Cooking pizza in a small Taiwanese oven

[Andrew]

@meishijia

So I’m thinking I’d like to start cooking my own pizza. We don’t have an oven, but I am considering buying one of those small microwave sized ovens to cook pizza amongst other things. Obviously it is not ideal to cook pizza but it’s the best we can do with the space we have. So my questions are:

I’ve made pizza a few times recently in a similar oven (this one). It works fairly well in my opinion, although I think a slightly higher temperature would be better (this oven nominally goes up to 230 °C, but I’m skeptical it has the power and insulation to really reach that temperature, judging from the oven thermometer I put inside). As you say, it’s not ideal, but there’s limited space in my kitchen as well and it works.

I probably wouldn’t try to cook two pizzas at once (as shown in the photo you posted) in an oven so small. Even if they fit, I doubt there’s enough power going in to maintain a high temperature.

@meishijia

Is it actually cheaper to do it yourself after you buy all the ingredients?

It’s probably borderline to slightly cheaper, depending on where you usually buy pizza. Cheese etc. is still pretty expensive though, and it takes a bit more time. I suppose it’s slightly cheaper than Pizza Rock but a fair bit cheaper than Amore Pizza (NT$359 and NT$660, respectively, for the ones I usually get).

@meishijia

Is it easy to buy pizza bases? Do Costco sell them?

I’ve never seen them, but also never really looked. I’ve so far been making my own, and it’s surprisingly easy once you’ve got the hang of it. I usually roughly follow this recipe, with maybe a bit less olive oil (1 tbsp, say – 2 tbsp seemed like too much to me):

The Best Pizza Dough Recipe

I prefer to make rectangular bases rather than circular ones – partly because I ended up with way more dough than I was expecting the first time I made it, but also it’s a better fit for the limited space inside the oven.

I’ve also been making my own tomato sauce from canned tomatoes, tomato paste, garlic, maybe onions, and some fresh herbs grown at home (basil, oregano, rosemary, etc.) – not too complicated either. Several recipes can be found here:

Pizza Sauce recipe (3 versions)

@meishijia

Are there any brands of cheese or tomato sauce that you recommend for making piz

I’m not sure about the cheese. So far I’ve just used pre-grated cheese from PX Mart or a bigger bag from a baking supply store because it’s all I had, but it’s admittedly not the best. I’ll probably pick up some fresh mozzarella and maybe some other cheese the next time I go to Costco, but I haven’t been there for a while to avoid crowds.

The only other topping I’ve used so far is Costco salami (although salami isn’t my favorite). I was thinking about trying/making some other toppings like chicken and meatballs, but I didn’t have the time to try it yet.