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Oni Karu 12: One Minute Review
The Oni Karu 12 is a wood/charcoal-burning pizza oven that is an affordable entry point for anyone looking to start making pizza at home.
Like many other budget-friendly offerings, the Karoo 12 won’t lock you straight into a particular fuel type, as Oni has a gas conversion kit for the oven that you can buy at any time for an extra $100/£90/ . AU$189. This flexibility is important for those who aren’t sure whether they want the ease of use of a gas-fired pizza oven or the flavor of a traditional wood-fired smoky oven. This makes it easy to swap between the two for those who want to try both.
The dual fuel equation isn’t the only thing this pizza oven has – it’s got a sleek-looking pressed metal exterior and a cordierite baking stone that heats up to 752°F / 400°C for a perfectly cooked pizza base able to go. minutes.
It has ample insulation which means it only takes five minutes to reheat the stone in the middle of the pizza, but the package also weighs only 26.4 pounds / 12 kg, has folding legs and a detachable chimney which makes it extremely portable if you want to take it camping.
You’ll want to leave some room in the budget for accessories like an infrared thermometer and pizza peel because flipping a loaded pizza and getting the temperature just right can seem impossibly difficult for a novice. Even with the many accessories, this unit is very useful.
Oni Karu 12: Price
- available from 2020
- $299 / £299 / AU$649
The Ooni Karu 12 is one of the more affordable options in the Ooni range. At just $299 / £299 / AU$649, this really is one of the best value portable pizza ovens out there from any brand.
For this you get the original Oni Karoo wood and charcoal burning pizza oven with stone base and chimney. You’ll need this if you plan to leave the pizza oven in your backyard and are happy to use wood or charcoal to make all your pizza, but if you’re new to pizza making, it’s best to start with Very easy to do on gas.
For a more convenient cooking setup, the Karoo 12 gas attachment will have you shelling out $100 / £90 / AU$189. This is a must-have feature if you’re new to pizza ovens, as it makes the unit very easy to control, but the fast and easy gas heating is convenient for frequent users as well.
For portability you’ll want the $40 / £40 / AU$80 Oni Karu 12 Carry Cover, which seals up the smaller kit to make transport easier.
The units are also available to buy in bundles with things like pizza peels, remote thermometers and official cookbooks, all of which make a big difference in the quality of pizza you can make.
• Value Score: 5/5
Oni Karu 12 Specifications
| Max Temperature: | 950ºF / 500ºC |
| Pizza Size: | 12 inch |
| Dimensions: | 31.5 x 15.7 x 30.3-inch (80 x 40 x 77 cm) |
| weight: | 12 kg |
| Cooking Time: | 60 sec (5 min reheat time) |
| Initial Heating Time: | 15-20 minutes |
| Material: | Lightweight insulation, brushed 430 stainless steel |
| Baking stone: | 0.6 in (1.5 cm) thick cordierite |
| Portability: | Folding Legs, Detachable Chimney |
Oni Karu 12 review: Design and features
- Stylish Steel Design
- swivel legs
- Made for 12-inch pizza
There’s a lot to like about the design in the bunch of pizza ovens available, so there’s stiff competition. Still, the Karoo 12 is certainly one of the most stylish looking around… and it’s actually even more attractive to see in person. But it’s not just the sleek Airstream-like pressed studs and polished steel that’s great about the Oni Karu 12, it’s also been really cleverly designed.
The foldable legs are tall enough that this oven can be placed above flammable surfaces without piling on unnecessary bulk, and the chimney can be easily disassembled for compact storage and portability. The 13.2-inch cooking surface is the perfect fit for a medium-sized 12-inch pizza and the pizza stone holds enough thermal mass to cook pizza thoroughly when heated to 752°F / 400°C.
The design provides the ability to swap out the wooden box for a gas attachment that connects to a standard LPG tank so you can heat the oven at the flick of a switch. Although you may lose some authenticity and smoky flavor by giving up the wood, you trade it for much faster setup and easier-to-manage temperature control. Gas heating is a huge bonus for novice pizza makers.
When using this oven as a wood or coal pizza oven, the top hatch makes it easy to add fuel and the chimney baffle gives you some control over how hot the oven gets, but it’s not a perfect science, So expect to spend some time working out when to add fuel to make sure your oven is hot enough.
Oni also has a wide range of reasonably priced accessories, many of which make the pizza-making experience much easier and more rewarding.
• Design Score: 4.5/5
• Features Score: 5/5
Oni Karu 12 review: Performance
- Easy Gas Fired Pizza
- cook 5 pizzas in 30 minutes
- good wood burning capabilities
If you’re new to pizza making, I highly recommend the gas attachment for the Caru 12. To make great pizza, you’ll have to overcome a number of challenges, including everything from making the right dough to making sure it’s cooked. Your raw pizza won’t stick to the crust, so adding complexity to the cooking process will be better when you’re a little more experienced.
Even with the Karoo 12 gas cooking attachment you need to make sure you wait a full 20 minutes to get your baking stone up to at least 752°F / 400°C, then when you put the pizza on So turn off the burner. To cook the topping and the base at the same rate. It will take you a few tries to get a feel for this balance but the temperature gauge means it is a manageable process for beginners to learn.
Although it can certainly cook a pizza in 60 seconds, you’ll need some skill to rotate it to cook evenly in that time frame. In practice, it’s probably closer to two minutes for your average home cook, which is really impressive when you’re doing it for the first time. A bit more inconvenient is that it will take at least that long to reheat the stone to the right temperature and probably closer to five minutes, so you’re looking at an output of one pizza every 5-7 minutes. It’s great for making about four or five pizzas for 4-6 people, but if you want professional output you’ll need to look at an oven with a higher thermal mass.
For those who want to venture into the wood-burning territory, you’ll need a bit more patience and skill loading the firebox to get just the right temperature for each pizza. Basically this involves loading new hardwood into the box before each pizza so that the oven is flashed to a temperature as close to 752°F / 400°C as possible. With the coals and hardwood I was using, I could only get the oven to about 650°F/350°C and it drops quickly when you have to remove the front door to turn the pizza, Hence it is difficult to get the base cooked.
It’s a capable wood-fired unit if you’re a traditionalist with a little time and determination, but gas will provide better results for anyone new to pizza making.
• Performance Score: 4.5/5
Should I buy the Oni Karu 12?
| Property | notes | rating |
|---|---|---|
| worth | Very good price (especially for the wooden option). | 5/5 |
| design | Smooth and lightweight. | 4.5/5 |
| features | Multi-fuel, foldable, portability. | 5/5 |
| Display | Great for small quantities of pizza. | 4.5/5 |
Buy it if…
Don’t buy it if…
Also consider…
How I tested the Oni Karu 12
- Test Pizza = 20
- wood and gas
- A range of oni accessories were used
I used the Oni Karu 12 to make over 20 pizzas for friends and family over a few weeks. I used both the gas and wood-fired options over several sessions and was able to test a wide range of Oni accessories, from pizza peels to infrared thermometers.
I packed the Karoo 12 into the waterproof carrying case (sold separately) after each use to test the ease of packing for portability.
i used the recipes of both cooking with oni fire cookbooks (which are good for pizza dough recipes, kneading techniques, and oven tips) and other online recipes and cookbooks.
Read more about how we test
,First reviewed in July 2023,
