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BEST OVERALL HOME PIZZA OVEN (OUTDOORS)
Ooni Karu 16 Multi-Fuel Pizza Oven
- Multi-fuel cooking options
- Digital thermometer on the front of the oven
Cons
This Good Housekeeping 2021 Kitchen Gear Award winner produced impressive results in testing. It can be used with wood or charcoal, or you can buy a separate attachment to use it with propane. Along with consumer testers, we used both wood and propane to make rounds of pizza. The wood and charcoal holder is large, which means it can reach high temps and requires less refilling and spans the back of the oven. Plus, its cover is removable and has a large handle so you can easily add more fuel. The wood and charcoal holder is in the shape of a basket and serves as a barricade which prevents pizza from landing on the hot fuel and burning.
BEST VALUE HOME PIZZA OVEN (OUTDOORS)
Ooni Koda 12 Gas Powered Pizza Oven
- Reaches 950˚F in 15 minutes for super-fast pizzas, according to the manufacturer
- Weighs 20 pounds
At $400 less than our top pizza oven pick, this Ooni model is a more affordable option that produces similarly great results – the difference is, it’s smaller and can only be used with gas instead of wood or charcoal, too. FYI: An even less expensive option is available if you prefer to just use wood instead of gas. But we find gas to be easier to use and regulate, though we like the slightly smoky taste wood and charcoal contribute. In our test, we tested the larger, more expensive Ooni Koda 16 that can handle 16-inch pizzas versus just 12-inch pizzas.
In our test, we were able to make a restaurant-style pizza that was nicely charred in some spots, although the process required a learning curve: Like with all pizza ovens, we needed to get the oven nice and hot before transferring in the pizza. Then we needed to practice rotating the pie for the best results in just a couple of minutes. The flames are located on the back and side of this pizza oven, so we had to be careful rotating the pie while cooking to avoid burn marks on the crust and cheese.
BEST BRICK OVEN-STYLE HOME PIZZA OVEN (OUTDOORS)
Camp Chef Italia Artisan Pizza Oven
Now 43% Off
Credit: Camp Chef
Pros
- double-layer ceiling which helps retain heat
- Fast and adjustable heating
It preheats in about 15 minutes and reaches temps around 700˚F, so your pizzas cook in about 3 minutes. It has an adjustable flame valve and built-in temperature gauge, so you can learn what range you prefer for baking your pies. Though you can fuel the oven with a small disposable propane bottle, the unit is 47 pounds, which prevents it from being easily portable. Fortunately, it comes with a five-foot hose to adapt the oven for a standard bulk propane tank.
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BEST COUNTERTOP HOME PIZZA OVEN (ELECTRIC)
Smart Oven Pizzaiolo
- Indoor pizza oven
- Reaches 750˚F
- Includes settings that deliver unique results
This countertop oven reaches 750˚F and delivers a “wood-fired-style pizza” in two to three minutes. That said, it takes 17 minutes to heat. While that does increase your TTP (time to pizza), our tester noted that it was the ideal length of time to build your pizza (or make a salad, if you’re trying to fancy up a frozen pizza dinner). She also raved that “it’s super easy and straightforward to use.”
You can choose to use the preprogrammed pizza settings or you can take control with manual settings — Breville includes instructions for the manual controls on a handy magnet that you can pop onto the machine to help you out. Our tester was impressed that the settings delivered different results: The wood-fired setting produced tender and bubbly pizza with some char like you would get in a restaurant, while the New York–style setting delivered pizza that was more evenly cooked and stiff. The pizza cooks on a pizza stone and the oven comes with a peel to easily remove your pie.
BEST HOME PIZZA OVEN FOR GAS GRILLS (OUTDOORS)
BakerStone Basics Pizza Oven Box Kit
Now 19% Off
- Oven can reach up to 800˚F
- Works with gas grills with three or more burners
This pizza-stone-lined baking box turns most gas grills with three or more burners into an outdoor pizza oven. Crank all your grill burners to high and set the box on top to preheat for about 20 minutes. Depending on your grill’s power and the weather conditions, the oven can reach 600˚to 800˚F, making your cook time just two to four minutes. The oven has built-in handles for easy transport and it has a temperature gauge so you can decide when to start baking. It comes with a wooden pizza peel and a thinner, more nimble pizza turner, since you’ll need to rotate your pies to ensure even cooking.
BEST PORTABLE HOME PIZZA OVEN (OUTDOORS)
Roccbox by Gozney Portable Outdoor Pizza Oven
- Comes with carrying strap
- Silicone coating keeps oven exterior from overheating
This space-age-looking home pizza oven reaches 950˚F for Neapolitan-style pies. It’s compact with retractable legs and a detachable burner that makes it easy to transport; plus, it comes with a handy carrying strap and lightweight pizza peel. Like the Ooni Karu, you can cook with gas or wood, — but you have to buy the wood-burning attachment separately. (We preferred using the propane attachment in our tests, as the wood-burner required a lot of active time feeding the fire.) In our tests, we loved how quickly it produced pizzas with a crisp bottom, tender crust and the perfect amount of char in about 90 seconds. Its body is insulated and coated in silicone, so the exterior remains cooler than some other pizza ovens, reducing your burn risk and making it more ideal for bustling gathering.
BEST HOME PIZZA OVEN FOR CHARCOAL GRILLS (OUTDOORS)
Kettle Pizza Pro 22 Outdoor Pizza Oven Kit
Credit: Kettle Pizza
- Included aluminum pizza peel and a 14-inch pizza pan
- Allows you to cook with charcoal or wood
This kit converts most 22.5-inch kettle grills into a pizza oven that can reach up to 750˚F. You can install it tool-free by setting the stainless steel sleeve — plus its “ProGrate/Tombstone Combo,” which suspends a thick pizza stone over the fire — on the base of your kettle and placing the grill’s lid on top. The setup allows you to cook over charcoal or wood or both, with the use of the hardwood basket that can be hung from the grate frame. The kit also includes an aluminum pizza peel and a 14-inch pizza pan.
How we test home pizza ovens
The Good Housekeeping Institute’s Kitchen Appliances and Culinary Innovation Lab road tested an assortment of home pizza ovens, including both indoor and outdoor models. Each oven was tested with 12-inch pies: Fresh dough was topped with canned tomato sauce and a pre-shredded mozzarella. During testing, we made more than 20 pies, using over five pounds of cheese and 10 pounds of dough. The oven was always preheated when called for by the manufacturer’s instructions. And, whenever possible, the oven’s own accessories, such as peels, were used to remove the pies. We evaluated how easy the ovens were to set up and use, how quickly they baked fresh and frozen pizza and whether the results were worth the effort.
Those that delivered a superior slice made our list of the best home pizza ovens to buy in 2023, along with some we haven’t formally tested in the Lab, but come from brands we trust after years of experience testing kitchen appliances.
What to look for when shopping for a home pizza oven
✔️ Indoor or outdoor: Your first decision is to choose where you want the oven. If you want easy access to your pizza oven year round, an indoor model is likely best for you. As long as you can find an outlet, you can have delicious pizza, but it does eliminate home pizza ovens that use wood or gas for fuel. If you have the perfect spot in the backyard for cooking and entertaining, go with an outdoor model. Some are portable, which can be nice for game days or second homes, but you will need to ensure a source for gas or wood. Of course, if you have outdoor outlets on your deck or porch, you can choose either kind of pizza oven.
✔️ Size and weight: The size of your home pizza oven affects the size of the pizzas you can cook. Will you generally be cooking for yourself or for a family? The size also affects the weight of the oven and its portability. Make a note of how heavy the oven is, because if it doesn’t live on your counter or patio all year, you’ll need to move and stow it each time you use it.
✔️ Temperature range: For that lightning-fast, restaurant-quality pizza, you need your home pizza oven to reach a high maximum temperature (around 950°F) . You’ll get those glorious charred spots — and you’ll know you’re literally minutes from pizza once you put it in. But an oven that can hold a consistent low-end temperature provides versatility for warming leftover pizza or cooking non-pizza entrées, like fish. (And it’s also great for baking a skillet dessert for after!)
Why trust Good Housekeeping?
Nicole Papantoniou is the director of the Good Housekeeping Institute Kitchen Appliances and Culinary Innovation Lab, where she manages all kitchen appliance content and testing. She has tested at least 35 grills and oversaw our recent tests of grill baskets and pizza stones for the grill. She’s a trained cook, recipe developer and grill aficionado.
Sarah Wharton led the most recent test of grill thermometers and has tested indoor grills for Good Housekeeping. She previously worked in the test kitchen at Family Circle, where she developed recipes and tested kitchen appliances and gear. She holds a degree in Professional Culinary Arts from the International Culinary Center (now Institute of Culinary Education).
Kitchen Appliances & Innovation Lab Director
Nicole (she/her) is the director of the Good Housekeeping Institute’s Kitchen Appliances and Innovation Lab, where she has overseen content and testing related to kitchen and cooking appliances, tools and gear since 2019. She’s an experienced product tester and recipe creator, trained in classic culinary arts and culinary nutrition. She has worked in test kitchens for small kitchen appliance brands and national magazines, including Family Circle and Ladies’ Home Journal.
Sarah (she/her) is a deputy editor for the Good Housekeeping Institute, where she tests products and covers the best picks across kitchen, tech, health and food. She has been cooking professionally since 2017 and has tested kitchen appliances and gear for Family Circle as well as developed recipes and food content for Simply Recipes, Martha Stewart Omnimedia, Oxo and Food52. She holds a certificate in professional culinary arts from the International Culinary Center (now the Institute of Culinary Education).
Like pretty much everyone I’ve ever met, I love pizza. That alchemical combination of blistered, chewy dough, sweet and acidic sauce and creamy, melty cheese is perfection on a plate. Even when it’s bad, it’s good, and when it’s good, it’s truly something special. The extent of my has been limited by my appliances, though. I can make a decent in my oven at 500 degrees Fahrenheit. Cooking a traditional Neapolitan-style pizza with its signature charred bubbles and leopard underside requires far higher temperatures that, until recently, weren’t achievable indoors (although we’ve found some great gear for making amazing pizza outside
Recently Ooni, the company that makes outdoor pizza ovens that cook with propane, wood or coal, including the Karu 12 that we love, introduced its electric , which heats up to 850 degrees Fahrenheit. We wondered how it would compare to the Breville Smart Oven Pizzaiolo, released a few years ago as the first oven designed for home use with the ability to reach Neapolitan temperatures, maxing out at 750 degrees Fahrenheit. Both work in essentially the same way, with standard three-prong plugs, upper and lower heating elements and included pizza stones for cooking your 12-inch pies.
To test the two head-to-head and figure out which, if either of them, is worth your money, I did the only thing that made sense: I hosted a pizza party. I made a fermented dough recipe from “The Elements of Pizza: Unlocking the Secrets to World-Class Pies at Home” to keep things as uniform as possible, plus a simple tomato sauce, and provided a small selection of toppings. Then I let my guests get to work, topping and baking their own pies until we’d cooked about a dozen total.
Spoiler alert: Both machines are incredibly fun to use, surprisingly easy and they both make great pizza. While you can’t go wrong with either, the Ooni slightly edged out the Breville. The higher temperature is the big factor. We made delicious pizzas in the Breville, but if you’re paying this much for a mono-use appliance, it makes sense to go with the model that gives you more range. We also preferred that the Ooni is quieter, and that it has a light so you can watch your pizza cook.
Breville
The Breville is still a good choice, especially if you have less room in your kitchen. Both ovens take up considerable countertop space; the Breville is roughly 18 by 18 inches, and the Ooni is about 2.5 inches wider and 6 inches deeper. They’re heavy, too, about 40 pounds each. That makes them impractical for smaller kitchens without a lot of counter or storage space.
The Breville comes with accessories that Ooni leaves out, including a stainless-steel pizza peel (roughly a $30 value) and a carbon-steel pan with a removable handle for making pan pizzas (Ooni sells a cast iron skillet for $50). I prefer the Ooni’s powder-coated finish to the Breville’s stainless steel body, although both look sharp and one may fit your kitchen’s aesthetic better than the other.
How much will these all-electric pizza ovens use add to your utility bill? Thankfully the power draw is less than I expected, with both ovens using about 0.5 kilowatt-hours to get to temperature, which comes out to about $0.08 based on the average cost of electricity across the U.S. in February 2023.
All of my guests were impressed with the quality of the pizza we made, and they all commented about how much they enjoyed seeing their creations come to steamy, bubbling life in less than two minutes. Everyone agreed that if they had the room (the party was in New York City), they’d be happy to have either oven in their kitchen. These devices are great for aspiring pizzaiolos who don’t have access to an outdoor oven, or any home cook who loves to entertain. And they’re easy and fast enough to be suitable for weeknight dinner with the family, too (and safe enough that you could probably let your kids help, with the appropriate supervision).
The experience reaffirmed my love of pizza and reminded me of what Mike Birbiglia once said: “I would marry pizza but it would just be an elaborate ploy to eat her whole family at the wedding.”
The advice, recommendations or rankings expressed in this article are those of the Buy Side from WSJ editorial team, and have not been reviewed or endorsed by our commercial partners.
Everyone loves pizza — so why not enjoy making it at home? Whether your tastes run toward artisan-baked, wood-fired Italian styles with puffy, soft crusts; thin-crust New York slices or deep-dish Chicago pies, the latest home pizza ovens let aspiring pizzaioli turn out pizzas that match — or even exceed — the quality of those you’d get from most local pizza joints.
To pick out the perfect pizza oven, we tested nine different leading pizza ovens in electric, gas, wood/charcoal-burning and multi-fuel configurations, spending 10 weeks making countless pizzas to find the best models for any dedicated home pizza baker.
Best pizza oven overall
The only electric pizza oven we tested, the Breville Pizzaiolo was our favorite oven overall because of its predictable, consistent results and even cooking.
Best gas pizza oven
The gas-fueled Ooni Koda 16 had the most even heat distribution of the gas ovens we tested, making for fuss-free operation and perfectly charred and blistered artisanal pizza crust.
Best multi-fuel pizza oven
The Ooni Karu 16 was the simplest-to-use multi-fuel oven we tested, with straightforward switching between wood and gas and easy fuel loading — plus it made great artisanal pizzas with either fuel source.
Best wood-burning pizza oven
The Cru Model 30 has an incredibly simple, sturdy design and plenty of room to work in, and turned out delicious wood-fired pizzas.
$1,000 at Williams-Sonoma and Breville
Key Specs
- Capacity: 12-inch pizzas
- Maximum temperature: 750º F
- Accessories: Pizza peel, deep-dish pizza pan
- Warranty: Two years (three- and four-year extended warranties available at an additional cost when purchasing directly from Breville)
The only electric pizza oven we looked at happens to be our favorite pizza oven overall. We utterly loved using the Pizzaiolo and consistently got the best results from it compared to every other oven we evaluated. It doesn’t get as hot as the competition (it can hit 750 degrees Fahrenheit while wood- and gas-fired ovens can get up to 900 degrees Fahrenheit) but, because it can control the temperature more precisely, it turns out evenly cooked crusts and overall better pizzas than any other oven we tested.
The Pizzaiolo doesn’t look much like the other pizza ovens we tested. Rather, the heavy stainless steel unit resembles an oversized toaster oven adorned with three push-button dials in front — one for selecting among pre-programmed baking temperatures, one for the baking timer and one for darkness adjustment.
But this is all you need to make perfect pizzas every time: no turning, no positioning, no vent adjusting. No futzing with anything. Simply pick your style with one of the preset modes, wait for it to come up to temperature (indicated with an LED “AT TEMP” light), place your pizza on a circular stone (which can accommodate pies of 11 inches or less) and wait for it to cook. It takes 3 minutes for a “Wood Fired,” 8 minutes for a “New York,” and 18 minutes for a “Pan Pizza.” And unlike the gas, wood- and charcoal-burning ovens we tested, you can cook at any time of day, in any weather, indoors, in less time than it takes to cook a pizza with gas or with wood if we take setup, fuel loading and preheating into consideration.
It’s worth noting that, because of the lower and more consistent cooking temperatures compared to gas or wood ovens, you will not get the pronounced burn marks that give your pies that “artisan” look and crust texture, with leopard-skin crust char and big crust bubbles. Instead, you’ll get results similar to an American pizza parlor and slice shop with a steel deck electric setup: very evenly cooked crusts on top and bottom. But is there anything wrong with that? We think not.
We also found that the temperature indicator is solely visual and lacks an audible cue, so as you’re prepping in the kitchen, you’ll want to check for the LED after the suggested 18–20-minute preheat period. Nor is there an integrated thermometer to indicate the current temperature. Also, while the oven alerts you with a tone when the pizza is done, it’s not very loud and the oven continues cooking at temperature after the timer ends. Presumably, this is designed so you can reset the timer and load more pizzas, as with the gas and wood ovens, but to be safe, it’s a good idea to use an external timer.
However, these are pretty minor issues. Given the quality of pizzas we’ve gotten out of this unit, it’s a clear winner, even considering it’s the most expensive oven we tested. As with all of Breville’s products, the build quality is solid, and Breville’s two-year warranty support is good (longer warranties are available when you purchase directly from Breville).
$599 at Ooni and Williams-Sonoma
- Capacity: 16-inch pizzas
- Maximum temperature: 950º F
- Accessories: Propane regulator and hose (natural gas regulator and peel available separately)
- Warranty: 3 years, with registration
If you’re looking to master the artistry of traditional pizza-making with a minimum of fuss, then we think the gas-fueled Ooni Koda — which we tested in the larger 16-inch version (it’s available in a more compact 12-inch configuration for $399 as well) — will satisfy most aspiring backyard pizzaioli. Gas lets it hit the 900-degree temperature required for Neapolitan-style pizzas without the fuss of stoking a wood fire.
The Koda can run from a 20-pound liquid propane (LP) tank or from a natural gas hookup (a $49 conversion kit is required). We found the setup to be relatively easy. We unpacked it from the box, unfolded its tripod legs, placed it on a stable fire-resistant surface (we used the Ooni modular table), installed the pizza stone and plugged in the tank.
Getting the Ooni Koda 16 fired up is as simple as turning the knob on the side, pushing it in and clicking it to ignition at full power. After about 15 minutes, the unusual L-shaped burner gets the oven up to 932 degrees Fahrenheit and the cordierite baking stone holds and distributes heat extremely well; the Ooni Koda 16 gave us a more even distribution of heat than the more expensive Karu and Gozney Roccbox. The Koda’s insulation — mineral wool sandwiched between the stainless steel inner shell and the powder-coated carbon steel shell outer housing — also did a better job than most competitors, though we don’t recommend you touch the outside of the oven while it is hot.
As with all gas-fired ovens, it takes a bit of practice to get good results. The Koda gets very hot, and at maximum oven temperature, a pizza cooks in under 90 seconds, and will let you achieve that “leopard skin” and big blisters that pizza aficionados like to chase. But you’ll need to learn how to launch and position the pie using a peel, and then pay careful attention (you absolutely can’t walk away for even a moment), turning the pizza a quarter turn every 15 seconds so it cooks evenly.
You may want to lower the gas output immediately before cooking a pizza and then monitor the temperature with an infrared thermometer. Some pizza crusts do not need to cook at 900-degree temperatures; you may get better results in the 600-degree to 700-degree range, using longer cook times to get even cooking and the desired results. That said, should you burn parts off or leave ingredients on the stone, no worries — simply run the flame at high heat, incinerate it and scrape it off with a wire brush.
Overall, we felt the build quality was pretty decent, and it is certainly made of top materials that should last a long time; however, we recommend you buy a cover for it should you keep it outdoors. And if you can keep it indoors between uses, that’s even better. There are a couple of downsides — there’s no integrated thermometer and no oven door — but it’s a great gas-only setup that turns out very enjoyable pizzas.
$799 at Ooni and Williams-Sonoma
- Capacity: 16-inch pizzas
- Maximum temperature: 950º F
- Warranty: 3 years, with registration
While we feel that the gas-fueled Koda is the Ooni for the majority of home pizza makers, some aficionados will want the ability to cook with either wood or gas. Proponents of wood ovens appreciate the added flavor, or simply enjoy the artistry, replicating more closely the pizza-baking methods used in Naples.
The Ooni Karu 16 multi-fuel pizza oven will give you these options. You can use the included wood fuel tray or install a gas burner accessory (the propane kit is $119.99; natural gas $149.99). The Koda 16 also adds a hinged metal front door with a large insulated handle, a glass window and a bracket-mounted external digital thermometer with a thermocouple.
We evaluated the Karu 16 in both liquid propane gas and wood configurations. Unlike the Koda, which has an L-shaped burner, the Karu has two large gas jets that take the place of the wood fuel tray at the rear of the oven. Installation took us about 10 minutes, with a hinged door, a backplate and the thermometer being the three main components requiring the use of the included Torx wrench.
In gas mode, we got roughly similar results to the Koda 16, though pizzas tended to cook more evenly with less effort in the gas-specific Koda. However, we had no problems getting those leopard spots and crust bubbles with Karu’s dual rear gas jets, we just needed to pay careful attention to rotating our pizzas.
Turning to wood fuel, we couldn’t tell the difference from a flavor standpoint, likely because at such high temperatures we got only a brief exposure to the hardwood we were using. However, we found it was much easier to overcook the pies, and more careful heat management was necessary. This is accomplished using the Karu’s stainless steel vented smokestack and in-oven vent control (when the oven is in operation you’ll want to use something other than your hands to adjust it, such as barbecue tongs, as it is far too hot).
We did get some great pizzas from the oven in wood mode, and the Karu’s design made the process relatively easy. In particular, the rear cover makes it easy to add additional wood and charcoal and prevents wind from extinguishing the fire.
At almost 63 pounds, the Karu 16 is too heavy to be considered “portable” when compared with the 40-pound Koda 16, so you will want to put it on a sturdy surface, such as a metal table with caster wheels so you can move it in and out of the elements. If you intend to keep it outside, then you’ll want the cover as well. If you don’t want such a big oven but still want to keep your fuel options open, then the smaller Karu 12 is available for $399.
$450 at Cru Ovens and BBQ Guys
- Capacity: 12-inch pizzas
- Maximum temperature: 900º F
- Accessories: Pizza peel, embers rake
- Warranty: 1 year
Although we are, admittedly, fans of electric and gas pizza cooking for convenience and ease of heat management, we think the Cru Oven Model 30, an all-stainless steel pizza oven made in Portugal, is the best choice for those who prefer to focus on wood-fired pizza baking.
The Cru Oven Model 30 is about as barebones as it gets when compared to the others on this list — it’s not insulated and there’s no separate removable tray for removing and loading wood or thermometer. With its large ceiling arc and unfinished, laser-cut steel panels, it has a distinct, almost steampunk personality — think Mad Max Beyond Napoli. It’s basically a wood-burning stove or outdoor fireplace that makes pizza.
But the interior heat reflectivity is excellent, the oven’s generous interior with a high ceiling makes it very easy to maneuver your pizzas and the ceramic stone is easily removable and can be replaced (or you can substitute third-party options if desired).
Fueling the oven is simple. You load the wood at the center of the stone, make a teepee, and light it on fire – we used square firestarters and a BIC butane lighter wand. When everything is burning nicely, you push it all back to the rear of the oven using the included ember rake. As the fuel burns down to embers and pizzas are removed, you load more fuel, approximately every 15 minutes. Vent management? There isn’t any. There’s a stainless steel smokestack, which has no controls. You put in fuel; it burns; you cook. When it cools off, you brush out the ashes. The Cru Oven Model 30 does come with a front door cover, but you’re not meant to cook with it – it’s for extinguishing the flames and for shielding the interior from the elements when not in use.
We loved the pizzas that came out of this oven — you can produce artisan-style pies with the Cru Oven Model 30 and achieve the big bubbles and high char levels that wood-fired enthusiasts want. But as this is the most primitive of designs, developing fuel management skills on this oven is paramount, so it isn’t for everyone. Because there is no way to adjust airflow (there are no vents!), you need to develop a sense of how long to wait for the fuel to burn down to the desired temperature range that will hold for as many minutes as you need to cook the pie.
By the way, under no circumstances should you touch this because it has no insulation, and you’ll easily burn yourself, as my wife learned when she accidentally touched the edge of it briefly. Keep kids away when using this — and carefully consider whether you should even own one if you have inquisitive small children around.
Beyond that, there just isn’t much to go wrong, and it is built to last. Should the world become a post-apocalyptic nightmare, you’ll at least be able to feed scavenging hordes some pretty nice pizza.
The pizza ovens that we looked at let you reach back to pizza’s Italian roots, achieving temperatures over 900 degrees Fahrenheit to execute pies to the strict requirements of the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana, on your patio, without having to build or permanently install a brick oven. All of the ovens we looked at are simple in design: a chamber designed to hold a flat, thick pizza “stone,” usually made of ceramic or a manufactured material that contains the mineral cordierite, designed to hold and distribute the high levels of heat needed to evenly bake a pizza.
We tested ovens that use several types of fuel, mainly wood (hardwood, fruitwoods, hardwood lump charcoal or wood pellets) and gas (liquid propane or natural gas). Some are “multi-fuel,” meaning they can be configured to burn either wood or gas, swapping out a special refillable hopper, propane or natural gas burner as desired. And we checked out a single electric model, Breville’s Pizzaiolo.
We had no problem reaching the desired 900-degree-plus temperature with any of the gas or wood-fueled ovens we tested. The choice of gas or wood really comes down to taste and how much time you want to spend fine-tuning your technique and managing your fuel supply.
Gas is more forgiving in that you don’t need to add fuel over the course of your baking, and you can adjust the temperature without learning to manage to vent or waiting for fuel to burn down — just turn a knob as you would on a stove or grill.
Wood takes more practice and is better suited for serious home bakers who are interested in mastering the craft of baking in the traditional Neapolitan style. There’s more work involved since temperature management is dependent on the timing of your fuel supply and careful attention to the venting of the oven chamber itself.
That temperature instability is what can give you a more pronounced crust char on a pie baked in a wood-burning oven — the temperature spikes and drops produce that effect, which many associate with an “artisanal” look and taste. You need to be very careful, of course, because the timing is critical not only for the crust but for the toppings — unless those are minimal, you don’t want to keep your oven at extremely high heat all the time.
That takes a lot of practice, and we had trouble consistently creating this effect in the ovens we looked at, given the difficulty in maintaining high heat on the stones. When we were more occupied with fuel management, we had to pay less attention to cooking the actual pizzas.
An electric oven is the simplest to operate, and the one we tested, though it couldn’t get hot enough to produce an artisanally charred crust, was much easier to use and turned out more consistently good pizzas. We think it’s a compromise most amateur home cooks would be willing to make, and that we much preferred during our testing.
As with anything culinary, cooking pizza is a science that requires years to master, but part of the enjoyment in cooking pizza is learning how to achieve the results you want. Working in a very hot oven requires constant attention, and you’ll need to rotate your pizzas frequently during their brief cooking time.
While all of the gas and wood-fueled ovens gave us similar results, some oven designs made the baker’s task easier. Narrower openings gave us less room to “launch” or place our pizzas on the stone and subsequently rotate and maneuver as they cooked, making it harder to execute a perfectly cooked pie, regardless of the fuel technology (the Breville electric oven was an outlier, requiring no interaction during cooking).
While most ovens are simple “open” designs — meaning that the slot or opening in the front has no cover when in use — some, such as the Ooni Karu 16 and Cuisinart 3-in-1, use doors or removable front covers. Ovens that are insulated and of thick construction (such as the Oonis or the Roccbox), are safer to touch or be close to when running at maximum oven temperature. Others are uninsulated, relying on a reflective heat design to evenly cook the pizzas (such as the Cru and the Bertollo).
Speaking of heat, all of these ovens are designed for outdoor use only — except for the Breville Pizzaiolo, which is an electric one that can be used indoors. The rest should never be used indoors where they would pose a serious fire hazard and threat to safety because their exhaust gasses need to be vented properly when in operation.
Except for the single electric model we looked at, which was used in our home kitchen, we propped all of these pizza ovens on top of either the grill grates of our outdoor gas grill or on a heavy, dedicated, movable steel table with locking caster wheels (the $249.99 large Ooni Modular Table).
For fuel, we used 20-pound liquid propane tanks purchased at our local Home Depot for the gas-capable units. For the wood-capable units, we used 6-inch white oak mini splits formulated for pizza ovens by Carolina Cookwood, combined with small amounts of Brazilian hardwood charcoal. The single example where we used only fruitwood pellets was with the Ooni Fyra.
The pizza dough we used is a 72-hour fermentation recipe formulated based on the Gozney “Perfect Pizza Dough” with some adaptations, using King Arthur Bread Flour.
Each oven was used for cooking at least a dozen pies at a range of oven temperatures. The benchmark test pizza was a standard New York-style thin-crust plain, with 240-gram dough balls, using low-moisture Kirkland brand shredded mozzarella from Costco and canned pizza sauces with minimal added sugar or other additives.
We used (and recommend) both the Cento Fully Prepared Pizza Sauce and the Muir Glen Organic Pizza Sauce for convenience and consistency of results, price point, retail supply chain availability and overall taste for use as a general sauce base. We also liked Rao’s as a super-premium option if you are not inclined to process and formulate your own sauce, but it really didn’t taste any better than the canned sauces recommended above in the finished pizza. The best option (and the best value), however, is to buy canned ground, crushed or whole tomatoes and process and customize your sauce recipe as desired.
- Heating and evenness of baking: How well did this oven cook the pizzas? What were the maximum temperatures achieved?
- Heat-up time: From ignition to being ready to launch the pie, how long did it take?
Build and design
- Industrial design and build quality: What materials were used? How does the design affect performance and use, and potential issues with the durability of components?
- Innovation: Any technology employed in the build, such as electronic features or notable design elements that differentiate it from its competitors.
- Ease of use: How easy was it to use the product, what is the learning curve, if any?
- Ease of cleanup
- Maintenance
- Warranty
- Customer service
The Gozney Roccbox (wood and gas) certainly has a lot going for it; its performance was on par with the Ooni Koda 16, our top gas oven. Getting those big bubbles and nice crust char was no problem on the Roccbox if that’s what you’re looking to achieve.
The Roccbox is also the best-insulated oven on our list, with a stainless steel inner and outer casing stuffed with ceramic fiber and jacketed in silicone rubber that effectively retains heat and, more importantly, makes it more comfortable to work in front of and safe to touch, even when the interior is scorching hot. It also has a built-in thermometer and the thickest pizza stone out of the ovens we tested. And it’s set up to be portable, with folding legs, a nylon sling and a handle that makes it a good choice for tailgating (and has made it a favorite of vendors at farmer’s markets).
While it’s a great oven, it didn’t make the top of our list for a couple of reasons. First, it has a small oven chamber and, though it’s meant for 12-inch pizzas, you really need to know what you’re doing to maneuver a bigger pie. In practice, we found it better suited to making 9-inch pizzas, which means more time spent cooking more pizzas for a hungry family or large group.
Though the Roccbox is sold as a multi-fuel oven, we thought that the wood hopper was undersized and relatively difficult to load; it required constant feeding with small chunks of wood to maintain temperature. We recommend the multi-fuel Ooni Karu or the Cru Oven if you’re interested in cooking with wood.
The Gozney Dome, a high-end oven from the makers of the Roccbox, is expensive, but with electronic ignition, the option to burn gas, wood or pellets, an integrated temperature probe and an advanced venting system, the Dome is versatile enough to make every style of pizza possible, along with artisan breads and pan-roasted dishes.
We baked dozens of pizzas on the Dome, and it conquered every style we threw at it, from New York to Neapolitan to Chicago — nothing was cooked unevenly, and we were able to manipulate and rotate the pies very easily in the roomy open hearth. Steaks and pork chops cooked in cast-iron pans came out beautifully too.
But, ultimately, it doesn’t bake a better gas or wood-fired pizza than an Ooni Karu despite coming in at three times the price. Also, if you want to take advantage of its flexibility, you’ll need to purchase accessories like a metal door and steam injector. Plus, it takes about 30 or 40 minutes to get it up to baking temperature due to the size of the interior cavity, so it is not for the impatient — this is an oven for someone who wants to make pizza part of their regular lifestyle, appreciates beautiful industrial design and outstanding build quality and is willing to pay the price for it.
There’s a lot to like about the Bertello 12-inch multi-fuel “Everything” bundle, especially as it is priced well below the comparable 12-inch Karu and the Roccbox for everything it does. It includes a gas burner, two types of wood fuel trays (one can be used in combination with gas), an infrared thermometer, a wood-handled steel perforated pizza peel and an outdoor cover.
The black-painted steel oven has a similar design to the Ooni Karu in that the baker can swap out the rear of the oven with a wood burner tray or a gas burner attachment (with an optional smaller wood burner in front for simultaneous fuel use).
The Bertello’s gas burner (which feels a bit as if it were designed after the fact) is a tad cumbersome as it is very long and tends to droop off the back of the oven. But that doesn’t affect its performance; we got the Bertello to well over 900 degrees Fahrenheit and that made for some rather nice pies.
However, the oven’s opening is very shallow, and we found it much more difficult to maneuver the pizzas inside it than in the Oonis or the Roccbox. That made for a more challenging cooking experience and required we make smaller pies than the oven is meant to accommodate. Bertello has since released a larger, 16-inch model with a more generous opening and taller interior oven ceiling (we were not able to evaluate the larger model in time for this review), so that may be a product worth considering.
Like the Gozney Dome, the Alfa Nano is built for serious pizza enthusiasts — in particular those obsessed with Neapolitan-style pizza, which is baked very quickly (in 90 seconds) and thus requires extremely high levels of heat. The gas burner (the Nano is also sold in a wood-fired version) can get up to 750 degrees Fahrenheit in only 10 minutes, and upward of 900 degrees in just 15.
In fact, the Nano gets so hot — even at its lowest settings — that we had trouble not burning thin-crust styles to cinders. Unless you’re very specific in your needs we suggest an Ooni Karu, or the Gozney Dome if you are set on something similarly well built and designed.
If your heart is set on Neapolitan pizza, however, the Nano delivers, and it’s a beautiful appliance, with outstanding build quality, thick reinforced stainless steel and a double layer of ceramic fiber insulation, coated with weather-resistant paint. The baking surface, which measures more than 300 square inches, has removable baking stones, and the oven includes a removable steel door for bread baking.
The Alfa Moderno Portable offers similar design, stainless steel and ceramic fiber build quality and similar performance to its larger sibling, the gas-fired Alfa Nano, but in a smaller package. It’s not designed for permanent install like bigger Alfa ovens, but it isn’t really “portable” at 66 pounds — “schleppable” or “laulable” would be a more accurate description, especially by comparison with models like the 44-pound Gozney Roccbox that can be packed up and carried to a vehicle for transport by a single person.
Regardless, the 21-inch-by-20-inch Moderno Portable, with a 240-square-inch cooking surface, is considerably smaller than the 22-inch-by-36-inch, 370-square-inch surface Nano, and is better suited to smaller patios and less heavy-duty pizza oven carts. With its 16-inch opening, you can comfortably cook 12-inch or 14-inch pizzas, with plenty of room for maneuvering. As with the Nano, the bar-shaped gas jet (which can use propane or natural gas, depending on the adapter) is on the left of the cooking surface made of two large, thick removable ceramic tiles and is controlled by a large steel knob with a battery-powered push button igniter with pilot.
Assembly is easy; you simply need to attach the four removable feet with the integrated bolts, place the unit, install the battery in the igniter and then attach the gas adapter and chimney; after removing all the laser-etch plastic wrapping (which is tedious) the actual install took us about 10 minutes, most of which was making sure the adapter was secure with plumber’s tape and we had no gas leaks with the initial firing. Within 30 minutes, this oven and its cooking surface will get to 932 degrees Fahrenheit about half as fast as the Nano, but we didn’t need to run the oven that hot to make great American-style pies.
We had a much easier time controlling the heat of the unit with the smaller Moderno, however, as we could move the knob to a very low burn without extinguishing the jet and could get it to stabilize at around 550 to 600 degrees Fahrenheit for thinner-crust New York-style pies with our standard dough formulation. Small adjustments to the knob allowed us to increase heat up to 700-plus degrees Fahrenheit for pies with wetter ingredients (veggie, seafood) that needed the extra char. And great pies they were, with leopard spots and perfect crust char, cooked completely through. As with the Nano, we also did some pan roasts with it, and it performs extremely well as an outdoor salamander in this role.
At almost half the price of the Alfa Nano, this is an excellent pizza oven for someone who wants a more permanent, well-designed and durable gas appliance than an Ooni Karu or Koda and is willing to spend a fair amount of money but doesn’t have the patio or backyard space for a bigger product like the Alfa Nano or Gozney Dome.
The Ooni Fyra 12-Inch Pizza Oven is a bit of an oddball on this list because, while it is “wood burning,” it uses pellets rather than splits, kindling or charcoal as fuel. It has a similar construction and design to the 12-inch version of the Karu, with a vent-controlled smokestack. But it has a rear hopper for pellet loading into its removable combustion chamber.
While we liked the idea of a pellet-based pizza oven due to how evenly and consistently the fuel burns (and no doubt many folks who use Traegers and other pellet-based grills and BBQ smokers will appreciate this design), the hopper is so small that it requires constant feeding (every five minutes or less) to get the oven up to pizza cooking temperatures. If you’re someone who can pay a lot of attention to this process, then you can make some lovely pies. But we were more focused on fuel temperature and heat management on this oven than we were on cooking the pizzas themselves. We see this oven as one that appeals to campers and those who love to play with fuel loading.
Solo Stove, known for its fire pits, has turned its industrial design expertise to pizza with the recently released Pi Oven. The cleanly designed stainless steel cylinder is portable and about as simple to use as a dual-fuel oven can be — just slide in the corderite pizza stones, bolt on either a gas burner or a wood hopper and ash tray, fire it up and you’re ready to bake in 20 minutes.
And we were able to bake great pizzas with the Pi. The oven’s “Demi-Dome” distributes heat effectively from the rear-mounted burner, and the Solo more than holds its own against similarly priced competitors such as the Ooni Karu. The downside is that the Pi gets very hot — so hot it’s uncomfortable to work with, and the smallish inner chamber means you’ll have to spend some time maneuvering. You’ll want a long-handled peel and tools, and you’ll want to keep your distance from it. More heavily insulated ovens like the Gozney Roccbox are a lot easier to work with for long periods.
The Solo Stove Bonfire Pi Fire isn’t a full-fledged pizza oven but an accessory that turns your Solo Stove outdoor fire pit into a pizza oven. The three-legged design lets it sit atop a Solo Stove wood-fired outdoor fire pit with its Flame Ring attached to bake pizzas while sitting back and enjoying your outdoor fire. We tested using a Solo Stove Bonfire 2.0 19-inch-diameter fire pit ($259); you can also get compatible units for Solo Stove’s smaller Ranger and larger Yukon fire pits.
The circular, stainless steel Pi Fire weighs 19.6 pounds, with a 14-inch-diameter cooking stone (the opening is large enough to allow maneuvering a smaller 10-inch or 12-inch pie using a peel). Assembly is simple; attach the three legs with the included ratchet tool with six screws and washers and insert the cooking stone, and you are ready to bake your pies.
There’s sufficient clearance to watch the flames from your burning wood splints lick the bottom of the unit and curve upward through an internal rear vent; the entire circular cooking stone is exposed to the air, including the entire front of the oven. The ventilation is self-regulating — or, rather, unregulated, as there is no vent control. You throw your wood in the fire pit, you let it burn and the oven gets hot; it’s about as basic as a pizza oven gets.
The problem is that it doesn’t get consistently hot enough to compete with our top picks. For firing up the outdoor fireplace, we used larger oak and hickory fire pit splits purchased from Home Depot, and for cooking the pizzas, we used 6-inch Carolina Cookwood splits. After a 30- or 40-minute initial burn with the larger logs, it required about 10 minutes of diligent refueling of about three to four logs at a time to get the stone above 500 degrees Fahrenheit. If you don’t pay attention with a laser thermometer, you’ll find that the stone will dip in temperature quickly if you don’t refuel, there isn’t much insulation in the product and its open-air design puts it at the mercy of the output of the fire pit itself.
The pizzas we got out of this particular oven using our standard dough formulation required a longer cook time (over 10 minutes per 10-inch pizza), and given the lack of a regulation mechanism, a lot more babysitting than the other products we used in order to get even cooking. Compared to other wood-fired pizza ovens we looked at like the Cru or the Ooni Karu, we didn’t get consistent or predictable performance — if you put too little wood into the pit, the fire dies down; if you put in too much, you get big flare-ups with a lot of soot, so there’s a learning curve with fuel management here, much more so than a regular wood-burning pizza oven with a smaller fuel hopper.
For Solo Stove owners who mostly like being outside by the fire pit and aren’t as serious about the art of pizza, the Solo Stove Bonfire Pi Fire is not a bad choice, but for someone who wants more consistent and controllable results they should look at a dedicated pizza oven instead.
At just over $200, the Cuisinart Alfrescamore is the most inexpensive pizza oven on our list. And while we would love to recommend it for its thriftiness, it is just too low-performance and chintzy in construction for us to consider using something like this when really, you can get better results out of your outdoor gas grill by simply placing some cheap quarry tiles or an aftermarket pizza stone accessory on top of your grill grates. The Cuisinart Alfrescamore is portable in that it is designed to use 1-pound LP canisters, but with such a small amount of fuel, you will run out of it so quickly trying to achieve pizza cooking temperatures, you’ll end up using a standard 20-pound LP canister adapter hose anyway (which doesn’t come with the product).
Cuisinart CGG-403 3-in-1 Pizza Oven, Griddle and Grill
At just under $250, this pizza oven is only slightly more expensive than the Cuisinart Alfrescamore oven and is a lot more versatile; it’s also, in our opinion, better designed and better performing. It also is configured to use 20-pound propane tanks out of the box. But this is less a pizza oven in our estimation than a small outdoor grill (and griddle) with a pizza baking stone and rack that sits above a small output gas burner. Setup was a bit of a pain in the neck as it has about 20 bolts that need to be attached to it to mount the base, consisting of four legs and a storage shelf. Still, once we got it running, we enjoyed cooking a few pies in it — just don’t expect results like the Ooni or Roccbox. And with cooking temperatures between 450-550 degrees Fahrenheit, it’s going to take longer to cook your smallish pies.
Why Consider an Electric Pizza Oven?
If you are reading this article, it is probably because you want to be able to cook amazing pizza at home, but you either don’t have a back yard or just prefer to cook indoors.
I mean, you could probably use your regular kitchen oven – but you really need to use fire bricks or a pizza steel to even have a chance at something close to an authentic Neapolitan style pizza.
This is why electric pizza ovens are changing the game for at-home pizza chefs.
You may have noticed that many pizza places use electric ovens and still make amazing pizza. Why can’t you? Then, instead of depending on an expensive restaurant for delicious pizzas, you can cook as many pizzas at home with an electric pizza oven.
There are dozens of electric pizza ovens to choose from so it can be hard to know which one to buy.
To help, we’re going to take you through our top picks for best models. We’ll also take you through important features to help you narrow down your options.
DISCLOSURE: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning when you click the links and make a purchase, we receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
What is an Electric Pizza Oven?
An electric pizza oven is an oven that uses an electric heating element to maintain a consistent temperature. Electric pizza ovens can reach high temperatures and can be used indoors, in restaurants, and on countertops.
There are several types of electric pizza ovens and they vary in size. Some pizza ovens can be used on countertops, while others are similar to traditional pizza ovens. Most electric pizza ovens use a combination of a stone hot plate and a hood.
The hot plate and hood work together to trap hot air in the pizza oven to achieve a higher temperature than a countertop oven. On average, these ovens can reach temperatures upward of 400F. Because the air circulates within the oven, they provide a quick and even cooking experience.
In fact, some electric pizza ovens can cook a pizza in less than 20 minutes! They can even make frozen pizza taste even better!
Benefits of Electric Pizza Ovens
Electric pizza ovens come with a handful of benefits. Depending on your needs, electric ovens can be more effective than a conventional oven, toaster oven, or outdoor pizza oven in making the perfect pizza.
Portability
Compared to larger pizza ovens, electric pizza ovens are small in size. Many electric pizza ovens can be used indoors, outdoors, and on countertops. Plus, you can take them with you on the go as long as you can access electricity.
Electric pizza ovens also don’t take up a lot of space. They make a great addition to a kitchen, without being the entire kitchen. For example, a wood-fire pizza oven or brick oven can’t be taken with you to a friend’s house.
Price
One of the biggest benefits of an electric pizza oven is the price. Compared to large outdoor pizza ovens and wood-fired ovens, an electric oven is a fraction of the price. In fact, some electric pizza ovens can cost you less than $200 on the market today.
Taste
With an electric pizza oven, you also have more control over the taste. Wood-fired and conventional pizza ovens typically provide a similar texture and taste. On the other hand, you can customize the style and taste of a pizza in an electric oven.
The Fun Factor
An underrated feature of electric pizza ovens is how much fun they can be. Unlike larger pizza ovens, you can get the whole family involved. Friends and family can enjoy the pastime of throwing a pizza together and tossing it in the oven.
With an electric pizza oven, you also don’t have to worry about setting specific temperatures or measuring the heat. Furthermore, they’re safer and easier to use.