00:00Today we're testing out the Ooni Coda 2 pizza oven. This is the 14-inch version and this is
00:05the latest of Ooni's gas-powered pizza ovens. Here we've got some upgrades to the original
00:11Coda that you might have at home or maybe you ended up on this video because you're looking
00:16to make your very first pizza oven upgrade and you want to know if the Ooni Coda 2 is right for
00:22you. I've got the oven fired up, I've got pizza ingredients ready to go, so let's find out if
00:27this is worth the buy. This honest to God has to be the easiest pizza oven I've ever had to set up
00:34but I've seen with some other pizza ovens that you actually have to screw on the legs but nope with
00:40the Coda 2 these are already attached. You just got to flip them out and the one last thing we got to
00:46do is pop in a battery for the ignition. The pizza stone is going to add some weight in terms of
00:51portability but it's still not too bad. We're just going to slide it in and it should drop in
00:59just like that and be level with the pizza oven's edge right here. Now full disclosure in this video
01:06I'm using a glass table. Do not do that. I only did it because the lighting was great and this is just
01:12what I had for this day in particular but yeah glass or plastic generally a big no for pizza ovens. You
01:18want a stable heat safe surface. Just be mindful things get pretty hot. This is a gas grill so you're
01:25either going to want to get a dedicated propane tank but you also have the option to get a model that can
01:31hook up to a natural gas line in your home if you have one. Me personally I don't go out and buy a whole
01:36separate propane tank for my pizza oven. I just kind of swap between my grill or griddle whatever I'm using
01:41and then bring it over when I'm ready for pizza night. It's pretty easy to switch them back and forth.
01:45Speaking of heat, this oven moves. It features a new patent-pending tapered flame gas burner system
01:52that apparently delivers 200% better heat distribution than the previous gen COTA oven.
01:58We gave it just under 20 minutes to preheat and that was more than enough. I used a temperature gun
02:02to track the stone and we were in fact getting a nice even heat across the base. But if this is your
02:08first time using the COTA 2 or any pizza oven really, give that stone plenty of time to heat all the way
02:14through. Honestly, consider a longer preheat at the start just to really break it in. You'll thank yourself
02:19when you launch your first pie.
02:21One of my colleagues who's also very big into his pizza oven, about a year ago he did a video where he tested
02:29whether he can get his pizza from delivery faster or if he can use his Ooni pizza oven and make a pizza from
02:35scratch faster. And he gave me a really great lesson in that video that you should go check out, but it's
02:41about the sauce. Don't overdo the sauce was his tip for people who are making pizza at home for the first time.
02:48And honestly, it's helped me greatly. We're going to make a simple margarita style pie. Do we like basil on our pizza?
02:56Let me know in the comments. Going in. I'm not walking away from my pizza. I know that this is going to cook
03:06in about 90 seconds. If you don't turn it properly, it will burn on one side. And I do think a good amount
03:12of people who are going to end up on this video are looking for their first pizza oven purchase. I'm telling
03:16you, you're going to burn a couple of pies as you're learning with an outdoor pizza oven. So just do some
03:22practice. Make sure you're watching it. Get even with it. And just like that, we can see that the back of the
03:28oven is a little bit warmer. So we're going to make sure that all of our pizza gets a little bit time back there.
03:37Phone eats first, obviously.
03:40This is more of a 12-inch pie. I'm not measuring my pizza with a ruler, but I'm going to try going to a bit more
03:45of a 14-inch because this is Ooni's first 14-inch oven. For this one, we're doing a favorite in my
03:51household, and that is barbecue chicken. Now let's talk about size. One of my favorite updates here
03:57is the 14-inch interior capacity. It hits that sweet spot between the classic 12-inch and the larger,
04:04more cumbersome 16-inch models. It still feels totally portable. I didn't struggle to move it
04:09around with it weighing 35 pounds. And the added space makes a big difference in what kind of pizzas
04:14you can make. I think depending on the grill you have, the footprint might even be small enough to
04:18perch it on one of the side shelves. There we go. Nice, easy launch. That's just to say I'm convinced
04:25that 14 inches is the sweet spot for an entry-level pizza oven. There's also an Ooni Kota 2 Pro 18-inch
04:32version that costs $749, so $300 more for the option to make even bigger pizzas or possibly even cook
04:40something else alongside a pizza. But at that point, I might suggest the Kota 2 Max for $1,200.
04:46It's huge, it's super versatile, a really epic pizza oven overall.
04:54Can you see under there? That leoparding right there is exactly what we're looking for. That
04:59means that the pizza stone is properly preheated, say that 10 times fast, doing its job and making
05:04sure that the bottom of the pizza is cooking at the same rate as the top, which is going
05:09pretty freaking fast. Look at that already. Damn. So I'm going to turn the heat down just a little bit
05:17because while the stone's nice and hot, I'm realizing that the top of my ingredients are burning a little
05:22bit. And I think there's kind of two factors at play here. Maybe the heat is just a little too high for
05:27the pies that I'm cooking. But also, I'm noticing that there's not a huge amount of space between the
05:33stone and the top of the oven compared to some of the other pizza ovens you'll find out there.
05:39It also limits what you can actually cook in the oven. This oven is very pizza specific,
05:43I would say. You're probably not roasting a chicken or throwing a big cast iron pan in there.
05:48It just doesn't have the space. So yeah, amazing for pizza, not super versatile beyond that.
05:53But if pizzas are what you're here for, it absolutely gets the job done.
05:56If you take anything away from this video, besides for the review of the actual pizza oven, of course,
06:02it's that hot honey is the most underrated pizza condiment out there. Not sponsored by Mike's Hot
06:09Honey. Wish we were. That would be my dream collab. But we got regular hot honey or we got extra hot.
06:14I haven't seen this one before, so I think I want to go in with this one on top of our pepperoni pie.
06:20You might see some pizza places refer to this as the bee sting because honey hot bees get it,
06:26love it. We're gonna put it on our pizza. You know, disclaimer, taste is gonna depend on the type
06:32of dough and ingredients that you use. I think if you follow some of the recipes that we did in here,
06:37you'd be on a good way. But getting good dough, that is key.
06:42Oh yeah. Ooni actually recently came out with a stand mixer specifically for making pizza dough at
06:49home. Just a little bit more easy. You don't have to do any of the kneading. That thing takes all the
06:53work out of it for you. I'll make sure to link that in the description in case you're interested.
06:58Sunny day, fresh pizza, hot honey. There's really nothing better than this.
07:03I would say that the Ooni Coda 2, the 14 inch version, was a needed addition to Ooni's pizza oven
07:10lineup. A couple of upgrades go a long way and the fact that this is still portable makes it the perfect
07:16arrival in time for summer. I know I mentioned it a couple times in this video, but I would say this
07:21oven really is geared towards first time pizza oven users. But if you do already happen to have an
07:26oven like this, drop your favorite pizza making tips in the comments. Let's have a conversation
07:31and help each other on our pizza making journeys, okay? Also let me know if you've enjoyed all the
07:36outdoor cooking videos this year on the channel so far. I'd love to do more of them and subscribing
07:41and turning on those notifications would really help with that. I appreciate you for checking out
07:45this video. It's dinner time for me, so I'm going to go enjoy some of the fruits of my labor.
07:51Thanks for watching. I'll catch you next time.
08:05It's so rude of me to be talking and eating.
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