These Are the Best Outdoor Pizza Ovens for Home Use
Which is the best outdoor pizza oven for home use? Here are five options you should check.
The best outdoor pizza oven for home is a lifesaver, especially during summer. Every day can be pizza day with warm weather when you can’t go anywhere beyond your garden. We are talking about the kind of pizza you would bake and make all by yourself using an oven like the ones we will review. Scour around the internet; you might land a perfect deal.
Why Do You Need the Right Pizza Oven?
Your regular oven has a maximum temperature of 250◦C while you making pizza requires about 350◦C to 450◦C for a correctly done pizza. All the best outdoor pizza oven for home in this article can comfortably run up to 400◦C. The ovens are equipped adequately with cordierite stones that emit and retain heat and also absorb the dough’s moisture making it crispy with a darker base.
Do the Best Pizza Ovens Use Wood or Gas?
If you want your pizza to taste like those made in restaurants, then wood would be the best bet. The only disadvantage is that ovens fired with wood tend to take longer to heat up and require regular nurturing so that the fire keeps burning. Consequently, most oven manufacturers are geared towards using alternative means of fuel, which is propane gas.
Some individuals might not be able to tell the difference between pizza cooked in a wood or gas oven. However, when it comes to barbeques, a gas pizza oven will typically heat up faster within say 30 minutes. Besides, you can easily control the heat the oven emits.
Best Outdoor Pizza Ovens for Home Use
Watch the video below of the best outdoor pizza ovens for home use.
Here are some of the best outdoor pizza oven for home:
#1. Firepod
Firepod is the best multi-function all-round pizza oven. The oven uses gas with a baking surface measuring 33 × 33cm and a maximum temperature of 450◦C. The oven weighs 12kgs.
Pros
- It’s quite easy to use
- You can also use it as barbeque
- It comes with a salt block and lava stone
- It makes a crispy crust
Cons
- The oven is expensive
Compared to all the other pizza ovens in this article, the firepod was the most reliable and comfortable to use. The oven heats up quite fast and is easy to control the emitted heat since it runs on patio gas. Firepod does recommend baking your pizza at 350◦C, which is 50◦C lower than the average temperature, unlike other models. After trying this method, the guide of an in-built temperature gauge, the results were a crispy base, which was the best among the others.
The base was stiff and crispy enough to correctly hold a slice at the end of the crust without collapsing anything. Besides, the oven can also double up as a barbeque gas by merely replacing the pizza stone with the alternative double-sided griddle.
If you love steak-on-the-stone, Firepod sells a smooth, shiny lava stone put in the oven for about forty minutes before placing it in the bamboo board and finally on the table. We did try some filet strips, and the results were terrific.
The pink Himalayan salt block is the recent addition on the Firepod website. Cooking on a salt block does feel like a new experience since:
- It provides some natural saltiness to the dish
- It has natural minerals
- It’s a great way to start a conversation
Salt blocks usually retain their heat correctly, and its temperature goes way beyond a pizza stone. However, the salt blocks need proper care, slow heating, and storage in a dry place. They are equally challenging to clean.
Firepod is light, practical, and portable. The oven can also make a 10-inch pizza and great steak-on-the-stone. It additionally comes with a pizza peel, rubber table protector, and fire gloves, which are quite handy. Also, it’s available in four different colors.
The model is easy to use and versatile. It has a removable lid ideal for beginners at pizza making.
#2. ALFA One Pizza Oven
The ALFA One Pizza Oven uses gas, wood, and charcoal weighs 12kgs with a baking surface measuring 77 × 80cm. The oven has a maximum temperature of 500◦C and can make pizza up to 12 inches big.
Pros
- The oven uses wood, charcoal, and gas
- It does produce a terrific pizza
- It’s portable
- It’s easy to store
Cons
- The surface tends to get hot
- If you are not careful, the crust will get burnt
It’s one of the best outdoor pizza oven for home since it uses three different types of fuel and an optional burner. The oven is quite attractive made of stainless steel that would remind you of the housing of a vintage jet engine. The oven is not only light but also easy to store since it has foldable legs.
Using the oven with charcoal is more straightforward compared to wood since you wouldn’t need to load the hopper frequently. However, the oven’s back should face the breeze so that the flames efficiently lap over the baked pizza. Plus, you need to fit the front door and chimney to ensure the stone does remain at maximum temperature and encourage the flow of air.
Using gas is more comfortable as you only need to fit the optional burner, take off the chimney, the use the metal cap to plug the hole. Ensure that children keep a safe distance because this oven is hot to touch.
Both the charcoal and gas options did work perfectly well when we tried a basic Margherita test. However, other models should have a 0.5-inch barrier at the oven’s back to prevent wayward pizzas from getting pushed further into the fire. Ensure you have enough flour on the peel as it helps the pizza slide off comfortably.
Ooni does produce the best pizza oven for home, including Koda. But if you’d like to try using different types of fuel, this would be your best bet. Besides, the oven is affordable.
#3. Summerset “the Oven” Outdoor Oven
The Summerset Outdoor Oven is the ideal dual-fuel alternative. The oven measures 31.5 ×34cm uses wood and gas with a maximum temperature of 500◦C. It weighs 20kgs.
Pros
- The oven runs on both wood and gas
- Great performance
- Perfect insulation
Cons
- The oven is heavy
- It’s expensive
Roccbox is an excellent pick for those who love baking pizza using wood or gas. The model is quite heavy, therefore not ideal for picnics, although it has a carrying strap. It’s adequately insulated; hence the surface doesn’t get hot: handy, especially where kids are involved.
You can easily control the temperature of the oven, whether you are using gas or wood. Both methods did produce excellent results, although it was difficult to differentiate the taste between the two.
#4. Authentic Pizza Ovens
The Authentic Pizza Oven only uses wood, and the baking surface measures 34 × 34cm. It weighs 30kgs with a maximum temperature of 500◦C.
Pros
- It’s properly insulated
- Genuine smoky flavor
Cons
- Requires you to tend to the fire continually
- It’s expensive
Delivita isn’t a cheaper alternative, but it’s the closest you can get to an authentic wood fire oven, notwithstanding the Alfa model. The model is made of fiberglass and clay and comes in an igloo shape. The model is light but not enough for portability.
Like other models that use wood, they always come with the hassle of lighting and frequently maintain the flame. Brush the coals out of the way to make room for the pizza; otherwise, the base will be ashy. However, if you put in all the work and time, this model will keep producing excellent results.
#5. iLfornino Pizza Oven
The ilFornino Outdoor Pizza Oven uses wood and comes with a baking tray measuring 120 × 70cm. The oven weighs 93.4kgs and has a maximum temperature of 400◦C.
Pros
- The models can bake up to six pizza simultaneously
- It’s stylish
Cons
- The oven is very expensive
- It’s large and heavy
The model is an Alfa production, and its surface resembles polished concrete. The oven is made of thick fireclay, strips of iron sheets, and stainless steel that are heat-resistant. The baking tray can comfortably hold six 12-inch pizzas simultaneously.
Pizza ovens run with wood usually take longer to heat up than their gas-powered counterparts and quite a hassle to maintain and even light. The coals from the burnt wood tend to spread all over the place, especially on the cooking surface. It, therefore, means that it requires regular brushing while also setting the hand alight. Fortunately, this model has a fire grate that contains the cinders preventing them from collapsing on the cooking surface.
