since getting my uuni, but my favorites are the Rosa recipe from Pizza Bianco, a Sopressata pizza and of course a Margherita. I’ve tried several typesof flour and now I keep the dough recipe simple, though sometimes I will use some of my sourdough starter. Mostly it’s just:
1 cup water (lukewarm)
2 1/2 tsp dry yeast
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil
2 1/2 cup bread flour (approximately)
Also, I never roll out pizza dough. I just press it out.
Greg