FREE THE PIZZA - How To Make Great Pizza In Your Home Oven
  • Home
  • About
    • Press
    • Work With Blaine
  • Pizza Memories
  • Free Sample
  • Blog
  • Pizza Tools
    • Modernist Pizza
    • Peter Reinhart's Detroit Pizza
    • Serhan's Ooni Pizza Ovens
  • Contact
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Video
  • Slice Out Hunger Donations For Los Angeles Wildfire
  • Home
  • About
    • Press
    • Work With Blaine
  • Pizza Memories
  • Free Sample
  • Blog
  • Pizza Tools
    • Modernist Pizza
    • Peter Reinhart's Detroit Pizza
    • Serhan's Ooni Pizza Ovens
  • Contact
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Video
  • Slice Out Hunger Donations For Los Angeles Wildfire

​Saturday Afternoon Pizza Posts 

The Homemade Pizza Blog At Free The Pizza

For a free sample of the Free The Pizza book, click here

Why is Free The Pizza putting the box photo of the Walmart Pizza Oven on this week's blog post and should you run screaming into the night?

4/1/2023

0 Comments

 
walmart outdoor pizza oven
I love getting email from readers of Free The Pizza. Lately, there are all kinds of exciting developments for my pizza newbies. There’s the guy from a restaurant-business family who’s excited to be buying his first pizza steel to replace his pizza stone.
 
There are a couple of portable outdoor oven owners who’ve found value in the “purpose and intent” paradigm of Free The Pizza. It has helped them master their outdoor ovens. (That’s fascinating to me, since I focus on the home oven.)
 
Another pizza newbie was finding his big green kamado cooker to be a lousy pizza oven. After  using my book to crank great pizza out of his home oven, he canceled his order on a $1,200 wood-fired dome oven.
In short, there are all kinds of great things that readers tell me about their respective pizza journeys. So I’m a little bit hesitant to confess my own new step into pizza making nonsense. Ready?
 
I just bought a new pizza oven. “What is wrong with you!?” I’m sure my wife was saying that under her breath when I brought it home. I’m sure if you know me at all, you’re asking me the same question from the other side of this screen. And really, the answer to what is wrong with me is pretty simple.
 
I have a sickness. And it’s not just pizza. It’s compounded by bargain-itis. That’s a clinical inability to pass up a screamin’ deal. And as I was walking through the gardening department at Walmart with a bag of potting soil and I saw the infamous Expert Grill charcoal pizza oven from Walmart ​on sale for $59, it was like grabbing a live chicken by the feet and waving it at a wolverine.
 
I chomped down on that box with my canines. I wrestled it off the high shelf and dragged it kicking and screaming and perhaps even bleeding into my cart. Then, I raced for the self-checkout, the air around my filled with potting soil. (I of course picked the bag with holes in it.)
 
Right now, four hours later, that oven still in the box. It’s been in the house all afternoon, but I’ve not yet unpacked it. That's tomorrow. Today, I’m unpacking and assembling a China Box that’s been in storage for about 15 years. (Don’t ask why. But there’s a big Cuban barbecue party next weekend and I have work to do.) That said, here’s what I already know about the oven.
 
At 15 inches, it makes a bigger pizza than the smallest Ooni. Unlike my older version of the smallest Ooni, which is a pellet-fired 12-inch, this new oven is fired with charcoal. 
 
I also know that at least one user has complained about high heat making a) the paint inside the oven bubble off onto the cooking surface and b) the handle on the door melt. I’m going to assume that does not happen with mine. With only one such complaint from 100+ reviews, there’s a degree of question regarding the complaint's veracity. Still, wouldn’t it be fun to get that bubbling melted plastic limited edition?
 
And I know there’s a good chance this oven will be a pain in the ass to use. I’m not worried about that. I’ve already decided I will hate using this oven. If the reality is different, it will be a pleasant surprise.
 
Either way, I will report about it next week. Because I know that like most pizza geeks who read these turgid tomes, you have Big Questions. You wonder if buying a purpose-built oven will change your game. I can say without reservation that yes, it will—if you buy the right oven and you can endure the hassle.
 
The Ooni did not change my game. I’ve never had enough interest in mastering that tiny, cruel oven. I've used it to make a lot of crappy pizza. 
 
The oven that changed my game was a 1,200-pound Earthstone. That oven cost $7,000, and it still lives inside the house we built around it and then sold many years later. It’s still installed there but I am not.
 
That oven turned pizza night into an 8-hour process. From first lighting the fire to making pizza and sending the last guest home, it was like having a parttime job. The pizza was great, but it was also inconvenient.
 
The home oven remains my favorite oven—in part because I am not a Neapolitan pizza chauvinist. I prefer a structured, American-style pizza that is baked at 550 degrees in a deck oven. And the home oven can be used to approximate that experience.
 
But for 60 bucks, I’m willing to be a guinea pig for the Walmart charcoal pizza oven experience. Is it easier than an Ooni? Will it even work? Will I go over to the dark side and start making Neapolitan pizza like a maniac? Who knows?
 
Stay tuned for the next installment of Walmart Oven Mania, here in the Saturday Afternoon Pizza Posts at Free The Pizza. It will probably not be pretty. (You’ve been warned…)
 
Are you baffled by the journey through basic pizza preparedness? All kinds of pizzamakers (even some experienced ones) are enjoying the guidelines in the fast and funny pizzamaker’s manual, Free The Pizza! (A Simple System For Making Great Pizza Whenever You Want With The Oven You Already Have), which you can find at Amazon by clicking here. ​
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Blaine Parker is the award-winning author of the bestselling, unusual and amusing how-to pizza book, Free The Pizza. Also known as The Pizza Geek and "Hey, Pizza Man!", Blaine is fanatical about the idea that true, pro-quality pizza can be made at home. His home. Your home. Anyone's home. After 20 years of honing his craft and making pizza in standard consumer ovens across the nation, he's sharing what he's learned with home cooks like you. Are you ready to pizza? 

    Archives

    June 2025
    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019

    Categories

    All
    Accidental Calzone
    Aleppo Pepper
    Altoona Pizza
    American Pizza
    Anchovy
    Anchovy Pizza
    Andris Lagsdin
    Apizza
    April Fool
    Artisan Pizza
    Asian Fusion Pizza
    Authentic Pizza
    Award-winning Pizzerias
    Bacon Pizza
    Baking
    Baking Steel
    Bechamel
    Best Cheese For Pizza
    Best Pizza
    Best Pizza Lists
    Bianco
    Bianco Dinapoli
    Books
    Boring
    California Pizza
    California Pizza Kitchen
    Calzone
    Celebrity Chef
    Char
    Cheese
    Cheese Graters
    Cheese Pizza
    Cheese Snob
    Cheesy Pizza
    Chef Victor Krone
    Chicago Style
    Chicken Pizza
    Chickpea Pizza
    Chilis
    Chopped Champion
    Chop Shop Park City
    Christmas Pizza
    Cilantro
    Clam Chowder Pizza
    Cooking Pizza
    Costco
    Courage
    Covid Pizza
    Cpk
    Creative Pizza
    Crushed Red Pepper
    Dan Richer
    Delivery
    Detroit Pizza
    Dianne Jacob
    Diastatic Malt
    Dough
    Duck
    Easy Homemade Bread
    Easy Homemade Pizza
    Fake Meat
    Family
    Famous Pizzerias
    Fancy
    Fast Dough
    Fast Pizza
    Fear
    Fermentation
    Fire
    First Field
    Food Craving
    Food Snobbery
    Free Pizza
    Fresh Mozzarella
    Fruit On Pizza
    Garlic Pizza
    Gift Pizza
    Gluten Free
    Gluten Free Pizza
    Great Homemade Pizza
    Greek Pizza
    Hawaiian
    Hawaiian Pizza
    Healthy Pizza
    Historic Pizzerias
    Homemade Pizza
    Homemade Pizza Dough
    Homemade Pizza Sauce
    Hometown Pizza
    Hot Dogs On Pizza
    Hot Pepper
    Hot Pepper Pizza
    How To Make Pizza
    Imitation Pepperoni
    Indoor Pizza Oven
    Ingredients
    Inspired Pizza
    Inventing Pizza
    Italian Cooking
    Jersey Fresh
    Jersey Tomato Pie
    Joy Of Pizza
    Ken's Artisan Pizza
    Kinds Of Pizza
    Kitchen Safety
    Kitchen Scale
    Kneading Dough
    Koji
    Kristian Tapaninaho
    Launching Pizza
    Leftover Pizza Dough
    Legacy Pizzerias
    Low Moisture Mozzarella
    Making Pizza Round
    Marcella Hazan
    Margherita
    Marinara
    Meatloaf
    Meatloaf Pizza
    Meat Pizza
    Mezzaluna
    Mise En Place
    Mississippi Pizza
    Mistakes
    Mobile Pizza Business
    Modernist Pizza
    Modernist Pizza Review
    Monster Pizza
    Mormon Pizza
    Mozzarella
    Naples
    Neapolitan
    Neapolitan Pizza
    Neo Neapolitan
    Neo-Neapolitan
    New England Pizza
    New Haven Pizza
    New Jersey Pizza
    New York Pizza
    No Knead
    Obituary
    Onions
    Ooni
    Outdoor Pizza Oven
    Outrageous Pizza
    Oven Temp
    Paris
    Park City Pizza
    Parmesan
    Parmigiano Reggiano
    Patience
    Paulie Gee
    Pepperoni
    Pepperoni Pizza
    Peppers
    Peter Reinhart
    Pi Day
    Pineapple On Pizza
    Pizza Around The World
    Pizza Book
    Pizza Charity
    Pizza Cheese
    Pizza Christmas Gifts
    Pizza Classes
    Pizza Competition
    Pizza Cookbooks
    Pizza Crust Pot Pie
    Pizza Cutter
    Pizza-dough
    Pizza Dough Bread
    Pizza-fear
    Pizza-flour
    Pizza-gifts
    Pizza-habits
    Pizza Hacks
    Pizza-hate
    Pizza Holiday Gifts
    Pizza-hut
    Pizza Improv
    Pizza Inspiration
    Pizza-in-strange-places
    Pizza-joy
    Pizza-lust
    Pizza-margherita
    Pizza Marinara
    Pizza-marinara
    Pizza-memories
    Pizza Mistakes
    Pizza-mistakes
    Pizza Not Politics
    Pizza-oven
    Pizza Ovens
    Pizza-party
    Pizza-patience
    Pizza-peel
    Pizza-peeps
    Pizza-pi
    Pizza-pi-vi
    Pizza Politics
    Pizza Quest
    Pizza Questions
    Pizza Recipes
    Pizza Satire
    Pizza Sauce
    Pizza Secret
    Pizza Steel
    Pizza Stone
    Pizza Stuck
    Pizza Styles
    Pizza Think
    Pizza Today
    Pizza Tomatoes
    Pizza Toppings
    Pizza Trends
    Pizza University
    Pizzeria
    Pizzeria Sei
    Poetry
    Politics
    Portland Pizza
    Premium Ingredients
    Prep
    Prime Roots
    Proofing Dough
    Pulled Pork Pizza
    Recipes
    Refrigerator Pizza
    Reinhart
    Rocbox
    Rock & Roll
    Rolling Dough
    Rush
    San Marzano Tomatoes
    Sausage
    Scott's Pizza Tours
    Scott Wiener
    Secret Ingredient
    Secret Pizza
    Serhan Ayhan
    Settebello
    Shrimp Pizza
    Simple Pizza
    Slice Out Hunger
    Soup And Pizza
    Sourdough
    Sourdough Pizza
    Spicy Pizza
    Steel
    Stretching
    Stretching Pizza Dough
    Stromboli
    Styles Of Pizza
    Thanksgiving
    The Joy Of Pizza
    The Zen Of Pizza
    Time
    Timing
    Tips
    Tomatoes
    Tomato Pie
    Tools
    Too Wet
    Torn Dough
    Trenton Tomato Pie
    Tribecca Allie
    Vampires
    Vegetarian Pizza
    Virgin Islands
    VPN
    Weighing Ingredients
    Wet Dough
    Wet Pizza
    White Clam Pizza
    White Pizza
    Why Pizza
    Wine
    Wood
    Wood Fired Pizza
    Wood-fired Pizza
    Yeast

    RSS Feed

Privacy Policy
Terms Of Service
© Copyright 2021-2025. All rights reserved.
As a ShareASale Affiliate and an Amazon Associate, we earn a small percentage from qualifying Amazon purchases at no additional cost to you.
When you click those links to Amazon (and a few other sites we work with), and you buy something, you are helping this website stay afloat, and you're helping us have many more glorious photographs of impressive ​pizza.