Countertop Pizza Oven

Napoli Wood Fired pizza oven is pretty interesting as it seems very similar to that of the Uuni 3 Pizza oven, if you have seen the Uuni 3 Pizza Oven then you would see a lot of similarities between teh two.

In this review, we would talk everything about the Napoli Pizza Oven and how it is slightly better than the Uuni 3 Pizza Oven.

The Napoli Wood Fired pizza oven is perfect for someone who is looking for a portable countertop outdoor pizza oven that would help them make the perfect Neapolitan style pizzas.

The Napoli Pizza oven has some really amazing features and if you are interested in buying an oven that would last you longer then you should definitely consider in investing in this pizza oven.

Design and Build of the Napoli Pizza Oven

The design and the build of the Napoli Pizza Oven are really impressive. The pizza oven is all black in color and it looks like it is made up of premium quality materials.

There is no way that you would feel that the pizza oven is cheap as it has a nice wood fired pizza oven feel to it and the fact that it is all black in color does not show the soot formation that usually happens in pizza ovens due to burning wood inside them.

This really reduces your cleaning efforts as you are not worried about removing all that soot to make your oven look fresh as new.

Apart from that, the oven is pretty spacious when it comes to the wood burning compartment. You easily use wood pellets or just wood sticks and burn it inside the oven.

Different kinds of fuel that you can use…

The pizza oven is not just a wood fired pizza oven but you can also use coal or other fuel sources like propane gas. Yes, you can use a propane gas tank to fuel this pizza oven and you do need a separate gas burner attachment for it.

The gas burner attachment is pretty affordable and once you start cooking pizzas with it, you are going to find that it is definitely a much easier way to cook pizzas.

A gas attachment takes makes controlling the flame a little easier too. However, if you want the smoky wood flavor then you might have to go with wood pellets or just wood as a fuel.

The quality of the pizzas that were cooked…

The pizzas were amazing and you are going to love the way this oven cooks them. It gives a nice crisp and chewy base along with the toppings being cooked to perfection.

Cooking pizzas inside the oven is a learning curve and the first one might come out a little wonky, but once you cook a few pies, you get the hang of temperature control on the oven.

Overall, it is a pretty amazing oven to cook pizzas. You can even cook other dishes from vegetables to meat in a cast iron skillet.

The oven is spacious that way unlike the Uuni 3 in which the opening is so narrow that you cannot insert a lot of other dishes.

The heat regulation inside this oven is pretty good as well especially if you are using the gas burner as it comes with a low, medium and high setting to control the flame.

Do remember to get a thermometer to measure the temperature of the oven so that you do not burn your pizza while cooking it.

Portable and Affordable

The pizza oven is really portable and even though it can be slightly heavy, a single person can move it around making it a perfect choice for someone who is going camping or tailgating.

The pizza oven is affordable as well and you are going to find that it is slighlty cheaper than the Uuni 3 Pizza Oven which is one of the best pizza oven out there.

Looking at all the features this oven has to offer at the given price, it is definitely a really good deal. If not for the Uuni 3 oven, then you can go for Napoli Pizza Oven.

Conclusion

The Napoli Pizza oven is definitely an oven that I would recommend. It can easily cook pies upto 12 inches and you get a pizza cooked within a minute.

The oven is perfect if you are hosting a pizza party or even if you are going camping outside. It is multi-fueled as well so you use wood, wood pellets or coal in order to cook the pizza inside the oven.

For someone who wants to get the oven started pretty quick, it even comes with a gas attachment which would help in getting the pizzas ready quicker without having to chuck in wood pellets every 15 minutes.

Do check out this amazing oven and let us know what you think!

If you already oven the oven then do leave your comments below as it would help our readers!

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There are two types of yeast that you can use in pizza making but in this post, we would be discussing the Active Dry Yeast in detail and how to use it so that you get the perfect pizza dough.

We already have a post on the differences between the Active Dry yeast and Instant yeast so if you really want to know the differences between the two and what they are then do read this post.

Coming back to Active Dry yeast, this is type I personally use while making pizza doughs and to be honest, I like it and find interesting to use it.

However, it did take me some time to figure out how to perfect use it and if you are someone who is using the Active Dry yeast for the very first time then you are going to love all the tips that we are going to discuss below…

So, how does the Active Dry yeast look like?

Active Dry yeast is small granular yeast that you need to dissolve in hot water before you can use to mix it in the pizza dough to get the perfect rise.

The granules are light brown in color and they are larger than the ones you find in instant yeast. Once you dissolve it in sugar water solution, you would see some froth formation.

Then you need to add this to the dry ingredients and mix it. Now, something that you need to be really careful about is the temperature of the water.

Make sure that the water is just lukewarm. If the water is way too hot or cold then the froth would not be produced and you would not be able to get the rise that you need in your dough.

Step by Step instructions on how to use the Active Dry Yeast

1. Take half a cup of lukewarm water. You can put your finger and see if it hurts if your finger hurts then the water is too hot. The water should not be way too hot else the process will just not happen.

2. Now, put one tbsp of sugar and one tbsp of yeast.

3. Stir the mixture and then leave it for 10-15 minutes.

4. After 15 minutes you would see that there is a froth formation. That is when you know your yeast is ready to use.

5. If there is no froth formation after 15 minutes, leave it for another 5 minutes. If there is still no froth formation check if you are doing all the steps mentioned above correctly.

The last option is to see if the yeast that you are using is more than 6 months old. If that is the case then you might want to get a new pack.

Using the active yeast in your dough

Once you have the frothy solution, you mix it with your dry ingredients for the pizza dough and mix them all together till you make your dough.

Now once you are done making the dough, make sure that you set it aside so that the dough rises. You need to give atleast 30 minutes for the dough to rise and once you have, you can get started with making pizzas.

This way you get the perfect pizza dough and when you make the pizza it is going to be nicely done with great texture and taste.

The yeast is really easy to use and once you get the hang of it you are not going to need to look back at this post as your pies would be cooked to perfection.

In the case you have any other information that you want to add, you can include it in the comments below!

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The most common question that is asked is if active dry yeast is the same as instant yeast. If you are a beginner/someone who has just started out making pizzas then this might be a little confusing for you as well.

While browsing recipes on YouTube something that would really confuse me, in the beginning, is the type of yeast that they were using. I thought that instant yeast and active dry yeast were the same.

This resulted in some really useless dough mixtures that I made, that had to be thrown out. However, I re-evaluated all the steps that I was following to make pizza dough and soon realized that the yeast was the issue.

Imagine finding balls of yeast in your dough, it was disgusting. Well, I learned it the hard way so in this post you would learn everything that you need to know about the two types of yeast that are used in making pizza doughs.

1. Active Dry Yeast

This is the kind of yeast that is easily available in stores around me and this is something that I use even today. Active Dry Yeast is something that took me a little time to understand because I used it as instant dry yeast.

Yes, I did the sin of adding it directly to my dry ingredients which is not the right way. The Active dry yeast needs to be activated first and for that, you need to add some dry yeast to lukewarm water.

Make sure that the water is warm enough for you to insert your finger without burning it. This way you can get an idea that the water is not too hot.

I usually add a 1tbsp of sugar and 1 tbsp of yeast to half a cup of warm water. This way the yeast gets all puffed up within a  few minutes.

Now, you can add this to your dry ingredients that you have set aside for making the pizza dough.

The Active Dry yeast will take some time to puff up the dough so once you are done kneading the dough, you might want to give it some 10-15 minutes to rise.

The active dry yeast has larger granules and is slightly brownish in color in comparison to the instant yeast.

You need to set aside the dough after kneading as the yeast takes some time for the dough to rise but with the instant yeast, you do not need to do that because once you finish kneading the dough, the yeast has already done its job.

So, you can instantly start making your pizza dough balls once you are done kneading in the case of the instant yeast.

2. Instant Yeast

Instant yeast has finer granules compared to active dry yeast and you can easily add this to the dry ingredients without dissolving it in lukewarm water first.

Instant yeast is relatively easier to use as you just need to add it with the dry ingredients and you do not have to wait for teh dough to rise after kneading as well.

The dough rises quickly so once you finish kneading you can directly move on to making pizza dough balls.

If you want to make a pizza quickly then going for the instant yeast is going to really help you. If you do not have enough time or patience to wait for the active dry yeast to dissolve in warm water and create the froth, then you should go for instant yeast.

Is the rise and flavor of the dough going to be different?

In my experience, I did not find a considerable change in taste and both the yeast performed equally well. But when you consider teh rise, the active dry yeast does take some time to rise.

I would say it is best to leave it for 30-60 minutes so that the dough can rise and you get the perfect pizza base. The instant yeast does not require this time and it still performs equally well.

So with the active dry yeast, the longer you let the dough sit, the better is the rise.

However, I have been making pizzas using the active dry yeast for quite some time and the extent of rising of the dough after 30-60 minutes, does not affect the taste of the pizza.

So, once you have lt it rise for 30 minutes, teh taste and texture after that is going to remain almost same. So, leave it for 30-60 minutes and you are good.

Is your active dry yeast not creating a froth when dissolved?

The active dry yeast sometimes does not create a froth when dissolved in hot water. If this happens your pizza is just not going to rise.

It would be like flatbread and it really does not taste that great. So, keep these things in mind so that your active dry yeast actually creates the froth that you need for your pizza dough to rise.

1. Take lukewarm water. Too hot water or too cold water will not give the results.

2. Add some sugar.

3. Make sure the yeast you use is fresh and should not be more than 6 months old. Old yeast is not going to create any froth as well.

4. Leave the mixture of water+sugar+yeast for atleast 5-10 minutes to see the froth.

I think I have covered all the things that I needed to related to the active dry yeast and instant yeast. Instant yeast is easier to use but if you live in a place where you get the active dry yeast then you could follow the tips that I have mentioned above.

Either way. if you follow the tips mentioned above then you would get a perfect rising pizza dough that you need in order to make some amazing pizzas at home.

Do try out the tips mentioned above and if you have any questions, let me know in the comments below.

I would usually reply within a day or two so have some patience as well.

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