Does the digital thermometer on my Ooni Karu 16 tell me the ambient temperature or the stone temperature?Updated 7 months ago

The digital thermometer on your Ooni Karu 16 tells you the ambient temperature

of your oven, not the stone temperature.

To read the stone temperature, use the [Ooni Infrared

Thermometer](https://ooni.com/products/ooni-ir-

thermometer?_pos=1&_sid=a01f8e511&_ss=r).

**When would I use ambient temperature vs. stone temperature?**

**Ambient temperature**| **Stone temperature**

---|---

* Essential for cooking the top of your pizza properly.

* Also useful for cooking bread, meat, fish, deep dish pizzas, and other dishes that rely on ambient heat to cook properly rather than stone temperature.

|

* Essential for cooking the base of your pizza properly. You should aim for your baking stone to be at **750 ºF (400ºC)** or higher before you launch your pizza.

**Why is the ambient temperature different from the stone temperature?**

Your pizza stone will heat up a little bit slower than the ambient temperature

will. For cooking great pizza, you need the balance of both. That's why it's

important to use the [infrared thermometer](https://ooni.com/products/ooni-ir-

thermometer?_pos=1&_sid=a01f8e511&_ss=r) as well as the digital thermometer to

ensure your stone and air temperatures are similar.