T’was the day before Thanksgiving, and I got a text from my friend, Alan, that his Thanksgiving plans fell apart and his family decided they wanted to make pizza for Thanksgiving. The only problem is that they don’t have a pizza oven and have never used a pizza oven before.

So… I brought a pizza oven and a few tools over to his house and spent 30 minutes teaching him how to make pizza. Alan and I are also kinda tech nerds, so we recorded the conversation and had it transcribed to share with you. If you just got a pizza oven and want to know how to use it to make amazing pizza – keep reading.

Why Do You Want to Make Pizza?

If you got a pizza oven so that you could spend way more time and energy than needed to make pizzas for Instagram – this is not the article or the website for you.

But, if your main focus is to bring friends and family together with pizza, then we are going to get along just fine!

Best Pizza Ovens for Beginners

I currently have 8 pizza ovens at my house, so which one did I take over to a friend who will be using a pizza oven for the first time without me being there?

In my opinion, the Solo Stove Pizza Oven is the easiest I’ve used right out of the box. So I brought that to him along with the must-have pizza oven accessories:

Perforated metal pizza peel
Bamboo pizza peels
Pizza brush and scraper
Pizza dough proofing box
Semolina flour

Backyard Homemade Pizza Instructions

1. Preparing the Dough

There are many complicated ways to make pizza dough. For people who are more interested in making easy pizza dough that is also delicious, I recommend:

Our Easiest Pizza Dough Recipe
A good store-bought fresh pizza dough

In this case, we went with Trader Joe’s pizza dough – my favorite store-bought pizza dough.

Divide the Dough

For 12-inch pizzas, you want to have dough balls that are at least 200 grams – typically closer to 250 grams.
From what I’ve experienced, most store-bought fresh pizza dough balls are over 400 grams, so you can simply cut them in half and they will be big enough for two 12-inch pizzas.

Form the Dough Balls

Roll the dough “in on itself,” folding the outside toward the inside
Pinch the bottom closed
Roll the dough balls in flour so it’s not sticky

Proofing

Place the dough balls into a proofing box or container
Lightly flour the container so the dough doesn’t stick
Arrange them with slight spacing so they can all double and still fit in
Cover and let rise at room temperature for ~4 hours, or at least 3 hours until doubled in size.

If you are short on time:

Even 1 hour of rising helps
After shaping, let the dough rest 5–10 minutes, stretch, rest again, and it will behave much like fully proofed dough

2. Preparing for Stretching

What Flour to Use

For handling and shaping: all-purpose flour
For dusting the bamboo peel: semolina flour
- Semolina doesn’t burn easily
- It keeps pizzas sliding smoothly on the peel better than

3. Stretching the Dough

Avoiding Common Problems

Allow the dough to reach room temperature before stretching
Cold dough is stiff, tears easily, and is more likely to burn on the bottom
Do not re-ball dough once stretched—it will lose all its trapped air and must be re-proofed from scratch.

Begin with Gentle Pressing

Lay the dough in flour
Press the center outward with your fingertips, pushing air toward the outer edge to form the crust
Flip it over and repeat lightly

Stretching Technique

Gently pull from the center outward while letting the dough slide through your hands.
Hold the dough near the edges and let gravity stretch it.
Rotate like a “steering wheel” to keep it even.
Aim to fill a 12-inch bamboo peel (if using).

Thin spots:

If the dough gets a hole, pinch closed
Thin spots are okay for red sauce, but avoid oil-only pizzas on thin dough – it can soak through to the peel and make it stick

4. Setting Up the Workstation

Using Bamboo Peels

These let multiple people build pizzas at once
Lightly coat each peel with semolina, not regular flour
After stretching dough, place it on the peel and make sure it slides freely
If it sticks, lift the edge, add a touch more semolina, or shake the peel forward/backward until it loosens

5. Preheating the Pizza Oven

Oven Setup

Heat the oven on high for at least 20 minutes.
- If planning on cooking more than 10 pizzas, preheat for at least 30 minutes
After the preheat, lower slightly if needed, depending on your oven’s behavior

The Stone Matters

The first pizza cooks fastest because the stone is hottest
- If it looks like the bottom of the pizza may burn, keep the peel under the pizza until the top of the pizza is cooked
Later pizzas cook slightly slower as the stone loses heat
- If the bottom of pizzas aren’t getting fully cooked, “recharge” the pizza stone by turning the flame up all the way without a pizza in the oven and re-heating the stone

6. Launching the Pizza

Before Launching

Confirm pizza moves freely on the peel
- If the pizza doesn’t slide around when you shake the peel, slide your fingers around the outside edges of the pizza to break up anything sticking
- If it still doesn’t slide around on the peel, you may need to lift up more of the pizza and through some semolina under the pizza.

How to Launch

Place the peel deep into the oven.
Give a confident shake so the whole pizza lands on the stone.
Pull the peel out smoothly

7. Cooking Technique (Turning Method)

General Timing

First pizza:
- First side: ~15–25 seconds
- Turn ¼ rotation
- Next sides: ~10–15 seconds each
Following pizzas: cook slightly longer because the stone cools.
What to Watch For
Dark spots forming too fast → use shorter times or lift pizza closer to the flame to finish top without burning the bottom.
If the bottom is blackening too quickly → cook higher in the oven temporarily.

Finishing

After four quarter turns, evaluate the top.
You can hold the pizza up near the flame to brown the top if needed.

8. How to Fix Problems

If the Dough Tears or a Big Hole Appears

Take it out
Put it back on the peel
Fold the damaged half over the good half = “Recovery Calzone”
Keep cooking—often tastes amazing

If Pizza Falls Apart on the Stone

Remove everything you can
Crank oven back to high for 1–2 minutes
Scrape and brush the stone clean
Turn heat back down
Resume cooking

If Pizza Won’t Slide

Lift edges, add semolina
Shake again
Sometimes, a firm shake with your hand in front helps break a sticking point

9. General Advice & Mindset

Pizza is supposed to be fun
There is always a fix – no mistake ruins a pizza beyond recovery
Don’t be intimidated: every great pizza maker has cooked total disasters
Keep experimenting. Your technique improves every time