Summerset Pizza Ovens Expert Review

The Skinny:

• 304-grade stainless steel construction with double-walled construction
• 3 porcelain enamel steel racks, each large enough to cook a 16-inch pizza
• Heat diffuser over the 16,000 BTU to evenly distribute heat for perfect cooking
• Depending on environment, temperatures between 200–450 degrees Fahrenheit
• Full-view front window and interior halogen lights for night grilling

Summerset Grills enjoys subverting expectations with unique yet remarkable equipment. This multi-purpose outdoor kitchen pizza oven is really no different: it proudly displays every entrée on a windowed pedestal, is a dream to clean, and is built from the best materials on hand. Do they build a great pizza oven? Not really — they build an incredible, stunningly versatile oven that just happens to excel at baking pizzas.

Quality

Boasts superior construction inside and out with reasonable ease of assembly.

The Summerset Pizza Oven itself arrives complete in box; on the freestanding model, the cart is another story, though we found having an extra pair of hands took it from sealed to standing in about an hour. If for nothing else, the extra body can help lift the main unit — we clocked ours at 154 pounds — but the reward is a finished oven ready for fuel, fire, and feeding friends or family.

Once upright, the first thing we noticed about the oven was its stainless steel, double-walled body; this was certainly a great early indication of quality construction. Opening the oven reveals several curiosities: 3 removable steel racks coated in porcelain enamel, halogen lights that nurture night cookouts, and a steel interior coated with high-temperature enamel. This last one makes this oven a marvel to clean, aided and abetted by a grease tray (this was our first clue that we weren’t examining your usual pizza oven).

Back outside the cooking chamber, the usual expectations about 304-grade stainless steel hold true: the oven holds up against the elements, remains virtually rust-proof in relatively dry environments, and is excellent in outdoor kitchens. The owner’s manual recommends the included weatherized cover, and so do we; though we didn’t see this ourselves, inclement weather might force water into the cooking chamber. Meanwhile, climates of high humidity or salinity — seawater comes to mind here — might eventually tax the protective chromium oxide layer, though basic upkeep goes a long way. Otherwise, the regular resistance to corrosion, rust, and staining apply as usual.

Performance:

Temperatures reach 200–450 degrees Fahrenheit of evenly dispersed heat in ideal conditions.

Summerset Grills built a heat diffuser in over this pizza oven’s 16,000 BTU stainless steel tube burner. Everything in that sentence gave us expectations for comparatively rapid preheating and even heat distribution; separate preheat times clocked in between 45–50 minutes, which we consider sensible given the ample volume of the cooking chamber. That chamber space includes 1,143 square inches divided across 3 high temperature steel racks, each one coated in porcelain enamel and measuring 19.17 inches (deep) x 19.88 inches (wide). The fuel choices here are arguably the ones built for convenience: bulk natural gas or a 20-lb propane cylinder (for the latter, Summerset Grills strongly suggests no more than 80% filled).

The manufacturer quoted us a low range of 200–250 degrees Fahrenheit, depending heavily on environmental factors. Internal testing (in a relatively humid climate) provided stable oven temperatures right at 230 degrees, although your mileage may vary. Meanwhile, the upper end of the scale was suggested at a reasonable 450 degrees; we found that to be accurate. It’s worth mentioning that these were convection conditions. We got the included pizza stone itself up to about 700 degrees.

Maintenance is a snap. From our experience, cleanup is really as simple as running the oven for 10–15 minutes to burn off food residue, and then (once the oven has completely cooled down) wiping it out with warm soap and water. Mild detergent is all it takes to clean the cooking grates. This next one goes out to our handymen and fix-it-yourselfers out there — if you should, for some reason, need to replace a component, the owner’s manual contains an exploded diagram followed by 3 pages of illustrations and model numbers for every single piece in the assembly (alongside the service department’s hours and telephone number). Maybe this goes without saying, but we don’t often see this level of forethought and care.

Features:

Thoughtful inclusions greatly expand this pizza oven with unexpected versatility.

As we’re dealing with a pizza oven that’s out for market share in regular oven territory, this unit comes equipped with interesting extras. Firstly, we’re happy to see an easy method for bringing the heat: the continuous push-button spark igniter. Summerset Grills went a few miles further with the convenience of foldable side shelves and, beneath the cooking chamber, a warming drawer (which can double as pan or tool storage when out of use).

But where this unit begins to get really interesting is with the removable drip tray and smoker box. These last two not only widen the imagination, but actively encourage it: their simple inclusion asks, “Pizza tonight? Absolutely. Why not a fat, juicy smoked rump roast tomorrow?” We really cannot overstate how much this redefined our examination of this unit — and how many internal conversations this brought back to life about Grill Master Randy’s smoked bacon-wrapped stuffed meatloaf.

Reviewing the warranty, we found 5 years of protection for construction and materials, 3 years for the burner, and 1 year for all internal parts (such as the grates, burner covers, and igniter). We normally expect more generous offerings, but we’re pleased to see the warranty conditions outlined in plain terms in the owner’s manual.

Shipped with this oven is a 15-inch refractory ceramic pizza stone; right around here is where we decided, “Okay, so this really is a pizza oven.” Rounding out said oven is a pizza accessory package, which includes all the essential pizza oven accessories alongside a second pizza stone. Incorporating both stones top and bottom effectively convert the oven into a full ceramic refraction chamber for outstanding heat insulation — in other words, crispier and crunchier crusts cooked faster. Of additional note, you’ll also find the welcome touches of an additional smoker box and a folding, storage-friendly pizza peel.