Uuni 2S Pizza Oven

A little Uuni company history:

The original Uuni pizza oven was launched on Kickstarter back in 2012. The very next year the company was founded by Kristian Tapaninaho and Darina Garland. The company was formed around Tapaninaho’s invention of the worlds first portable and affordable wood-fired oven used for cooking pizzas and other foodstuffs suitable for high temperature baking. Since then the company has launched a new version of the oven the model Uuni 2 and in 2016 it came out with the 2S version. In early 2017 the company also came out with the Uuni 3 model. As you can see this company is constantly evolving and innovating which is amazing to see. This actually shows us that they are constantly making there products better for us end users. 

I was introduced to the Uuni pizza oven from a local friend of mine here in Halifax. I then decided to purchase one to see what the hype was all about. I got mine new from add on Kijiji be-leave it or not lol.

This portable wood fired pizza oven was design for home chefs and backyard grillers in mind. The Uuni 2S is an evolutionary and innovating step above the previous Uuni 2 model. Its is made of very good quality brushed stainless steal which will last for many year of constant use. It will keep weathering after each use.  It also comes with a pizza stone and pizza peel. The Uuni 2S was evolved based from the previous years Unni 2 model with the following modifications:

1. now includes a pizza stone made of cordierite stone;
2. they added a flame keeper which helps the Uuni to run hotter by using less fuel by keeping the heat more in the center of the pizza oven;
3. it now has better legs/feet;
4. improved pellet burner;
5. it now includes a chimney cap.

When you receive your Uuni 2S you will see that lots of care when in its packaging to protect it during shipping and handling.

The Uuni 2S Box

 Inside the box you will first see box containing the pizza stone

 Underneath you will see the components of the Uuni 2S

 

 Components removed from the box. As you can see so far lots of care went into the packaging. 

As you can see they were very intuitive in packaging all the components. 

 

Back view

 components all removed from inside the oven

The assembly of the Uuni 2S was surprisingly very simple and easy. It took me about 10 to 15 minutes to assemble. It could of got assemble a lot quicker if actually followed the instructions which are actually quite easy to follow and you didn't need engineering degree to understand them which I was very impressed with. The Uuni 2 was very sturdy when fully assemble which actually impressed me and my wife quite a bit. Underneath the oven near back leg there's actually a holster built in to store your Allen key use to assemble the unit which I was surprised to find. Here's how you assemble the unit:

Assembly:

Step 1 

Unfold the Uuni 2S legs underneath the oven then place unit on its legs;

Step 2

Slide the inner piece inside of the top part of the oven;

Step 3

Place the hopper cover over the back hold an line up the bolt holes and fasten both short bolts to secure it in place;

Step 4

Install the wooden handle on the pellet hopper with two long bolts then slide the hopper in place inside the hopper cover;

Step 5

Insert the pellet grate inside the rectangular hole in the back of the oven;

Pellet grate

Step 6

Insert the pizza stone inside the bottom part of the Uuni;

Step 7

Install the chimney on the front top round hole and flip tab on chimney bottom to insert and secure chimney in place by tightening bolt on the tab;

Step 8

Install flame keeper by sliding it inside the top part front of the oven. It sits inside on top of the inner;

 

Step 9

Install the L bracket on the oven door and secure with short bolt then install the wooden handle on the door L bracket using the two long bolts;

Step 10

Place pellet scoop on top of the pellet hopper;

Step 11 

Place the protective cap on top of the chimney  (this cap is used to choke/kill the fire when done);

Instead of re-inventing the wheel I decided to provide the assembly video made by the Uuni company itself so you can better visualize how easy this wood fire pizza oven assembly actually is.

Source: YouTube produced by Uuni

The Uuni 2S weighs approximately 23.5 LBS fully assembled. It measures W 14.5" × L 19" × H 27" inches with the legs extended and fully assemble.  The maximum pizza size is about 12.5” in diameter and they recommended in making your pizza 12" for ease of use.

Length of the Unni 2S

 Width of the Unni 2S

 The height of the Uuni 2S when fully assembled and ready to use.

Length of pizza stone

 Width of the pizza Stone

 Thickness of the pizza stone

Main components of the Uuni 2S:

Grate/Burner

The burner, is located at the back of the pizza oven. It is meant to hold the wood pellets while they’re lit and to allow the ashes to fall out of the burner.  This burner is design to keep the fuel in one place. Its well designed and comes with a nice big Uuni company logo.

The flame keeper

The flame keeper sit inside of the pizza oven on top of the inner, which is an angled piece of stainless steel that creates a pocket to keep the flame and heat from escaping through the front of the oven. Its basically designed to allow the oven to run hotter by using less fuel by keeping the heat more in the center of the pizza oven;

Pellet hopper

The hopper is located at the back end of the top of the unit. It is used to keep a stack of wood pellets in reserve so that they’re automatically fed down into the burner, as they’re needed. This allows you to cook your pizzas without needing to worry about refueling. However, do to keep a close eye one the level of the pellet supply in the hopper to ensure you have enough pellets and that you don't run out during a cook or have the fire die on you.

The front oven door

The Uuni 2S door has a nice wooden handle on it to protect your hands from getting burnt. Its strongly recommended to have a heat resistant surface that you can place hot door on when removing to insert or turn pizza in the oven. The door is extremely well built with a nice large Uuni logo. It also uses a slot on top of the oven to keep the door secure while in use. 

Pizza stone

The pizza stone is made of cordierite stone which is porous nature which helps absorb moisture, resulting in a crispy crust. It also helps the oven in maintaining its heat. Never wash your pizza stone. Just scrape and brush the debris off and that's it. 

Pizza peel

The peel is a tool used to slide your pizzas goods into and out of the Uuni oven. It is made of stainless steal and fits perfectly inside the Uuni 2S

The Unni 2S wood fired pizza oven works by burning wood pellets. This unit will cook pizza at temps of 900 °F and takes approximately 120 seconds to cook a 12" pizza. Bare in mind that you have to rotate the pizza every 20-25 seconds or so to get even cook.

Lighting the Uuni 2S:

Lighting the Uuni 2S is pretty easy all you need to do is use the scoop and fill the grate/burner with wood pellets used for BBQing. Never, never use wood pellets used for heating your house with since they are not the same and they contain chemicals.

Now place the full grate back in its slot in the back of the oven and take a torch and light the pellets through the holes of the Uuni Logo.  You can also use lighting cubes but it takes a little bit longer to lit but I personally find that using a torch is the easiest and quickest method.  Never use lighting fluid!

Ounce the pellets are lit fill the pellet hopper with pellets. It takes approximately 10-15 minutes for it to get at the desired pizza cooking temp. Also during the cooking process and warming up process keep a close eye on the pellet hopper to ensure you don't run out of wood pellet. I strongly recommend using a laser thermometer for checking the Uuni pizza oven temperature since this unit does not have a thermometer fitted unfortunately.

Okay it took me about 18 minutes to get my Uuni 2S pizza oven up to temperature. The first couple of pizza's I had a little bit of issues figuring out how much flour to put on the pizza peel to prevent the pizza from sticking to the peel so that it would slide off with ease. Also the first pizza I waited too long before turning which caused it to burn pretty good on one side. A point you have to remember is that the heat is much greater in the back of the oven this is why its imperative to turn you pizza around every 20-25 seconds. Now that I have that technique mastered its actually quite easy to use and to cook on. It took average of 70-95 seconds per pizza to cook to perfection. I made all my pizza to 10" which was the perfect size for my kids. I ended up cooking twelve pizza on the Uuni and was quite impress with the results each time. 

What I truly loved about the Uuni pizza oven was the unique wood burn flavor that it gave to your pizza which was amazing! If you plan in cooking lots of pizza's using the Uuni pizza oven I strongly recommend in getting a couple of extra pizza peels. The reason I say this is that you can only prep one pizza at a time using one peel. If you have more then one then you can prep a few at ounce to expedite the cooking process for your guess. Also this gives the opportunity of your guests to create there own pizza. If you only have one peel it can be a time consuming task. 

Ounce I was done using the Uuni and it was completely cooled down it was quite easy to clean. All I needed to do is scrape off and brush off the burnt pizza spillage on the stone. Then I simply vacuum away the ashes left behind by the burner with my shop vac. After this process I simply wiped down my Uuni with a damped cloth. The cleaning process is that easy folks. 

For making my dough for the pizza used for this review I used this basic pizza dough recipe found on the Uuni website:

CLASSIC PIZZA DOUGH RECIPE

Here's a couple of useful dough making video created by the Uuni company:

Source: YouTube produced by Uuni

Source: YouTube produced by Uuni

Conclusion:

If your a big pizza fan like me and enjoy eating lots of pizza. I strongly recommend the Uuni 2S pizza oven. It makes perfect flavorful pizza each and every-time. The oven is very cost effective at $300 and its one of the best pizza oven you will ever own. Its also worth its weight in gold! I also love the fact that its very portable and that it uses wood pellets which are readily available every where. Your friends and family will definitely love your pizza nights using the Uuni 2S! I definitely give the Uuni 2S a 5 star out 5 star hands down. This little pizza oven totally impressed my entire family whit the results of each pizza made. You can also cook all type of food and you can also bake pastries inside the Uuni pizza oven making it a very versatile oven. 

The Unni company website can be found here: Unni