Influencer Interview: Scott Deley of Scott’s Pizza Project

From having never made a pizza to Ooni Brand Ambassador to a worldwide pizza book release and finding LloydPans, Scott Deley is making the most of his father-in-law’s birthday gift.

At the beginning of COVID lockdown, Scott came home to a large Ooni oven box in his living room. It was an unusual and random gift, because at the time Scott had not shown interest in pizza making. But it sparked an interest as a “lockdown project.”

“I had never even heard of Ooni, but when I do something I do a lot of research. I made sure I was prepared, searched on YouTube and just went for it,” Scott said.

After joining a few Facebook groups to get tips, Scott posted a couple of pictures of his first pizzas and the positive comments blew him away. His wife encouraged him to start an Instagram page, and after some hesitation he created Scott’s Pizza Project. It took off instantly.

“It was a nice escape from everything that was going on, and I had a nice connection with Ooni as a brand straightaway,” Scott said. “I didn’t set out thinking I was going to be a brand ambassador, but as time went on I wanted to do something with the brand that wasn’t work related.”

After about a year of running the page, Scott wrote a couple of pizza recipes for the Ooni website and was helpful to the pizza community.

“I think that’s the main thing. I don’t think it’s how good you are at making pizzas and how good they look, I think it’s more about how you are as a person and how you come across willing to help others,” Scott said. “I’ve got a lot of enjoyment out of helping people; I think people can relate to me quite a lot because I was new to the scene and I was giving advice to people who had made the same mistakes.”

Going to the ‘Next Level’
Fast forward to Scott’s new pizza book: The Ooni Pizza Project, The Unofficial Guide to Making Next-Level Neapolitan, New York, Detroit and Tona Romana Style Pizzas at Home. Released in the U.S. on March 14, the pizza book showcases needing the right ingredients, like flour.

“You can’t use any flour. If you do want the ‘next level,’ you need to use specific flour like the ‘00’ for the neapolitan pizza or for my New-York style pizzas I use a blend of three different flours that I’ve developed over time by experimenting with things,” Scott said.

Equipment is also important, like an actual pizza oven that allows for high temperatures. Scott said little differences you can make, like preparing dough, are what makes the difference. The tips and tricks that he found through writing the detailed recipes in the pizza book make the big differences.

The LloydPans Difference
It was further into Scott’s pizza journey when he found pizza that needed a pan, like Detroit-style. He was intrigued by the difference from neapolitan styles. Trial and error with baking pans was a “disaster” with not being able to get the pizza out of the pan and sticking.

“I needed to invest in something that was going to do the job properly,” he said. “I reached out to a few people in the community who were well-known for making good Detroit-style pizzas and they recommended LloydPans. I noticed a massive difference. They are so robust and they withstand the high temperatures, which ordinary pans don’t.”

From the first moment, Scott has never used anything else but LloydPans for his pan pizzas, and he dedicates a chapter in his pizza book to Detroit pizzas.

“It’s nice to experiment with different styles and it’s nice to know there’s good quality equipment out there that will take you to the next level in pizza making.”