We buy all the products we test — no freebies from companies. If you purchase through our links, we may earn a commission, which helps support our testing.
We tested the top pizza ovens from brands like Ooni, Breville, Gozney, Solo Stove, and more to help you choose the best one for your backyard or kitchen
Our in-depth review covers some of the best pizza ovens and steels on the market, from top brands like Ooni, Gozney, BakerStone, Baking Steel.
Want to make delicious pizza at home? We purchased 16 of the best pizza ovens and steels to test side-by-side. Our team of culinary experts designed objective tests to uncover the nuanced differences that separate an excellent oven from a mediocre one. We back up that analysis with real-world cooking experience, spending weeks with each of these ovens and baking lots of pizzas. From propane powerhouses to more traditional wood-fired ovens — and even a few indoor options — our comprehensive review will help you find the best pizza oven to match your needs and budget.
Homemade pizza is a creative and delicious meal, made even better by a backyard oven capable of recreating the high-fire temperatures of professional pizza ovens. But baking a pie is only the final step in the pizza-making process. A top-rated mixer can be essential for prep, while a pizza cutter makes for a more satisfying cut than a regular old knife. If you're interested in outfitting a complete outdoor kitchen, you may also be interested in adding a top-rated charcoal grill or one of the best cast iron skillets from our testing to help round out your culinary collection.
Editor's Note: We updated this review on June 14, 2024, to offer additional buying advice and ensure our lineup is up to date.
Affordable, designed for a normal range oven, fast bake times
Well-insulated, easily broken down for transport, easily converted multi-fuel system
Very consistent surface temperatures, designed for a normal range oven
Nice aesthetic, large and versatile, easy to operate
Versatile indoor oven, user-friendly, personalized function
Hinged lid for easy access, accurate thermometer, burner design produces quality crust, includes pizza peel
Even airflow, large opening makes for easy access, classic appearance
Affordable, small foot-print, easy to use
Affordable, convenient preset option
Cons
Expensive, heavy, wood-fire box is small
Controlling temperature takes finesse, gas burner susceptible to wind
Very expensive, bulky and heavy, a tendency towards flair-ups
Extravagantly expensive, bulky footprint, pulls a significant amount of power
Bulky, heavy, slow to preheat
Steep learning curve related to control, prolonged cook times
Dangerous flame blowback, awkward attachment of the gas adaptor
Heat profile depends on oven, heavyweight
Heat-resistive stone takes long to preheat, soot buildup in oven chamber reduces efficiency
Heat profile depends on oven output, lower average stone temperature
Lower average internal temperature, lack of insulation, long preheat times
Limited temperature range and output power, design could be improved to benefit "smart" capability
No handle requires hot mitts to operate lid, issues with temperature control, exposed gas components
Low stone temperature, lack of insulation, difficult to maintain an adequate fire
Long bake times, sub-par quality pizza
Lack of control, poor pizza quality, slow cook time
Bottom Line
Superior design precedes superior performance in this professional-grade oven made for the common cook
The authority on Neapolitan pizza, the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana, recommends this redesigned multi-fuel oven for good reason
This beautiful, impressively powerful oven is designed to become the centerpiece of any backyard pizza party
An indoor alternative to building your own authentic wood-fired brick oven outside, this specialty pizza oven is the type of appliance to incorporate into a kitchen re-design
Top-notch cooking performance, output power, and versatility, all at a fraction of the cost of direct competitors
The brand that put portable pizza ovens on the map lives up to its name with outstanding performance
A powerful pizza oven with the special capability to cook with gas and wood simultaneously
A heavy-duty carbon steel slab capable of serious heat transfer to make the best pizza you've ever experienced out of a normal oven
A beautiful, portable option that offers the best of both the gas- and wood-fired worlds
The product that helped launch the at-home pizza revolution is suited for making a near-perfect NY-style pizza in any normal range oven
A large-bodied, versatile option that flaunts the good looks of much more expensive pizza ovens
More than your average toaster oven, this versatile countertop unit comes preset for easy pizza making
An easy-access, flip-up top combined with a simple gas burner make this an appealing entry-level pizza oven
An alternative "wood-fired" option that uses charcoal or pellets for increased convenience
This oven is reminiscent of a hot-plate and is user-friendly but does not provide particularly quality results
Aside from the affordability, this is an extraneous gadget for making pizzas
The Gozney Roccbox is a commercial-grade oven, just shrunken down to a more consumer-friendly size. Whether in its gas-powered or wood-burning form, this multi-fuel oven is engineered to recreate key characteristics of traditional ovens related to airflow, insulation, and output power. It is the perfect portable representation of a barrel-vault-style oven. However, if you're aiming to exclusively wood-fire pizzas, the Ooni Karu 12G is the only oven we've tested that meets the strict Neapolitan standards. Aside from all of the accolades the Roccbox deserves in terms of cooking performance, our lead tester points out, “the best part about this oven is that it's approachable for professionals and novice pizza makers alike.”
High-value products tend to come with a hefty price tag, and the Roccbox is no exception. While the superb performance can justify the price, this pizza oven is nearly double the cost of other competitors if you purchase the additional wood-fire attachment. Similarly, the oven itself is rather hefty. Despite its small footprint, this unit tips the scales at 44 pounds, “which easily makes it one of the heaviest ovens in our lineup,” our testers noted. That said, the heavy weight is due to unparalleled insulation, which drives the superior performance of the Roccbox. This is a tradeoff we're happy to make to own a portable pizza oven that would make a Pizzaiuolo proud.
The thermometer on the Gozney Roccbox is remarkably accurate, at least for ballpark stone temperatures. It's certainly a helpful feature for firing pizzas without the aid of an infrared thermometer.
The BakerStone Original offers top-of-its-class performance at a fraction of the cost of other top-quality ovens we tested. “It's just not as quick to cook as some direct competitors,” our team observed. Still, the temperature control and efficient airflow through this unique oven chamber remove much of the time pressure related to baking classic Neapolitan-style pizza. The oven box itself is removable and the base can transform into a grill or griddle. You can even use the oven box in conjunction with a full-size gas or charcoal grill to function as a makeshift pizza oven. Now that's multi-functional, outdoor cooking!
The BakerStone is certainly versatile, but it's not the easiest oven to transport. Dismantling it into sections may help improve portability. However, we feel this bulky, 48-pound oven is better off as the focal point of an outdoor kitchen than as a companion for car camping. “If you want a pizza oven that you can easily carry to a friend's house,” our lead tester said, "the Ooni Karu 12 is a much better choice." The BakerStone is capable of reaching the necessary temperatures to cook Neapolitan-style pizza, but the bulk and design of the firebox equate to a long preheating time. However, once it reaches the desired temperature, this price-point oven will bake just as well, if not better, than other top models on the market.
The NerdChef 3/8" Steel Stone presents an affordable alternative for at-home pizza making. We recognize that this is not technically a pizza oven in itself. Instead, this accessory enhances the capability of the range oven already installed in your kitchen “to produce a quality pizza you likely never thought was possible,” one tester remarked. This heavy-duty steel slab is denser and more conductive than a typical ceramic stone, allowing it to efficiently and effectively transfer the intense heat needed for a quick dough rise. When used with the broiler in your home oven, this pizza steel can actually turn out nearly perfect Neapolitan pizzas in as little as three minutes.
Since the NerdChef Steel Stone is not a standalone oven, the pizza quality depends on the heat profile and distribution of the range oven you pair with it. “These variables make quality control rather case-dependent,” our team observed. “For instance, we don't know how well this steel would work in an electric oven without the direct heat source of a gas broiler.” The thickly-cut steel of the NerdChef is remarkably heavy and awkward to handle, particularly when repositioning it after reaching the proper temperature. This pizza steel is an intriguing alternative to a pizza oven for those wanting to bake Neapolitan-style pizzas at home without investing in a new specialty appliance. If you don't have a range oven in your kitchen, the versatile Breville Smart Oven can effectively serve as a pizza oven and a compact countertop oven — just don't expect to achieve the same quality pizza.
Fuel Type: Wood, gas with conversion | Footprint: 503 sq. inches
REASONS TO BUY
AVPN recommendation for a portable oven
High wood-fire temperatures
Easily converts between wood and gas
REASONS TO AVOID
Control takes finesse
Gas burners can blow out on low
SPECIFICATIONS
Maximum Pizza Diameter
12"
Fuel Type
Wood, Gas (w/ conversion)
Average Pizza Cook Times
1.8 min
Average Stone Temperature
825 °F
Average Oven Temperature
776 °F
The Ooni Karu 12G has unlocked the power of wood-firing pizzas in a small, portable oven. “Ooni put all of their design experience and understanding into redesigning this multi-fuel oven to make wood-firing pizzas much more practical,” commented our lead tester. An extra large fire pan makes it much easier to stoke up to temperature, and an insulated front door greatly improves heat retention. Other touches, like a thermometer and powder coating to improve weather resistance, serve to improve user-friendliness. Even though this is the first oven we've actually enjoyed firing with wood, the option to add a gas burner offers a more convenient way to fire up the oven on a weeknight.
While this oven has seen great improvements upon previous designs, there is still a bit of a steep learning curve to firing the Karu 12G, especially if you're trying out one of these pizza ovens for the first time. “Controlling the high-fire temperatures of this oven takes finesse,” our testers said, “so don't get discouraged if you burn a few crusts while you figure out heat management.” Other gas models, like the BakerStone Original, are a bit more forgiving for those working solo to prep and bake pizzas simultaneously. With the gas burner attachment for the Karu 12G, we tended to heat on high and fire on low, and at that low output, the burner is at risk of being snuffed out by a stiff wind. But all told, if you want to make Neapolitan pizzas to the international standard from the comfort of your backyard, this is the oven for you.
The Breville Smart Oven Pizzaiolo is a marvel of engineering, clearly designed by a team dedicated to making the perfect pizza from the comfort of your own kitchen. It is the only electric option capable of achieving 700 °F+ temperatures to replicate the magic of a traditional wood-fired oven. “But unlike other ovens in this review, this versatile model isn't relegated to only baking Neapolitan-style pizzas,” one tester pointed out. This smart oven uses a series of sensors to optimize oven conditions for some of your favorite pies, offering automated presets for various styles: Neapolitan, thin & crispy Bar-Style, New York, and Chicago Deep-Dish. For anyone looking to consistently churn out perfect pies with ease, this nearly automated smart oven is a technological innovation for the world of pizza making.
The drawback is all of these attributes come at an exorbitant cost. “Justifying the price is not easy,” our lead tester admits, considering its relative cooking performance compared to other high-performing models like the Gozney Roccbox. Without a doubt, the Smart Oven Pizzaiolo bakes a gorgeous pizza. But not one that's two to three times better than other ovens, which is what it would take to rationalize paying double or triple the price of other options in our lineup. Rather, considering the size and bulk of this well-insulated oven, it is the type of specialty appliance a pizza lover might design an entire kitchen around.
If it weren't for Ooni, we might not be here at all — the company that first marketed the modern, portable pizza oven continues to build on an esteemed reputation with their flagship model, the Ooni Koda 12. This elegantly designed stainless steel oven only weighs 20 pounds, earning top marks for portability. The efficiently engineered Koda 12 uses a rocket-booster of a gas burner at the back of the oven to crank out Neapolitan-style pizzas in a matter of minutes, “making it a great choice if you plan on baking rounds of pizzas for a party,” our lead tester noted. And when it's all over, the oven's heat is all that's required to burn off any mess or residue, making cleanup a breeze.
But just like a traditional oven, the Koda 12 requires some time and patience to learn how to operate. The reflective interior of the stainless steel frame is part of what makes this oven so efficient. Still, “it can also quickly overcook pizzas,” our testers said, “transforming them into charred bricks if you're not carefully monitoring the burner output.” Although this oven is plenty insulated for quality cooking, it doesn't seem to carry as much thermal inertia as other ovens. This point was addressed with the redesigned Ooni Karu 12G. Even if you have to purchase the gas burner separately for that oven, the investment is worth serious consideration. But considering the top-notch quality, performance, and portability of the Koda 12, it's no wonder that it's still a popular option.
As the makers of the original portable pizza oven, the Ooni Koda 12 is one of the simplest ovens we tested to set up and fire: Just fold out the legs, hook up to a propane tank, and turn the dial.
Credit: Aaron Rice
Compare Products
A beautifully browned wild-mushroom pizza right from the mouth of the still smoking Bertello wood-fired oven.
Credit: Aaron Rice
How We Test Pizza Ovens
Before we ever mix the dough or fire up an oven, we first perform our market research due diligence. Our experts spend hours online investigating some of the most popular pizza ovens available. We then develop a set of criteria to narrow our selection to a comprehensive list that covers a range of performance, fuel types, and price points. We purchase all of these ovens at the retail cost to ensure complete objectivity. Learn more about our rigorous testing process here.
Our testing of pizza ovens is divided into four rating metrics:
Cooking Performance (30% of overall score weighting)
Output Power (30% weighting)
Control (25% weighting)
Ease of Use (15% weighting)
We bake dozens of pizzas with each oven to assess them on everything from ease of use to the quality of the pizzas produced.
Credit: Aaron Rice
Why Trust GearLab
Our team of expert reviewers designs numerically based tests that provide us with impartial data to help rank these ovens relative to one another. We then back up those statistics with real-world cooking experience to relate on a personal level. An extended testing period allows us to spend significant time getting acquainted with the intricacies of each oven. The pizza ovens included in this review have undergone 405 individual tests, baking nearly 100 pizzas over the course of many months. But at the end of the day, it is our side-by-side comparative testing that allows us to definitively break down the pros and cons of the best pizza ovens on the market.
We use direct comparison to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each of these ovens. This is an example of a gas-fired crust (left) vs. one baked in an electric oven (right.)
Credit: Aaron Rice
Senior Review Editor Aaron Rice started his working career in a pizza shop, so it is only fitting that he now comes full circle to test pizza ovens. Having worked in and around kitchens for over a decade, Aaron has held an array of jobs in the industry — from working on the line for a James Beard-nominated chef to growing and co-managing the market garden at a fine-dining restaurant with his wife. Jill Rice became enthralled with wood-fired ovens after organizing a bread and pizza workshop while working at the Dartmouth College organic farm. Since then, she has baked pizza in everything from Dutch ovens over a coal fire while leading outdoor education trips in Alaska to slinging personal pies from a homebuilt backyard cob oven in New Mexico. As professional gardeners and avid home chefs, this culinary couple brings their own flair and rich experiences to this review, all in the pursuit of making good food a bit easier for everyone to cook at home.
We relied on our infrared thermometer to keep track of oven temperatures. Although the Mont Alpi oven isn't the hottest, its design results in consistent heating across the pizza stone.
A Neapolitan-style pizza is notable for the airiness of the crust. It's wonderful that we now have the ability to make high-quality pies like this at home!
Although propane is preferrable to run ovens of this size, there are a few models, like the Ooni Karu 12G, that work well as wood-burning ovens.
How to Choose The Best Pizza Oven
If you're reading this review, then like us, you love pizza. Unlike other kitchen appliances or staples of a backyard setup, a pizza oven definitely qualifies as a specialty item. If you're planning to invest in one of these ovens, it's important to understand the nuanced differences in their capabilities to ensure you're buying the model that best suits your needs. But before we dive into the nitty-gritty details, you can ask yourself a few simple questions to better guide your purchase decision.
What Fuel Type Should You Choose?
Pizza ovens can be split into three main fuel types: wood, gas, and electric. (The notable exceptions are the pizza steels, which work best with a gas-range oven.) Choosing the right fuel type ultimately comes down to time commitment — our Control metric dives into how involved each type of oven is to fire.
You can stoke a wood-fired oven to ultra-high temperatures, which is important if you're specifically interested in baking traditional Neapolitan-style pizzas. But you have to prep a lot of kindling and need to constantly stoke these ovens to maintain these high temperatures — wood-fired ovens almost require two people to operate.
If you favor convenience, a gas oven is the best option. These are by far the easiest to operate because you can control the temperature with the turn of a knob. Electric ovens, similar to gas, are convenient, easy to use, and can be used inside, which is a boon for folks who don't have access to a porch or backyard.
What Type of Pizza Will You Make?
With so many different styles of pizza, it's important to consider your preferences and goals for making homemade pies. Our in-depth buying advice article breaks down the oven temperatures associated with nearly every type of pizza. But for the most part, these ovens are designed to make Neapolitan-style pizzas — high-fire pies that cook at extreme temperatures in as little as 90 seconds.
Since baking speed is directly related to temperature, pay attention to scores in our Output Power metric. It's also important to point out that even if an oven is designed for high-temperature cooking, that doesn't mean it isn't able to bake other types of pizza. Our Control metric looks at how easily you can vary oven temperature. Although pizza ovens are really a fun addition to any outdoor kitchen, if you're more of a fan of classic NY or Greek-style pies, it's worth considering a pizza steel like the NerdChef.
What Characteristics Should You Look For?
Not all pizza ovens are created equal. Key characteristics — namely insulation and airflow — can make huge differences in consistently producing quality pizzas. Ovens with high-quality insulation will preheat faster and do a better job of maintaining even temperatures throughout the oven chamber. Additionally, ovens with proper airflow move the flame through the oven chamber more effectively, resulting in more evenly baked pies. It will likely come as little surprise that the ovens that best incorporate these two attributes produce the best pizzas. While our individual product reviews dive deep into the why, our Cooking Performance metric ranks these ovens based on overall pizza quality.
What's an Appropriate Size?
Choosing the right size oven will depend on how many people you plan to feed and whether you plan on bringing your oven along for tailgates or cookouts. If you're hosting a backyard pizza party, then weight and portability are less of a concern than production speed. In this case, focusing on highly insulated ovens that score well in our Output Power metric will ensure you're ability to quickly crank out pizzas. (You can also directly compare average stone temperatures under the specs we listed in our Comparison chart.) But if you want to make pizzas on the go, our Ease of Use metric takes into account the size and weight of every oven and highlights which models are most portable.
The innovative baffle plate above the flame injector on the Gozney Roccbox best recreates the way the flame spreads out in traditional wood-fired pizza ovens.
Credit: Aaron Rice
Analysis and Test Results
Before discussing the test results, it is essential to mention that the ovens included in this review are the most popular options on the market. By focusing on only the best products, our side-by-side testing can tease out subtle details that otherwise would not be obvious before you purchase and try it out for yourself. Since we base our testing process on direct comparison, a low score does not mean that it is a bad product; it only means that it scored poorly relative to the other products in the review. A combination of standardized, "laboratory"-style tests and homegrown experience allows us to deliver a more thorough review. The ultimate goal is always to better inform your purchase decisions.
What's the Best Value?
As with all our assessments, value is a relative metric. Rather than considering price alone, we weigh how the price compares against a product's quality and performance. If something costs less but performs better than directly comparable products, it holds a greater value. Similarly, if something is designed with longevity in mind, it is more valuable than something that will soon become obsolete. To develop a complete picture of the marketplace, we compare product values directly to one another. Sometimes, the most expensive products are not the best in their class, but that happens to hold true in this instance.
Both of these wood-ovens cost about the same, but the Bertello oven (front) is leaps and bounds above the Deco Chef (back) in terms of cooking performance.
Credit: Aaron Rice
The Gozney Roccbox carries an above-average price tag but displays superior performance in nearly every aspect of pizza making. Similarly, the Breville Smart Oven Pizzaiolo is high priced but is the only oven capable of producing restaurant-quality pies from the comfort of your indoor kitchen. On the other hand, the BakerStone Original offers a quality pizza on par with higher-performance ovens but costs half as much.
Learning how to properly fire an oven and bake perfect pizzas can be a journey in itself, one that requires both commitment and patience. But the lower-priced BakerStone oven helps lower the bar of investment.
Credit: Aaron Rice
The Ooni Koda 12 costs slightly more than the BakerStone oven, but it is so much more portable — you could actually take it to the park for a pizza picnic. If you are intrigued by the idea of cooking with a wood-fired oven, the Ooni Karu 12G is the best multi-fuel option we've tested to date. And finally, although the NerdChef Steel Stone doesn't have the same allure as a dedicated pizza oven and largely depends on the capacity of an already existing range oven, it does offer an intriguing alternative at a much lower price point.
Pizza steels, like the NerdChef, are an easy way to bake high-quality pizzas any night of the week by drawing on the broiler power of a conventional gas oven.
Credit: Aaron Rice
Cooking Performance
If you plan to invest in this specialty appliance — and these ovens are pricey — you want to be sure that it will excel in its singular task: making pizza. While versatility is a nice bonus (residual heat makes some ovens great for baking), we focus on the attributes of an oven that will allow you to make superb slices. The most popular models mimic traditional Neapolitan-style pizza ovens. As a result, temperature and time are the two critical components to churning out first-rate pizzas.
We will tackle temperature in more detail in the following section, so for now, we will focus on average cooking time. This evaluation consists of preheating, baking, and reheating time, all of which determine how quickly you can turn out pizza after pizza with these relatively tiny ovens. Insulation is the most critical factor since these ovens can quickly build and hold onto that essential heat. The BakerStone Original, Breville Pizzaiolo, and Ooni Koda 12, Karu 12, and Karu 12G are some of the most insulated ovens we tested. However, none of them come close to either the Gozney Roccbox or the Solo Stove Pi, two ovens that offer an exceptional experience thanks to their uber-insulated design.
The crust coming out of the Roccbox was the most consistent with what is, in our opinion, the perfect texture: easily foldable, but with just the right amount of charring.
There is a fine line between perfectly browned and burnt cheese. The control afforded by the Ooni Karu 12G helps you walk this fine line with precision.
The fastest cook times tend to follow along the lines of the most efficient ovens, namely the ones whose portable design best approximates a commercial-grade oven. The Bertello Outdoor, Gozney Roccbox, and Ooni Karu 12G are capable of turning out pizzas in less than 90 seconds, the amount of time established by the AVPN, the international regulatory committee that defines the rules of Neapolitan pizza making. While the Solo Stove Pi is capable of producing a Neapolitan-style pizza in as little as two minutes, we found that it actually bakes a better pie if you cook for a minute more on its ideal, medium heat setting.
Every pizza lover has a particular style they claim to be best, and speed isn't always a factor. In fact, many pizzas require longer bake times to achieve the qualities of their signature style. The Breville Pizzaiolo is the only oven we tested that offers presets for four distinct styles of pizza, including Neapolitan, thin & crispy Tavern-style, New York, and Chicago-style Deep Dish. Regardless of your taste preferences, we can all agree that it only takes one bite to tell whether or not you're about to enjoy a good slice of pizza.
Well-insulated ovens, like the Solo Stove Pi, tend to produce the most evenly baked pizzas.
Credit: Aaron Rice
Though subjective in nature, pizza quality is inextricably tied to cooking performance. The fastest and most insulated ovens mentioned before can all produce beautiful Neapolitan-style pizzas. But those who appreciate a pizza with a crispier crust should consider the Mont Alpi Portable and Cuisinart Alfrescamore, as well as the stylistically versatile BakerStone Original. Baking steels — and, in particular, The Original Baking Steel — surprised us with its ability to consistently cook a near-perfect New York slice.
Get Yourself an Infrared Thermometer
For the aspiring Pizzaiuolo, a modern upgrade to the traditional tool kit should be an infrared thermometer. A good thermometer, dare we say, is an essential tool that will help you monitor the temperature of the pizza stone. You should aim for an optimum baking temperature of around 750 °F in the center of the stone.
If you love the idea of being able to make different styles of pizza almost to perfection and in the comfort of your own kitchen, the Breville Pizzaiolo is an amazing appliance worthy of your investment.
Credit: Aaron Rice
Output Power
A Neapolitan-style pizza oven is defined by its ability to quickly and efficiently cook at temperatures in excess of 800 °F. Since most of these portable ovens are fashioned in that style, they are designed to operate in this same range of extreme temperatures. Using an infrared thermometer, we calculated average and maximum output temperatures. From our cooking experience, we also took notes on optimum baking temperatures relative to pizza quality.
Oven insulation is where cooking performance and output power overlap, simply because an oven cannot retain this level of heat output without a well-insulated oven chamber and pizza stone. We use an infrared thermometer to take temperature readings throughout the oven and across the pizza stone, averaging those numbers to calculate the mean temperatures of each individually, and then figure those two numbers together to estimate an overall average oven temperature.
It should come as no surprise that the most well-insulated ovens also have the highest operating temperatures at the pizza stone. The Ooni Karu 12G, Solo Stove Pi, and Gozney Roccbox stand out in this regard, with average stone temperatures of 778 °F, 776 °F, and 748 °F, respectively. We are also impressed, and frankly quite surprised, by the stone temperatures of the NerdChef Steel Stone. The heavyweight steel regularly achieves average temperatures of 686 °F using only the broiler of your standard range oven. It is nearly as capable of turning out a quality Neapolitan-style pizza as any other standalone oven in this review.
Although it's highly dependent on the quality of your range oven, the NerdChef Steel is an intriguing alternative for cooking Neapolitan-style pizzas indoors.
Credit: Aaron Rice
Savvy readers will recognize that these are not quite the requisite temperatures of a true Neapolitan-style oven. But that is only because we make sure to test these outdoor ovens across a wide temperature range — from sub-freezing winter nights to early summer days — and the environment can significantly affect the ability of an oven to maintain peak efficiency. While our infrared thermometer tops out at 800 °F, we know from an accurate integrated thermocouple that two of our top performers, the Gozney Roccbox and Ooni Karu 12G, regularly run at temperatures closer to 860 °F.
Even in its gas-powered form, the Bertello produces a rolling flame that is key to achieving a perfectly puffed Neapolitan-style pizza.
Credit: Aaron Rice
Propane is certainly a more convenient way to quickly achieve top-range temperatures, but it is less common knowledge that wood-fired ovens are the more powerful option. There has to be some reason besides regulation why all commercial Neapolitan pizza bodegas opt for wood-fired ovens! While gas-powered models are capped by the BTU output of their burners, the limit of a wood fire is only the amount of fuel and oxygen available. To provide some perspective, pottery wood kilns often fire at temperatures in excess of 2000 °F. We're not saying these portable wood-fired ovens can reach temperatures that hot — they are limited by their petite fireboxes. The exception to this design rule is the Ooni Karu 12G, whose oversized fire pan allowed us to regularly push internal air temperatures above 1000 °F.
Using an infrared thermometer allows us to accurately measure, monitor, and objectively compare the temperatures of these ovens. The Ooni Karu 12G was consistently one of the hottest ovens we tested.
Credit: Aaron Rice
Control
The main question about managing pizza production comes down to fuel type: do you want to work with a traditional wood-fired oven, the more convenient propane-powered models, or the indoor amenity of an electric oven? While we compared all three methods directly for the sake of ranking options in this review, there are trade-offs and compromises with each, and as such, each type of oven is best regarded individually. Your ability to control an oven's output will vary depending on the model and the fuel type.
A wood-fired oven is the only option if you adhere to traditional standards. However, wood-fired cooking is truly an art form, and as such, these ovens require a commitment to the learning curve and patience while firing. If you are a traditionalist, the Ooni Karu 12G is the only oven currently endorsed by the AVPN — the international regulatory board for Neapolitan Pizza — so it is the only oven capable of hitting the strict standards of how to make a Neapolitan pizza.
The width of the oversized fire pan on the Karu 12G allows the wood flames to spread out over the ceiling, generating extreme internal air temperatures that are a bit more gentle than the directed flames of gas burners.
Credit: Aaron Rice
As we have so plainly laid out already, insulation is a vital component of a quality pizza oven, but even more so when you are tasked with physically maintaining the heat source. An easy-to-load, ample firebox must be supported by adequate forward airflow that will circulate convective heat throughout the oven — this is going to be determined, in large part, by the size and design of the oven body. A wood-fired oven is best known for the “rolling” flame it produces, and no model creates one quite like the Bertello. But the extra-wide firebox of the Karu 12G creates a more consistent flame that spreads out more evenly across the oven's ceiling, resulting in higher temperatures but a more gentle bake.
Integrated thermometers, like that on the Gozney Roccbox, make it a lot easier to monitor the internal temperature of the oven.
Credit: Aaron Rice
Gas-fired ovens powered by propane are next best to a wood-fired option. However, these tend to be the better choice for portable pizza ovens simply because it is difficult to achieve the necessary heat output of a wood fire when working with such a tiny firebox. Such is the case with the Gozney Roccbox. Even though it is a multi-fuel system, the unique flame-injected, baffled design of the Roccbox delivers the same rolling flame as a traditional wood-burning oven. It is more convenient and efficient to fire it as a gas oven, and ease of use is precisely the point. Gas-fired ovens are easier to set up and fire by yourself, and it is easier to control temperature since you aren't dealing with the dynamics of a wood fire. Their consistent fuel source allows them to recover heat in between pizzas quickly. Despite its popularity, the Ooni Koda 12 is more of an advanced-level gas oven, while the more adjustable, dual-burner system of the BakerStone Original is much more approachable for the novice pizza maker.
For simplicity's sake, it is difficult to match the quick-and-easy setup of a gas-powered oven like the Ooni Koda 12, which will have you firing pizzas in a matter of minutes.
Credit: Aaron Rice
Indoor electric ovens are the ultimate in simplicity and convenience. However, this benefit often comes at the detriment of pizza quality. Their ease of use derives from the fact that often they simply have no control — many are designed just to turn on and bake pizza. The notable exception to this less-than-exciting rule is the Breville Smart Oven Pizzaiolo, which makes truly delicious pizzas. For those willing to pay the price, this oven comes with various presets that streamline the pizza-making process. The less expensive and more versatile version, the Breville Smart Oven, also comes with a preset “pizza” function. Like the Pizzaiolo, this model has been engineered to bake at the optimal time and temperature for whatever type of pizza you are making, whether fresh or frozen. Best of all, the smart ovens will remember your preferences for the future — talk about plug-and-play.
The Breville Pizzaiolo is one of the highest-quality oven we tested, and is by far the easiest (and most expensive) route to cooking Neapolitan-style pizzas.
Credit: Aaron Rice
Ease of Use
Though ease of use does not factor in as heavily as our other metrics, it is essential to consider how we interact with these ovens. We say it time and again: a tool is only as useful as it is easy to use. Just as a charcoal grill is classically the focal point of any backyard setup, these portable pizza ovens can bring together friends and family to share in the joy of pizza and make your outdoor cooking experience more enjoyable.
It all starts with the setup. But we don't mean how difficult it is to put the parts together after taking these ovens out of the box. We're really interested in how much time it takes to get an oven prepped each time you want to make pizza. After you've put in all the work, chopping ingredients and mixing dough, the last thing you want is an oven that feels like a project. Gas-powered options tend to be as simple as unfolding legs and attaching a propane tank; indoor electric models are even more accessible.
The wide mouth of the rounded Solo Stove Pi makes it easier to observe baking progress and to turn pizzas when the time is just right.
Credit: Aaron Rice
The top performer in this metric is the Breville Pizzaiolo, with a perfect 10 out of 10 score. Similar to its toaster oven counterpart, the Breville Smart Oven, this expertly engineered indoor oven can operate almost fully automated or dialed in as you please with the manual settings — dealers' choice. The versatility of this impressive oven can meet you where you're at: whether you're new to the art of pizza-making or a seasoned pro, you're all but guaranteed to be able to turn out a truly delicious artisan pie. The smart Element iQ system, dual heating elements, and an overall thoughtful design make this our most user-friendly option. And, since this is an indoor oven, you also won't have to worry about moving in from the garage to the backyard whenever you want to get cooking.
Look at those air pockets! On its Neapolitan setting, the Breville Pizzaiolo turns out pies with a cornicione that is perfectly puffed and charred.
Credit: Aaron Rice
Baking steels like the NerdChef Steel Stone or The Original Baking Steel are about as uncomplicated as they come: the steel simply slides into and helps enhance the baking capability of a standard range oven. For pizza lovers with a small kitchen and no backyard or porch space, a baking steel is a no-brainer alternative to the other ovens in this review.
The NerdChef Steel is an inexpensive way to bake beautiful pizzas with any regular range oven.
Credit: Aaron Rice
Wood-fired ovens will require chopping and splitting wood, monitoring and stoking a fire to get the oven up to temperature, and, more often than not, someone dedicated to fire tending while others prep and bake the pizzas. This distinction makes gas-fired models — like the BakerStone Original and Mont Alpi ovens, in particular — more accessible for novice cooks. For those dedicated to learning the art of cooking with natural fuels but who may not want to give up the ease of firing a gas oven, the multi-fuel systems of the Ooni Karu 12G, or Bertello ovens will allow you to transition between these two worlds of pizza making seamlessly.
The Gozney Roccbox comes standard as a gas-oven, but an accessory firebox (the Wood Burner 2.0) offers purists the opportunity to light this up as a wood-fired oven.
Credit: Aaron Rice
Since these are intended to be portable, we also consider how reasonable and practical they are to move around. Weight and size — particularly bulk — make a huge difference in lugging one of these out to the park for a picnic, but footprint should also be considered, particularly by those working with less real estate. Our favorite for portability is the gas-fired Ooni Koda 12. despite its larger footprint, this stainless steel oven weighs only 20 pounds and tucks foldable legs up under its turtle-like shell for easy transport and storage. The Bertello is also conveniently sized but weighs closer to 35 pounds in its wood-fired form. The Gozney Roccbox has one of the smallest footprints, but its heavily insulated frame tips the scales at 44 pounds and would be difficult to haul around if it weren't for the aid of a heavy-duty lifting strap.
The ability to make delicious Neapolitan pizzas from your home kitchen is a beautiful thing.
Credit: Avi Farber
Conclusion
However you go about it, pizza making is fun. These portable ovens offer the opportunity to pop up a pizzeria in your own backyard and encourage sharing joy and pizza with friends and family — the ever-important community component to the art of Neapolitan pizzaiolo. We hope that this comprehensive review helps guide your purchase decision so that you can get off the internet, get outside, and get to making pizza. Buon appetito.
