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Roccbox Tips, Tricks, Links, and Stuff.

Please note, this site is not affiliated with Gozney, the makers of Roccbox.

Last updated March 29th, 2020.

Table of Contents, in No Particular Order:

What's a Roccbox?

It's a portable gas powered oven for making Neapolitan style pizzas, among other things. Their website has lots of good information available and you should start there if you haven't already.

Where's the official Roccbox FAQ?

Right here: Roccbox FAQs | Gozney

Online Communities for Roccbox Owners

Gozney, the makers of Roccbox, have a pretty active Facebook group available: https://www.facebook.com/groups/209238466271248/

There is also the Wood Fired Ovens Facebook group, which encompasses lots of different ovens: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1898233027070975/

And if old school forums are your thing, or Facebook isn't, there is also the Pizza Making.com forums (which are not Roccbox specific, but still contains a wealth of information): https://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/

Where can I get a Roccbox?

There's a couple of different online places to buy a Roccbox. The first is from Gozney of course. You can also buy a Roccbox from Amazon. You might even be able to find a lightly used one if you look around enough.

It seems kind of expensive?

Yes, a Roccbox is a little bit more than some other pizza ovens, but that extra money goes into build quality and insulation. Instead of coming out with a new model every year, the Gozney folks took their time and got a nice oven right out of the gate. And the Roccbox is super durable: Adam Atkins of @peddlingpizzas has baked over 10,000 pizzas in his original Roccbox. It's a solid oven and it comes with a 5 year warranty.

Wait, mine didn't come with a wood burner!

In March of 2020, the price of Roccbox dropped by $100 USD when the wood burner became an optional extra. A free wood burner was included with Roccbox until that stock ran out.

Is the wood burner any good?

I've never had good results with it. Some folks have managed to make a decent pizza with it, but it's extremely challenging to keep the oven at a good temperature, as well as making a pizza at the same time. In addition the hopper will fill up with ash pretty quickly, even if you use small pieces of kiln dried hardwood as recommended.

If you're after an "authentic" flavor then you can cut up some small pieces of dried wood (apple works great) and toss it in the oven behind the burner. You can also use this technique to bring up the temperature of the oven to get even faster bakes.

I've heard that the taste from burning wood is all in your head.

Maybe! But probably not. I certainly can tell the difference, and maybe you can too? It's certainly easy enough to test- just make two identical pizzas, one with gas and one with wood thrown in.

What's the plural of Roccbox?

Roccboxen? (Roccboxes?)

Flames are coming out of the burner at an angle.

This comes up semi-frequently on the Gozney Facebook pages, and the general consensus is not to worry about it.

Flames are rolling out the front oh my.

You got one of the good ones, IMO. Just turn back the gas dial on the Roccbox.

Flames aren't rolling out the front and I think that'd be awesome. In fact, I think it'd be generally awesome if things got even hotter in there.

My friend, let me tell you about the wonders of adjustable gas regulators. It's… a gas regulator you can adjust. Start low, slowly turn it up to flame amount you're after. You'll void your warranty doing this of course.

Another technique (which probably won't void your warranty) is to throw a small piece of hardwood behind the burner (such as apple, pear, hickory, etc). It'll catch and add some extra flame and flavor to your pizza. Most BBQ smoking wood chips work great.

There's also an informative post on the Pizza Making forums about using an adjustable regulator.

My Roccbox isn't heating up fast enough (aka, how to properly turn on your oven).

If your oven isn't coming up to temp in a reasonable time (~30 minutes) then you've probably tripped something in the gas regulator. Here's how to start your oven so this doesn't happen:

1) Make sure your Roccbox gas dial is turned off. This is where a lot of people screw up (by keeping it open to start).
2) Turn on the gas at the canister.
3) Go back to your Roccbox and turn the gas dial on slowly till you hear some gas escaping, and then turn it a little more for the igniter to fire. Repeat this step if it doesn't light right away.

To turn off your Roccbox shut the gas off at the canister first and just let the gas burn out.

This velcro strap looks great for moving Roccbox around, right?

It isn't. In fact, Gozney says to only use the velcro strap to remove your Roccbox from its original packaging.

So do not use the velcro strap to transport your Roccbox. It's velcro, and your oven is heavy. The two aren't going to mix well and something is going to end up broken on the floor.

Also, don't strap plastic around a hot oven right after use. Unsurprisingly, things will melt which weren't meant to.

Some very nice to have extras.

A turning peel. Honestly, Roccbox should include one (but it doesn't). A turning peel does what it sounds like- it's a special little peel that you use to turn your pizza around, but while it's in the oven. You can see a quick demo of one in action from @peddlingpizzas on Instagram.

I use a shortened stainless steel 8" peel, but I bet this 8" aluminum one works just as well. There's an official Roccbox turning peel, but I'm not a fan of peels with perforations in them (dough can get caught on them and rip- and they are a pain to clean).

General advice.

@peddlingpizzas) - Adam Atkins makes his living by driving around the UK in a custom Piaggio Ape with two Roccboxes(n) built in. You can also visit his YouTube page. @dough eyed pizza - Pretty cool pizza popup trailers.
@crustbros - Makers of fine looking pizzas.
@archermrodrigo - Rodrigo Archer, pizzas out of a Roccbox in El Salvador.
@francescana_py - Another custom built Ape traveling around and making pizzas.
@thecoastotaru - A pizza restaurant in Japan. These pizzas speak to me, and I hope to visit some day.