Is an Outdoor Pizza Oven Really Worth It? These Picks Make Us Think Yes (2024)

The Ooni Karu 16 is one of the most versatile outdoor pizza ovens yet. It can run off of gas, pellets, charcoal, or wood, and cooks anything from pizza to bread, meat, and veggies. I was blown away by its performance. The oven reached peak temperatures quickly thanks to a glass-hinged door that offers improved insulation and helps it maintain consistent temperatures.

Its wood and charcoal holder didn't require as frequent refillings as other ovens, and this one will cook fresh pies in as little as 60 seconds. We found that the Karu delivered efficient airflow for evenly cooking pies (you can close the ceiling vent and open the chimney baffle to slow the heat escape if need be). The oven even has a large digital thermometer to help keep track of the temperature, and thanks to its wide opening, you can bake large 16-inch pies and easily pivot them as they're cooking.

It's worth mentioning that although this Ooni oven supports the option of using charcoal or wood pellets as a heating source, the gas burner is sold separately. One more thing: this sleek-looking oven is the first and only pizza oven "Recommended for Domestic Use" by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana, the international authority on true Neapolitan pizza. So you can ensure you'll churn out consistently delicious pizzas with this oven almost any time. Really its only fault is that it's heavy and awkward to move around.

Key Specs

Little brother of our best overall pick, the Ooni Karu 12G is a heavy hitter in a pint-sized package. At only 34 pounds, it’s about as portable as a pizza oven gets. Ooni even makes a “carry cover” with convenient handles.

While small, Gaughan contends that the Karu 12G brings the heat to make delicious Neapolitan pizzas with little fuss. Its ergonomics and design work well even in the cold and high winds, which may matter a little more if you bring it out to a tailgate.

Despite highlighting it for portability, its most distinctive feature is that it supports three types of fuel–hardwood, charcoal, and gas. Moreover, it’s one of the most affordable multi-fuel options. That said, we found that its charcoal-burning mode is better for deeper-dish or New York-style pies. That versatility, though, is just one more reason why the Karu 12G is the oven you want if you’re planning to take your pizza show on the road.

Key Specs

The Solo Stove Pi Prime is a compact, but intuitive pizza oven that punches well above its price tag. Gaughan specifically recommends the Pi Prime as one of the best performance-per-cost pizza ovens around, claiming that the pies he got out of this model were just as good as ones from ovens that cost nearly twice as much.

The Pi Prime has an aesthetically-pleasing round dome design that stands out in the pizza oven space--it looks like something out of an Art Deco painting. According to Gaughan, it can heat up in around 25 minutes and cooks a 12-inch Neapolitan-style pizza in around 2 minutes. It has no problem sustaining its top temperature for sequential cooks. It can hold a lower temperature for New York-style pizza, though that isn’t its forté.

Naturally, its small size and weight make it perfect for those with limited space. Conversely, it may be too small for families who want to make large pies, and/or advanced pizza-makers who want more precise control. In the end, though, you won’t find a better deal on an oven than the Pi Prime.

Key Specs

The Halo Versa 16 is a bit different from other pizza ovens on our list. According to Gaughan, it excels at making New York-style pies like you’d find at your local pizza joint. The Versa’s 16-inch pizzas come out chewier than the Neapolitan-style pies you’ll get from most of our picks.

The oven also has an auto-rotating pizza stone that makes it easier to use than its entry-level competitors, particularly if you don't have a pizza peel. (You should still get one, though.)

Its New York state of mind doesn’t come without drawbacks, though. Since its max temperature is around 800 F, it doesn't get hot enough to make a Neapolitan-style pizza sing: It’ll still come out tasty, but the dough will be softer than you traditionally look for, and it won't get the delicious char that you get from a scorching hot oven. As such, we highly recommend leaning into the Versa 16’s strengths, and focusing on New York-style pizza.

Key Specs

The Roccbox is a 44-pound propane-powered pizza oven with a small footprint and retractable legs. While we’re a little skeptical about bona fides as a “portable” pizza ovens–44 pounds is pretty heavy–we found that it’s a really accessible pizza oven, and a good pick for first-time pizza-makers. Both of our experts agreed, noting its relatively low price and outstanding performance.

Making 10-inch mini pies, the Roccbox comes with a propane burner, but you buy an attachable wood burner if you prefer the classic wood-fired approach. During our tests, it took just 15 minutes to reach a temperature of 900 F. It retains heat well and the oven body stays cool to the touch, even at high heat, so new pizza-makers (and their kids) are less likely to burn themselves.

Our biggest complaint about the Roccbox is that its pizza stone is attached, so if you accidentally drop it there isn't a way to easily replace it in the event it breaks. Our experts noted that it doesn’t work so well for cooking New York-style pies, so stick to classic Neapolitan.

Key Specs

A smaller and more affordable version of our top pick, the Ooni Koda 12 specializes in making smaller, 10- to 12-inch pies. For comparison's sake, a large Pizza Hut pizza is 14 inches in diameter with around 12 slices. It only takes 15 minutes to heat up, and can cook a small pizza in just 60 seconds.

While we generally prefer the Koda 16, the 12 has two advantages: It’s cheaper and it’s lighter, which makes it easier to store. That said, it does not offer buyers the option of purchasing a converter that lets you hook the pizza oven up to a natural gas line. You can't use wood as a fuel source, either.

It’s definitely made for beginners, but don’t hold that against it. It’s one of the quickest, easiest ovens we tried.

Key Specs

If you're a fan of smoky-tasting food, the Ooni Fyra is the oven for you. It's one of the most affordable pizza ovens money can buy and delivers outstanding, delicious results. The Ooni Fyra uses wood pellets as its heating source and reaches temperatures as hot as 950 F. There's a fire pan and chimney you load with pellets and set on fire to get it to the right temperature, which takes about 15 minutes.

The Fyra limits you to smaller 12-inch pies, while Ooni's Koda 16 and Karu 16 can accommodate pies as large as 16 inches. Fortunately, it still heats them quickly, as long as you can maintain a consistent flame. This oven weighs just 22 pounds, plus its legs fold down, and its chimney can be removed, which makes it easy to store and move.

Compared to the best-selling Big Horn Outdoors pizza oven, the Fyra didn't require us to add pellets as frequently, and it was faster to heat up.

Given its low price point, the Ooni Fyra is certainly appealing to shoppers on a budget, but if you're feeding a large family, we recommend opting for something bigger and gas-powered to lessen the cooking time. Our tester said that it took 3 hours and a lot of pellets to bake eight medium-sized pizzas with the Fyra.

Key Specs

The Gozney Dome is far and away the best pizza oven we tried. Deemed “the world’s most versatile outdoor oven,” this pizza oven is such a stand-out product that it even won a Time Best Inventions award.

Even though it’s a professional-grade oven, it’s ideal for all experience levels, from pizza novices to chefs. Throughout our testing, we particularly loved how easy the setup was (don’t let its large footprint fool you) and the incredible taste both the gas and traditional wood fire methods gave to the 16-inch pizzas we made.

This dual-fuel oven burns hardwood and either propane or natural gas, depending on your preference. We found the propane option better for entertaining since it heats faster. Given the Dome's enormous size (it weighs nearly 130 pounds) it still took close to an hour to heat up to 800 F using propane.

Beyond pizza, the Dome allows you to roast, smoke, steam, or bake other foods as well. Throughout our testing, we enjoyed using the unit to smoke cheeses, roast vegetables, and even bake bread.

We also recommend checking out the wide array of accessories to make the most of the oven. There's a steam injector for bread baking, a door to turn it into a slow roaster, and a wheeled stand to make it easier to move around.

Given its price point, the Gozney Dome is without a doubt a splurge — but if your budget allows for it, it’s a long-term investment that’s absolutely worth it, especially if you enjoy hosting. As an added bonus, Gozney backs the product with a 5-year warranty.

Key Specs

• Bertello Outdoor Pizza Oven: We appreciate that the Bertello can make pizza using wood and propane as a fuel source and it comes at a relatively affordable pricing point. However, it has a narrow opening, which makes it harder to pitch your pizzas into the oven, and over time the paint on its exterior starts to chip away.
• Breville Smart Oven Pizzaiolo: For this guide, we focused on recommending outdoor pizza ovens, and the Breville must be used indoors. Given the fact that it reaches an impressive 750 F to deliver that wood-fired-style pizza you crave, it may be worth considering if you want to bake pizza from the comfort of your own kitchen. Just know that it takes around 20 minutes to bake a pizza, while outdoor ovens bake them in less than 2 minutes.
• Camp Chef Italia Artisan Pizza Oven: Although our test team found that this oven performed like a brick oven and was quick to preheat, it weighs 50 pounds, and a number of reviewers remarked that its regulator needed replacing after around a year of use.

What are some accessories that I need for my outdoor pizza oven?

In addition to a stainless steel table or dedicated stand, Gaughan and Ford both recommend investing in a good pizza peel, the spatula-like device that you use to manipulate the pizza within the oven. In particular, Gaughan recommends Gozney’s peels, especially those with metal slots, which allow excess flour to drop from the bottom so it doesn’t scorch your pizza.

Gaughan also recommends picking up a turning peel, which allows you to easily turn the pie within the tight confines of the cooking space, so you get that perfect texture all the way around.

Lastly, a nice pair of heat-insulated gloves is a must for any oven of such high temperature. (It’s a grilling staple too, you know.)

What is the difference between “New York-style” and Neapolitan pizza?

Neapolitan pizza is well-known for its simple ingredients. Neapolitan pies dough is made with finely milled 00 flour, and is often fermented for longer than other pizza styles. They tend to be smaller–around 12 inches–and bake at 800- to 900 F. A traditional Neapolitan pizza is very simple–just dough, mozzarella, tomatoes, olive oil and basil. (You should, of course, put whatever topping you like on your pizza. That’s part of the beauty of making it yourself.)

New York-Style pizza, on the other hand, is the large, foldable pizza that you find in most pizzerias across the U.S.. Though there are many variations, they’re typically made with high-gluten bread flour for a chewier texture. NY-style pies are cooked for 5- to 6 minutes at around 500-600 F to achieve a crispy exterior crust. They are often stretched thin (due to their large size) and feature low-moisture whole milk mozzarella.

Most of the pizza ovens on our list can make both Neapolitan and New York-style, but are primarily designed with Neapolitan in mind--especially the smaller ones. We’d recommend new Pizzaiolos start by making Neapolitan pies, then start dabbling with New York-style pizzas once they get comfortable.

Cooking with hardwood is traditional, but is it actually better?

True aficionados will tell you that a wood-fired oven is the only way to get authentic Neapolitan-style pizza, but our experts say that most people don’t really notice a difference with homemade pizza.

"With a bake of only 60- to 90 seconds, the wood rarely imparts noticeable flavor in that time," Gaughan says. "I still love cooking pizzas with wood on weekends because it's fun to do. But gas is king for convenience, and the market seems to agree."

Given that, we think that a gas oven–propane or natural gas if you have a line–is going to be the way to go in most situations, especially if you're a beginner. If you get into making pizza as a hobby and want to explore the art and the history of the craft, though, it’s still worth it to stoke a wood fire.