Ooni Karu 16 is a new pizza oven from Ooni and if you want to make Neapolitan pizzas at home in under 60 seconds then do read this Ooni Karu 16 review.
If you are wondering why the new Ooni Karu 16 multi-fuel pizza oven is better than ALL the Ooni Pizza Oven models then read the review till the end.
Ooni is one of the best pizza oven companies that produce portable pizza ovens and cook the best pizza within minutes.
You can order any model from them and it will cook perfect pizzas.
When I first came across the new Ooni Karu 16 multi-fuel pizza oven, I knew it would be better than the ultimate Ooni Pro 16 and it definitely was!
The build quality and insulation on this one are so much better than the Pro 16, that it definitely feels worth the money.
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You can still buy the 12-inch Ooni pizza ovens but if you want the same features on a larger pizza oven to cook more food for more people.
Then you can choose the 16-inch options.
Along with its ability to switch to different fuel types, some new features were added to this pizza oven compared to the smaller version, so we will discuss those here in this review.
Setting Up the Karu 16
Let’s start with how you can set up the Karu 16 so you can soon get started with cooking on it.
These are the items you get inside the box-
- Ooni Karu® 16 Oven main body
- ViewFlame™ glass oven door
- Cordierite pizza stones
- Ooni Karu 16® chimney
- Chimney cap
- Burner tray & grate
- Draft Defender Plate
- Fuel hatch
- Digital thermometer
- Essentials guide
Like most portable pizza ovens on the market, this multi-fuel pizza oven does not need a lot of assembling.
You can get the Ooni Karu 16 gas burner attachment and it works amazing as a gas-fueled pizza oven.
It is a pretty large pizza oven but one person can handle assembling and setting it.
The chimney and the doors do need to be secured to tighten all the screws.
There are also the iconic foldable legs that can make this pizza oven even more portable.
Secure the hinges on both the doors and the chimney by tightening them.
Once you do that, you can set the pizza oven anywhere you would like but keep it on a sturdy surface.
Although it is not heavy, the pizza oven needs to be set on a durable table and make sure that the weight of the pizza oven is tolerable by the surface you put it on.
You can also do many things to improve the performance of the pizza oven.
Make sure to always use the legs when cooking so it does not burn the table you use.
From there, make sure you have all the fuel you want to use ready and set your pizzas.
Cook them with the pizza oven and you will be having a large meal with the pizza you cooked in it.
It is one of the easiest pizza ovens to use so there is no need for you to learn any new tricks with this pizza oven.
So let us see what it can do with its features and performance.
Build Quality of Ooni Karu 16
Just like most Ooni pizza ovens, the Karu 16 has high-quality and heavy-duty materials also it has a larger size compared to the Ooni Karu 12.
That means that you can leave them anywhere and it will not degrade too easily.
This specific model from Ooni has carbon steel, a very durable material that improves the cooking prowess of the pizza oven and makes it resistant to weather.
What I mean by that is that the interiors are very well-protected from rain, sunlight, insects, animals, and other factors that might look to damage it when you leave the oven outdoors.
Aside from the already durable material used to make this pizza oven, it also has powder-coating, which means that it is perfect for cooking no matter the weather outdoors.
There are many things that you can do with this pizza oven outdoors.
You get to use it even when it is raining as it will not corrode or develop rust making it perfect for outdoor use.
I must mention that it would be best if you use a pizza oven cover on the Karu 16 when you are not using it.
The powder coating of the pizza oven also helps ensure that the inside parts are not largely affected by the weather outside. That means it can help in retaining the heat inside it.
Although this pizza oven has three pretty secure legs in keeping the oven balanced, I would prefer if there are four, so the pizza oven is more stable, especially at the back part.
Cooking Area in the Karu 16
This pizza oven’s main feature is the cooking area and the extra space included in the pizza oven to cook large pizzas. You will be able to make pizzas for large groups.
The Ooni Karu 16 dimensions allow you to make a 16-inch restaurant-quality pizza inside this oven and it would be an understatement to say that this oven whips pizza within a few seconds.
The high heat and cooking temperatures inside the Ooni Karu pizza oven help it make restaurant-quality pizza or a true Neapolitan pizza.
Since it is a multi-fuel pizza oven, you can get the Ooni Karu 16 gas burner attachment and convert it into a gas-fueled oven.
I have felt that the pizza oven works way faster with the dedicated Ooni Karu 16 gas burner attachment so do use it in case you buy one.
The Ooni Karu 16 gas burner attachment is something you need to fix on the oven, and it is pretty easy to do.
Now, with the Ooni Karu 16 dimensions and its cooking area made from cordierite pizza stone, you will be able to make the best pizzas with the crispiest crusts ever time.
This material deals with the moisture on the pizza giving you the perfect crispy crust that hits your sweet spot.
This simply means that if the dough you use has extra moisture on it, the pizza stone helps in vaporizing the moisture so that the dough can turn into one of the crispiest pizza crusts you had.
This pizza stone is decent with a 15-millimeter thickness which means it can absorb, retain, and release heat properly.
Your pizza crust will always cook with a nice and balanced color.
The pizza you place in this pizza oven cooks with the help of the firebox and the radiating heat that the stone produces inside the pizza oven’s cooking chamber.
There is a fuel-efficient air flow and a temperature display at the bottom of the pizza oven but if you want to know the surface temperature, you can get an infrared thermometer.
This also means that the pizza you cook inside the pizza oven does not need to be turned, although I would still recommend managing it manually as it can burn on one side.
New Features in Ooni Karu 16
You will see A LOT of new good changes that Ooni has made on this pizza oven especially when you compare it to the other pizza ovens that Ooni sells.
As you can see, there is the thermometer at the front of the pizza oven. This time Ooni has placed it more strategically as it is at the bottom of the door which means that you can see the temperature.
The thermometer is digital and Ooni includes the battery for it.
It is easier to read than an analog thermometer and it gives you the temperature both in Celsius and Fahrenheit readings.
The Karu 16 has a door at the front which means it can retain more heat.
The door is way better than the ones on all the Ooni Pizza Ovens combined, loved the insulation and everything.
The door has its vents so there is no locked air or pressure inside the pizza oven and helps in circulating the heat and preventing soot from gathering inside the pizza oven itself.
The Ooni Karu 16 dimensions is considerably larger than Ooni Karu 12 pizza oven.
The door has Ooni’s first ViewFlame feature, a hinged glass door that allows you to keep the temperature even in the pizza oven while also seeing fully inside it.
The newly engineered design of the chimney gets you to control the temperature through airflow with two different adjustments. This gets you to a more precise temperature.
Cooking In The Ooni Karu 16
Cooking in the Ooni Karu 16 is fun and you can literally cook anything inside this pizza oven.
Since the Ooni Karu 16 dimensions are larger you can cook anything inside the oven.
You can choose to get the Ooni Karu 16 gas burner attachment and this pizza oven works as a gas fueled pizza oven.
If you have used the first Karu 12 pizza oven, you would have no problem with this new and larger pizza oven.
This oven is perfect for cooking Neapolitan pizzas with leopard spots in under 60 seconds.
Although this pizza oven has a hotter maximum temperature at 950 degrees Fahrenheit, you still cook almost the same as the older model since I can finish cooking in only 60 seconds.
The pizza oven reaches the ideal temperature to cook pizza within 15-20 minutes depending on what you are using as a fuel.
There is also less hassle with this pizza oven since it can help you from beginning to end.
It has a large cooking space so you can cook pizzas for large groups of people at parties.
The pizza stone helps create the perfect crust, which makes it great for making your pizza always crispy.
You can make the best pizzas with the best toppings and crust on this pizza oven.
You can also switch to other types of fuel with this pizza oven.
Right out of the box, you can use this pizza oven with either wood or charcoal to produce that authentic flavor added to the pizza.
If you run out of those two, you can switch to the gas option, but you need to buy the Ooni Karu 16 gas burner attachment sold separately.
Overall, this pizza oven is one of the best ovens that can cook a perfect pizza.
It is very easy to use and it can maintain its temperature for a better result on your pizza toppings and crust.
Cleaning And Maintenance
This pizza oven can reach high temperatures, I recommend pyrolyzing the dirt and food residues inside it.
There can be leftover food residuals inside the pizza oven after a cooking session.
This is perfect since the pizza oven also has a pizza stone that does not do too well with water.
So to clean it, you need to heat it and bring it to the maximum temperature it can reach.
Let it burn for at least an hour so that the food residuals burn to a crisp and once the pizza oven cools down, you can easily remove them by brushing them off.
Always remember to clean the pizza oven after every use.
Use a cover when you leave it outside or bring it inside and store it inside a safe storage area.
Ooni Karu 16 Review- Final Thoughts
Once you have all it figured out, remember to make sure to add your pre-orders on Ooni’s website and make sure that you get your own Ooni Karu 16 before it runs out.
I think everyone is going to love using this pizza oven with all the new useful features added by Ooni.
Ooni has its own wood pellets pizza oven like the Ooni Fyra but the Oooni Karu uses wood which in my opinion is better since it lasts for quite sometime before you need to refuel.
This pizza oven will be the favorite of many because of its amazing features that you cannot find in any other pizza oven made by other companies.
The Ooni Karu 16 dimensions make it a pretty large pizza oven but sticking to the culture, Ooni still made this pizza oven portable.
This is going to be your favorite to make the best pizzas on, it does come with a learning curve but once you master that you can make a delicious pizza in a short time.
Ooni pizza ovens are perfect for a pizza party and they make the best homemade pizza ever. Getting the pizza oven to a lower temperature can be a task if you are using this advanced technology for the first time but overall there is an ease of use making it perfect for domestic use.
The Ooni Karu 16 release date was somewhere later this year in 2021 for US and European countries. If you live in Australia then the Ooni Karu 16 release date is somewhere around March 2022.
So Ooni Karu 16 arrived earlier in other parts of the world and you can get Ooni Karu 16 for sale on its official website.
IN countries like Australia you get Ooni Karu 16 for sale on third-party websites but they are still authentic. You can get the Ooni Karu 16 for sale in other countries through third-party vendors and websites.
As of now, the Ooni website shows the Ooni Karu 16 for sale only in the US and European countries.
I hope this review was helpful and if you want to share your experiences with the Ooni Karu 16 then go ahead and leave a comment. It helps the readers.
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