Hey y’all, I’m Mike (aka ChefDad77)

[ChefDad]

Just wanted to introduce myself! I'm a dad from the Apex, NC (think Raleigh area) who's recently gotten way too deep into the world of homemade pizza—and loving every second of it.

I guess during the pandemic I started my cooking journey, and I love the creativity that making food especially pizzas allow me to. Of course the One Bite everyone knows the rule youtube videos made it seem like good pizza is just everywhere.

Currently I'm just using a home oven - I hope to change that soon with like an ooni or roccbox type of pizza oven.

Being from the South of course you know I had to use some cast iron, and a cheap baking steel sheet I picked up off Amazon during a prime day sale.

I didn't realize there was so much to learn about flour, but I'm still figuring it out.


Excited to be here and learn from folks who've been doing this way longer than I have. Thanks for having me on this promising pizza forum!

 

[BrickOvenBro]

Hey @ChefDad - welcome to the community- love the vibe and appreciate getting the family involved with making pies. Good to see that the South isn't just filled with bbq and biscuits (but I sure do love both, especially with a beer).

I don't think you'd go wrong with an Ooni, as I started on a Koda 16, and use it from time to time, even after I built my own. You can make pies, and cook some awesome meats in there (watch out for flame up).

 

[Yankee Paramotor]

A stand alone pizza oven is one of the coolest things ever for home food prep. A few years ago, my buddy Ben bought an Ooni. I never tried his pizza, but watched him cook some at his house. We'd chatted a lot about how he approached making pizza in it then and again when I finally bought an oven. I ended up spending a lot more for my Gozney system, but wow it's been worth every penny. I have family living near you. I encourage you to step up to dedicated pizza oven soon! Personally, inspired by many trips to Italy, I thought I wanted to scratch build a wood fired oven for decades. Given humidity levels in the south east however, along with issues like seasoned hardwood procurement, ash mess, heat up time, fire risks etc... opted for propane and don't regret it one bit!

 

[Alan]

Welcome to the community!