Big Green Egg vs. Wood FIred Oven

ttony604

hi guys,
Lurking & learning a lot. I love my Large & Mini-max eggs but started looking into pizza ovens / wood fired burning ovens.
What is the difference in terms of resulting food cooked on the egg vs a wood fired oven?  I know that for some pizza ovens they can reach 900F which is generally harder to do on the egg but besides that, is a wood fired oven just different for cooking potatoes, chicken, fish, baked goods?  Just curious, wondering if its worth investing into a Pizza Party oven or a zio ciro pizza oven which seems to be the same but cheaper version of Jamie Oliver's pizza oven sold in the UK mostly.

Thanks!!
Tony

Hans61

I like my egged pizzas - i guess it depends how important pizza is to you, folks around here say bge isn't the best pizza oven out there, but it is a good one- 

Carolina Q

A BGE is NOT a wood fired oven. It just isn't. If you are expecting one, you will be disappointed. In fact, IMO, a BGE is no better than your kitchen oven when it comes to pizza. Once I realized that, I stopped using the egg for pizza. Been 3-4 years now, Oven only...much easier and every bit as good. I would use a WFO if I could afford one. Or a Blackstone. But not an egg.

Welcome to the madness!!

bigbadben

For pizzas I know many people like the blackstone pizza oven. 

Keep in mind combustion is complete over about 600 F so fuel choice doesn't matter. 

smokeyj

I wanted a wfo but settled with a black stone pizza oven. If my B.S. ever died I would not hesitate buying another. Best pizza I ever made.  

Focker

The hardcore pair a BS with their WFO, and cannot tell a difference in end product, except not having to spend hours tending a fire to warm up their oven.

Focker

The biggest difference is bake time.
The quickest I could get a pie off the egg was 3 min.  That was wide open at peak of the lump burn.  All it takes is 1 min or so on the BS.

The 10 min bakes will put out a purdy pie jacked up in the dome, but lack in spring and chewy texture.  The crust ends up being overbaked, way too hard IMHO.

I don't regret egging pies, and will do it every now and again, but there are much better options as you learn.

ttony604

Thanks for your thoughts. In my research I found that Pizza Party ovens rise to 900F quickly around 30mins and also cools more quickly vs other heavier more insulated ovens like the Jamie Oliver or the Zio Ciro made of clay that retains heat upto 6 hours. To complement my Eggs, the Pizza Party seems more suitable, I don't really need heat retention features when we have the great Eggs!! =]

cheeaa

Its not a wood fired oven but i gotta disagree 1 billion percent that the oven is as good of a pizza cooker as the egg. Its not even debatable, at my house anyway. The egg puts out some pretty damn good pizza

Why couldnt you just use all wood in the egg to cook it though? I bet it would be pretty close. I never thought about it

McStew

getting the popcorn ready now  

fljoemon

I have a Weber Kettle, so I bought a KettlePizza attachment to make pizzas on it. A fairly decent approximation of a Wood Fired Oven at a much lesser cost.

DMW

The egg does a decent job at pizzas. However, since I got my Blackstone pizza oven, the only time since I've egged pizzas was at Eggfests.

Jeremiah

I've found my egg pizzas are much better when using pine wood chunks. I make sure it's well seasoned, and debarked. For an extra authentic flavor I use the bark and scatter it over the fire once the pizza is on. 

SciAggie

ttony604 said:

What is the difference in terms of resulting food cooked on the egg vs a wood fired oven?

I'll throw in my opinion with a disclaimer - I don't own a wfo - although I will be installing one in the spring. I'll work on the "resulting food" angle more than pizzas. 
I expect pizzas to account for 10% of what I cook in my wfo. I expect to roast, bake, and warm more than cook pizzas. The oven I have in mind (Forno Bravo Casa2G 90) will have more real estate than my large. I feel it will complement rather than compete with my egg. I will say honestly also that I just WANT a wfo - I could give a flip that it's a bit of troublle to fire up. I don't know if that adds to the conversation, but there you are anyway. 

Carolina Q

cheeaa said:

Its not a wood fired oven but i gotta disagree 1 billion percent that the oven is as good of a pizza cooker as the egg. Its not even debatable, at my house anyway. The egg puts out some pretty damn good pizza

Yes, you can get a reasonably good pie from an egg. One of these actually came from my egg. The rest from my oven. It's all in the wrist.

Focker

"Not even debatable." Hahahahahahaha

HeavyG

smokeyj said:

I wanted a wfo but settled with a black stone pizza oven. If my B.S. ever died I would not hesitate buying another. Best pizza I ever made.  

The Blackstones are great (I have one) but they will never be able to make an authentic Neapolitan pizza. Need a wood fired oven for that.

DMW

Carolina Q said:

cheeaa said:

Its not a wood fired oven but i gotta disagree 1 billion percent that the oven is as good of a pizza cooker as the egg. Its not even debatable, at my house anyway. The egg puts out some pretty damn good pizza

Yes, you can get a reasonably good pie from an egg. One of these actually came from my egg. The rest from my oven. It's all in the wrist.

Yeah, but you have a Franken-oven.

smokeyj

HeavyG said:

smokeyj said:

I wanted a wfo but settled with a black stone pizza oven. If my B.S. ever died I would not hesitate buying another. Best pizza I ever made.  

The Blackstones are great (I have one) but they will never be able to make an authentic Neapolitan pizza. Need a wood fired oven for that.

Just curious, why do you say they can't make an authentic Neo pie? Bakes at the temps you need to bake a neo pie at.

I don't try making authentic neo pies.

Focker

smokeyj said:

HeavyG said:

smokeyj said:

I wanted a wfo but settled with a black stone pizza oven. If my B.S. ever died I would not hesitate buying another. Best pizza I ever made.  

The Blackstones are great (I have one) but they will never be able to make an authentic Neapolitan pizza. Need a wood fired oven for that.

Just curious, why do you say they can't make an authentic Neo pie? Bakes at the temps you need to bake a neo pie at.

I don't try making authentic neo pies.

LP, needs to be a WFO with specific dimensions, criteria, deck temps etc etc.  Not everyone busts out the 11pg AVPN guidelines, using all DOP ingredients, unicorn tears and yeast from Mario Batali's underwear, for dough.

cheeaa

Focker said:

"Not even debatable." Hahahahahahaha

For real. Its night and day. You seriously can't tell a difference? The taste is just way better

BilZol

We enjoy sitting out and making pizzas and calzones and such on the egg. Sure, we could use the oven in the house, but some people cook their shoulders in a crockpot. What fun is that??

Carolina Q

DMW said:

Yeah, but you have a Franken-oven.

True, but lately I've been doing them at "normal" oven temps. With the steel (instead of my old pizza stone) and the oven/broiler method, they turn out great! 550° here... missing the leopard spots on the top of this one cuz I forgot to turn on the broiler. And it STILL looks good!

HeavyG

smokeyj said:

HeavyG said:

smokeyj said:

I wanted a wfo but settled with a black stone pizza oven. If my B.S. ever died I would not hesitate buying another. Best pizza I ever made.  

The Blackstones are great (I have one) but they will never be able to make an authentic Neapolitan pizza. Need a wood fired oven for that.

Just curious, why do you say they can't make an authentic Neo pie? Bakes at the temps you need to bake a neo pie at.

I don't try making authentic neo pies.

One of the rules for a "real" Neapolitan pizza is that it HAS to be made in a wood fired oven.

Admittedly, it's the sort of detail that most people don't care about. Just like most folks call Chicago deep dish a "pizza" - it's not, but again, most people don't care about such distinctions.

smokeyj

Focker said:

smokeyj said:

HeavyG said:

smokeyj said:

I wanted a wfo but settled with a black stone pizza oven. If my B.S. ever died I would not hesitate buying another. Best pizza I ever made.  

The Blackstones are great (I have one) but they will never be able to make an authentic Neapolitan pizza. Need a wood fired oven for that.

Just curious, why do you say they can't make an authentic Neo pie? Bakes at the temps you need to bake a neo pie at.

I don't try making authentic neo pies.

LP, needs to be a WFO with specific dimensions, criteria, deck temps etc etc.  Not everyone busts out the 11pg AVPN guidelines, using all DOP ingredients, unicorn tears and yeast from Mario Batali's underwear, for dough.

I see what you mean. I saw one pdf file on this site with all kinds of info. The water needs to a certain ph level and so much calcium. With the rules they listed I don't see very many people making a true neo pie. http://www.pizzanapoletana.org/eng_chisiamo.php

Carolina Q

cheeaa said:

Focker said:

"Not even debatable." Hahahahahahaha

For real. Its night and day. You seriously can't tell a difference? The taste is just way better

Then you're using your oven wrong. 

HeavyG said:

smokeyj said:

HeavyG said:

smokeyj said:

I wanted a wfo but settled with a black stone pizza oven. If my B.S. ever died I would not hesitate buying another. Best pizza I ever made.  

The Blackstones are great (I have one) but they will never be able to make an authentic Neapolitan pizza. Need a wood fired oven for that.

Just curious, why do you say they can't make an authentic Neo pie? Bakes at the temps you need to bake a neo pie at.

I don't try making authentic neo pies.

One of the rules for a "real" Neapolitan pizza is that it HAS to be made in a wood fired oven.

Admittedly, it's the sort of detail that most people don't care about. Just like most folks call Chicago deep dish a "pizza" - it's not, but again, most people don't care about such distinctions.

A WFO functions differently. Temp is not the only issue. I have done pizza at 900° in my egg. It is NOT the same as any pie I have ever had from a real WFO. It just isn't.

tikigriller

@Carolina Q I am very interested in how you get an oven to produce the smoke flavor of the egg. This is a serious question, not at all trying to sound sarcastic. 

Little Steven

Carolina Q said:

A BGE is NOT a wood fired oven. It just isn't. If you are expecting one, you will be disappointed. In fact, IMO, a BGE is no better than your kitchen oven when it comes to pizza. Once I realized that, I stopped using the egg for pizza. Been 3-4 years now, Oven only...much easier and every bit as good. I would use a WFO if I could afford one. Or a Blackstone. But not an egg.

Welcome to the madness!!

Sacrilege!

Hans61

Guys who compete in Bbq contests aren't so adamant about how there are better smokers than bge - this is pizza - egg does a fine job. Like I said before man, it just depends on how important pizza is to you whether you buy something new, can definitely get it done on what you have

theyolksonyou

I just have this guy deliver when's he's in town playing golf. Best. Pizza. EVER. 

Carolina Q

tikigriller said:

@Carolina Q I am very interested in how you get an oven to produce the smoke flavor of the egg. This is a serious question, not at all trying to sound sarcastic. 

It doesn't produce smoke flavor. But neither does a WFO. When you are cooking a pizza in 90 seconds, as you would be with a true WFO, you are not going to get much of a flavor from your heat source anyway. Which is fine with me.