If you have followed what we cover here at Technabob a lot, you know one of my favorite things is cooking gadgets. I like to cook. It stems from a childhood with a single mother who worked a lot and didn’t know how to cook anything that wasn’t deep fried or microwaved. I did most of the cooking growing up and learned that kitchen gadgets are cool and cooking outdoors is awesome.

The folks at Uuni have a new outdoor wood-fired oven that is perfect for those who like cooking gadgets and like to cook outside called the Uuni 3.

At a glance you might think that this is only for making pizza, which is the best single use for any cooking gadget honestly. However, you can cook anything inside this oven, from steaks to bread and desserts. Considering pizza has like all the major food groups in one cheesy, crunchy foodstuff, I stuck to that.

The oven arrives with a few little parts you have to assemble. The process for putting together Uuni 3 wasn’t hard, but does take a little time.

After I was done assembling it, I took the oven outside, poured in some of the little wood pellets that Uuni sent along, and fired it up.

To start the pellets I used some of the little paraffin style cubes that I normally use for starting my grill. The first time I used the Uuni I hadn’t clearly understood the directions for lighting and left the cap off the burner that hangs off the back. It was very hard to light when it was set up like that. I eventually got it lit with much cursing and copious amounts of lighter fluid. Shortly after that I resorted to reading the instructions and realized the little lid stays on the pellet hopper.

The second time, I followed the directions and used the lighter fluid alone and had the Uuni ready to cook in about 15 minutes. This thing gets really hot – Uuni says it hits about 900 degrees which means it will cook a luscious, cheesy, crispy pizza in seconds (like 60 of them).

To cook a pizza, you do have to make it smallish to fit inside the Uuni (13-inch max). You make and top your pizza on the included aluminum pizza slider thingy, which is officially called a “pizza peel.” You do have to either put flour or corn meal on that pizza peel or your pizza will not come off. Ask me how I know. I still mourn that ruined pizza.

When I did it right, I used flour because that’s what I had on hand. In future I will use corn meal because I think that will work even better. Once you slide the pizza off the peel onto the cordierite baking stone, you put the cover back on front and it gets to cooking. Don’t walk away because the Uuni cooks pizza fast. Give it a good 30 count, use the peel to get the pizza out of the oven, spin it around so the less cooked side is to the back of the oven and put it back in for another 30 count and you have pizza.

If you have never eaten pizza cooked outdoors in a wood-fired oven, you are missing out. It gets a very crispy texture and has smoky notes that taste fantastic. We had pizza for like three days straight from the Uuni and no one in my house complained.

The Uuni 3 will last a lifetime too, it’s completely made from stainless steel. It has resided uncovered on my front porch for the last several months and has been rained on, sleeted on, and snowed on and it looks just as good as it did when it came out of the box. The Uuni is made to travel with folding legs and a removable chimney. It might be the perfect way to cook if you are car camping or tailgating. Be warned though, it does get extremely hot and you will need to have plenty of clearance from anything flammable around you and allow it to cool completely before moving it.

You will love cooking on the Uuni 3. It’s easy to start (if you follow the instructions), cooks quickly and easily, and is tons of fun. The food that comes out of it tastes great too. The Uuni 3 will cost you $299(USD) with everything included other than the wood pellets. A bag of oak pellets goes for $25, and will give you 8 to 12 hours of cook time.