Fire It Up! Finding the Best Outdoor Pizza Oven for Your Outdoor Kitchen
We laid a solid foundation of pizza oven know-how in our beginner’s guide to outdoor pizza ovens, now it’s time to dig a little deeper. Many pizzas and a lot of trial and error later, here are our top favorite outdoor pizza ovens. Oh, we also tackle some commonly asked questions that have puzzled many a first timer. Let’s dive in.
So, Really, What’s the Best Outdoor Pizza Oven?
The best ovens are judged on a few important characteristics: aesthetics, heat, speed, and ease of use (not necessarily in that order of importance). In this article, we explore popular wood-fired and natural gas options for homeowners looking to kick their outdoor living space up a tasty notch.
Splurge Alert!
We just can’t help sharing a good thing! After testing, the OLS team approves the Ooni Koda as the best overall outdoor pizza oven.
Ooni Koda 12 Gas Pizza Oven: With nearly 1000 Amazon reviews, and almost 90% of those shoppers rating this gem 4-stars or above, this pizza oven is truly the winning choice for the best overall oven! Gas-powered, easy-to use, freestanding, and delivering pizzas in 60-seconds, the Ooni Koda will be the center of your next backyard patio party.
Tested & Approved by the OLS team as the best overall outdoor pizza oven.
First things first: which is better, a masonry or a stainless steel outdoor pizza oven?
A traditional masonry pizza oven works on thermal mass to cook the pizza to perfection. Their high thermal mass means the ability to absorb and store heat. The downsides are that it takes a long time to reach the perfect temperature of around 625 degrees F, the fire must be tended constantly, and when you first build a masonry pizza oven, it will need to cure before you can sling pizzas like a pro for friends and family. Additionally, masonry ovens are often large and custom, reducing their ability to work well for many backyards.
A stainless steel pizza oven works by reflecting heat. The oven itself doesn’t absorb much heat; the space inside the chamber heats up quickly, which is great if you’re hoping to eat quickly. However, if you want to bake multiple pizzas, you’ll need to make sure the oven stays on between pizzas - or wait for it to warm up again. Steel ovens are typically smaller, too, which means they are portable (either table top models or ovens on wheels) but at the cost of family-sized pies that won’t fit inside the chamber. Steel ovens don’t give the traditional vibe of a masonry oven but often fit better into a contemporary space.
The answer really depends on your lifestyle—how serious a pizza connoisseur are you and how much time and space do you have to dedicate to baked, bubbly goodness of a margarita pie. Which brings us to the next major decision point:
Second things second: Do you want custom flair or easy-peasy?
Pizza ovens for your outdoor living space are available in all shapes, sizes, and colors. Much like everything else for the home, there’s no shortage of options out there. So you need to do a little self-assessment—am I going to use this thing a few times a year on whim, or am I a serious entertainer who deserves an authentic, hand-made pizza oven? We’ll take a look at both paths below, and in the outdoor living design/world, both are equally common. But the path to getting the oven in place is very different. For the custom option, you’ll be working directly with your landscape and/or masonry contractor to explore the options and styles for the oven of your dreams. For the few-pizza-parties-a-year house, choosing a tabletop or cart option is almost always a better option. The tabletop path allows you to reallocate budget to other elements of your outdoor kitchen that may be more important to you—perhaps that new Argentinian-style Nuke Grill you’ve been eyeing.
The Best Tabletop Outdoor Pizza Ovens
Let’s have a look at the top choices for compact, tabletop-style outdoor pizza ovens that will have family and friends flocking to your backyard for doughy goodness. The best part? They’re easy to use and cook pizzas super-quickly so you can make it happen in stride with short notice.
Gas Outdoor Pizza Ovens:
Ooni Koda 16 Gas Pizza Oven: Winning numerous awards multiple years running, this sleek and innovative pizza oven is a true winner. It uses natural gas for fuel, burning at a consistent and controllable heat as long as you need it. It comprises a beautiful steel shell with a modern design pizza stone big enough to make 16" pies. It is freestanding, but this easy to use and slick design will help you make the best of your outdoor gatherings. This may just be the ultimate tabletop outdoor pizza oven.
Gozney Roccbox Gas Pizza Oven: The Roccbox brings a professional-grade pizza oven to the backyard. With gas burner standard out of the box, Gozney also offers a detachable wood burner accessory. Talk about the best of both worlds! Wrapped in a design-forward, cool-to-the-touch silicone covering, the Roccbox is cool to the touch, stylish, and cooks pizzas in a matter of minutes. In fact, temperatures reach 950F. It’s also portable with retractable legs and detachable burner.
Wood-Fired, Wood Pellet Outdoor Pizza Oven:
Ooni Fyra 12 Wood Fired Outdoor Pizza Oven: At just over 20 pounds, the Ooni Frya may just deliver the best pizza on the go. But small does not mean weak—with temps over 900°F, you’ll be feeding hungry mouths with fresh, piping hot pizzas in under 90 seconds. Why the big heat in the small package? It’s powered by wood pellets. The pellet hopper automatically feeds the oven hardwood pellets for a seamless cooking experience.
Multi-fuel Outdoor Pizza Oven (Gas & Wood):
Bertello Outdoor Pizza Oven: This pizza oven has been featured as a unique unit in its industry due to its ability to use multiple fuels. Featured on Shark Tank, it can use wood, natural gas, and charcoal at the same time, showing its versatility in cooking a wide variety of different kinds of pizza. It comprises a steel chamber with a narrow opening and a 12.5 inch wide pizza stone. One of the lightest in weight in the group, it’s a good choice for those looking to travel with their pizza-cooking companion. Because switching between fuel sources can be a bit tricky, this one tends to less of exact science.
Solo Stove Pi Outdoor Pizza Oven: Much like the Bertello oven, the Solo Stove Pi offers the ability to cook with different heat sources—in this case wood and propane. The stock Pi is wood-fired only, with the propane burner sold as an optional accessory. Adding wood seems to be something that can take time away from the main activity at hand—slinging pies—so we recommend going for the propane burner.
Professional Grade Outdoor Pizza Oven:
Alfa One Outdoor Pizza Oven: For those homeowners looking to kick the quality up a few notches, this countertop oven packs big style—and big heat. A true Italian-style pizza oven, the One features stainless steel construction and a double layer of ceramic fiber insulation, helping retain heat nicely. In fact, the One reaches north of 750°F in under 10 minutes. Bring the authentic taste of Napoli home with real wood-fired pizzas right in your own backyard.
Hoping for more design options? A custom masonry outdoor pizza oven may be for you.
While tabletop, plug-and-play style pizza ovens come with loads of convenience, they aren’t the only game in town. Many homeowners prefer going the custom route, working with a landscape design/build firm to create a custom, wood-fired pizza oven. With this approach, it is common for contractors to leverage a prefabricated insert for the oven portion, and then enclose that unit in a combination of materials including brick, natural stone veneer, or precast retaining wall products such as those from Unilock, Belgard, or Techo-Bloc. When going this route, it’s common to incorporate materials from the rest of the project to create a cohesive look and feel throughout the outdoor living space. Wood storage boxes, outdoor fireplaces, and decorative seat walls are often included in the design plans.
Residential Outdoor Pizza Oven Kit. Image courtesy of Chicago Brick Oven.
Custom Outdoor Pizza Oven Inserts:
Chicago Brick Oven Residential Outdoor Pizza Oven Kit: Completely wood-fired, the chamber and its opening are both made of steel, which will stay looking beautiful and remain efficient at retaining heat for many years to come. This pizza oven has a large 22 by 27 inch cooking surface, ensuring that you can cook two pizzas at the same time. Heck, let’s not say only pizzas for this one—bring on the steaks and veggies for same, great-tasting, open-fire goodness.
FAQs
Do You Need Planning Permission For An Outdoor Pizza Oven?
Maybe. It depends on your state, municipality, and potentially a homeowner’s association where your home is located. Some regulatory bodies have various rules regarding outdoor ovens and grills, basically any backyard appliance that produces fire using any type of fuel. A permanent masonry pizza oven, for instance, may also require construction permits in your location. HOAs and apartment regulations could also come into play.
Is A Wood-Fired Pizza Oven Worth It?
Definitely! The investment you make on an outdoor pizza oven will pay back in dividends. Some wood-fired pizza ovens are cheaper than others, but all are definitely more expensive than natural gas-fueled pizza ovens. The difference is that with a wood-fired pizza oven you have a much more authentic look and flavor as you and your loved ones enjoy pizzas in your backyard.
How Much Does It Cost To Build A Custom Masonry Pizza Oven In Your Backyard?
Starting around $5,000. There are lots of variables in what it takes to build a backyard pizza oven, such as the masonry materials used, the size of the space, the landscape renovation required, and the type of fuel used. Building a pizza oven from scratch may be significantly more expensive than countertop units, but you’ll have a backyard feature to be proud of.
What Size Outdoor Pizza Oven Do I Need?
The size of the pizza oven determines many different factors of a homeowner’s DIY cooking experiences.
A smaller freestanding pizza oven will take around 15 minutes to heat up while larger masonry ovens can take up to 25 minutes. The size of the chamber also determines how much fuel will be used. However, a small pizza oven will have limited cooking capabilities. What size outdoor pizza oven you need depends on how fast you want your pizza, how many pizzas you’re going to make at once, and space considerations. Masonry ovens may not be suited for tiny backyard living areas, but table top pizza ovens can be thought of as semi-permanent fixtures that can be moved out of the way when not in use.
How Do You Build A Pizza Oven Outside?
While some handy DIY homeowners choose to build their own outdoor masonry pizza ovens, most consumers looking to create a beautiful, cohesive outdoor living space leverage the experience of professionals.
You and your landscape and/or masonry contractor will work together to find a suitable location. Depending on the demands of the design, many contractors will look to use a precast oven unit such as this one from Chicago Brick Oven. From there, the pizza oven will be built-out and finished using beautiful stone veneer or precast retaining walls and pavers.
What Is The Best Pizza Oven Design?
In order to choose the right pizza oven design, first make some considerations on the shape for blending in with your outdoor kitchen. The dome shape is the classic design because it is highly efficient and can add a wonderful aesthetic to your outdoor living space. You won’t have a bad experience cooking pizzas with a rectangular or square design though, if a domed look isn’t your style.
Does An Outdoor Pizza Oven Have To Be Dome Shaped?
No, but there are several advantages to a dome shaped outdoor pizza oven. Most importantly, the dome shape itself allows for an air flow that is much more efficient than in square or rectangular chambers. This allows for much more even cooking whether you’re baking a pizza or making other foods. Dome shaped pizza ovens also tend to look much more elegant and decorative.
What Is The Best Wood To Use For An Outdoor Pizza Oven?
You’d think that all firewood is the same when it comes to making a lot of heat and allowing for the flavors to come out in ingredients. However, there are big differences in the types of wood species used for different foods.
By and large, oak wood is the best kind of wood that should be used in wood-fired foods. It burns at a high heat, ensuring the fast cook time that pizza requires. It also has a great smell and adds lots of flavor to food. You can also add flavor-adding fruitwoods such as cherry tree wood or peachtree wood, but oak wood should be your base.
Which Is Better, Ooni or Roccbox?
You may find that both of these leading outdoor pizza oven brands make for wonderful tools in your backyard cooking. They do offer similar products and you may have noticed that Ooni is somewhat more expensive. Roccbox doesn’t offer the same kind of versatility and beauty in their pizza ovens that Ooni offers with their models. Ooni may be slightly more expensive, but their pizza ovens will bring better value to your outdoor pizza making.
Can An Ooni Pizza Oven Stay Outside?
When you’re using your Ooni pizza oven, it needs to be outside by design. They simply get too hot to use in an indoor setting, which can lead to some potentially dangerous situations. When you’re not using your Ooni pizza oven however, you’ll need a safe place to store it. The harsh weather of winter won’t do any immediate harm to your pizza oven. Over the months and years though, the metal can become cracked or corroded if hit with the direct forces of nature all year round. You can store your pizza oven in the garage or sheltered under the cover of a pavilion or porch. Many pizza ovens also come with custom zip-up covers that can protect the oven when not in use.
Can A Pizza Oven Be Outside?
Absolutely! Your pizza oven should be outside whenever you want to use it. The heat emanating from a pizza oven can not only make an indoor or enclosed space hot extremely quickly, there are some elements of danger as well. All pizza ovens emit either smoke or exhaust from the burned fuel.
Unless your pizza oven is a permanent masonry structure, it’s best not to leave your outdoor pizza oven outside permanently. Even outdoor rated pizza ovens will eventually succumb to the elements as the various forces of weather can cause corrosion or cracking in the structure, the various electronics, or the gas piping.
Sheltering your pizza oven under a permanent structure such as a pavilion will let you keep it outside year-round. You can also use a cover to protect the oven from the elements when you’re not using it.
Where Should An Outdoor Pizza Oven Be Placed?
While there are some safety considerations any homeowner needs to make when placing a pizza oven in their outdoor living space, much of the decision making will be focused on where it makes the most sense in terms of convenience.
The rules for safety are straightforward: A pizza oven needs to be placed on level ground with at least 3 feet of space on all sides from any obstacles such as plants or any combustible surfaces.
A pizza oven should be placed in an area that’s close enough to your outdoor cooking and dining area where it doesn’t mean walking long distances to tend to the pizza or bring supplies. It will also save you money if it’s closer to the home by using the home’s utility infrastructure, such as gas lines, electricity, and water in an outdoor kitchen setting.
Does An Outdoor Pizza Oven Need A Chimney?
It depends on the kind of fuel your pizza oven is using. A wood burning pizza oven, for instance, will create smoke and ash that needs to be dispersed. Without a chimney, this smoke will pour out of the pizza oven, making it difficult and unpleasant to be around, and the smoke could give an acrid taste to otherwise delicious pizzas. A chimney will disperse all of the smoke from the burning wood well above everyone’s heads, yet will still add a wonderful aroma to the surrounding area. A gas burning pizza oven does not need a large chimney, but still some ventilation is needed from a small ventilation shaft.
What Is The Difference Between A Deck Oven And A Pizza Oven?
The main difference between these two pizza ovens is mainly the type of pizza they produce. Wood-fired or natural gas fired pizza ovens both use direct heat and indirect heat to cook a pizza, but a wood-fired pizza oven is better suited to making thick-crust pizza in addition to thin-crust. Depending on your pizza preferences, this can influence your backyard pizza-making experience.
The similarities are that the open flame inside these ovens will quickly cook the exposed parts of the pizzas. Meanwhile, the all important pizza stone that makes up the bottom of the oven chamber will indirectly heat the bottom of the pizza, cooking the crust to perfection.
A deck oven is most commonly used for thin crust pizzas. The stone is the main source of heat in a deck oven since the flames are located below. At high temperatures, the deck oven uses indirect convection to cook a pizza. Wood fired pizza ovens are preferred by many because they give that delicious smoky flavor that gas-fueled ovens can’t.
Can You Use An Outdoor Fireplace As A Pizza Oven?
It’s definitely possible! In fact, there are some absolutely fantastic outdoor fireplace designs that can combine the outdoor fireplace with a pizza oven. A wood burning outdoor fireplace can be set up to use two separate chambers for optimal efficiency and to keep things somewhat cleaner. You can build this large combination fire feature as the centerpiece of both your outdoor kitchen and the nearby patio area where you and your loved ones gather. Plus, it can be a magnetic draw for anybody who visits your backyard!
How Do You Build An Outdoor Fire Pizza Oven?
The average homeowner may be capable of building a masonry outdoor pizza oven right in their backyard. Keep in mind that only trained professionals should be building a gas fire feature, so a DIY pizza oven should be wood fired only. You’ll need certain equipment to get started, such as a cement mixer, concrete setting tools, shovels, levels, and others. First, the space needs to be leveled and graded, then a foundation set. Cement blocks will make up the core of the structure, which can then be finished with brick, tile, or natural stone. The process is laborious when done as a DIY project, so anyone who isn’t up to the challenge should be sure to contact a landscaping masonry professional.