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Benefits of an Outdoor Pizza Oven
Better Than Take-out
It’s not delivery, it’s home-cooked pizza! Wood-fired flavors always beat what you get from chain restaurants or the frozen section of the store.
Not Just for Pizza
It may have “pizza” in the name, but these versatile ovens excel at creating delicious bread, desserts, and savory entrees.
Fun for Dinner
Tired of making the same old boring dinners every week? Pizza ovens transform mealtime into fun family experiences where everyone can participate.
Tasty and Nutritious Meals
Create healthy wood-fired meals such as chicken or fish. Even pizza doesn’t have to be unhealthy when made with high-quality, healthier ingredients.
Save Energy Costs
Most models don’t use electricity, and those that do require much less than indoor ovens, which could inflate your power bill when used to cook pizza inside.
Quick and Easy
Thanks to their high-heat output and refractory cooking floors, pizza ovens transform your dough into perfectly puffy crust in a matter of minutes.
Wood Pizza Ovens vs Gas Pizza Ovens
Pizza ovens come in a variety of fuel types, but the most common by far are wood-fired pizza ovens and gas pizza ovens. Both fuel types give you lots of options when it comes to configuration, shape, size, and even color and both will deliver hot, fresh, and perfectly crispy pizza. Still, there are some small differences in the way they operate—namely the convenience factor. Let's dive right into those differences to help make your decision easier.
Wood Pizza Ovens
This age-old tradition is the way pizza has been made from the beginning. Upfront, we’ll tell you that authentic wood-fired ovens require finesse and attention, though if you ask us, the results are well worth the effort for satisfyingly crunchy pizza.
Wood pizza ovens come in two styles: one cozies the pizza up beside the fire while the other houses the fire in a separate compartment. The former has the advantage of direct infrared heat, which is powerful, dry, and is great for getting a crispy crust. They also preheat a lot faster, though the trade-off requires the hands-on approach meaning you’ll need to maintain the fire with long tools and physically spin the pizza for even heating. The alternative is much easier to work with since you’ll have direct fire access. Heat vents from this compartment to the pizza chamber, which means no need to spin that pie. While ash is less of a concern, note that separating the fire and pizza means longer warmup time.
Gas Pizza Ovens
If you want molten, gooey pizza without all the effort, gas-powered pizza ovens are a dream. These give you all the amazing cheesy goodness of a freshly home-cooked pie minus the hassle of maintaining a fire. For those of you all about convenience, gas pizza ovens are incredibly easy to use—forget loading wood and lighting fires, simply twist the dial, and enjoy! These machines are excellent friends to anyone who wants a simple pizza oven for smaller gatherings, quick and fun dinners for the family, or even pizza addicts who want minimal work.
Gas pizza ovens range from traditional burners to all-infrared machines. While an infrared burner nicely mimics the heat of a wood fire, many pizza ovens are limited to convective heat meaning more moisture, which won’t give your crusts that sought-after crunch. That said, it’s still possible to achieve that on a gas pizza oven. Fuel for these ovens will come with bulk natural gas lines or your standard portable propane tanks. If you opt for propane power, installation’s about as simple as it gets. For natural gas builds, contact a licensed plumber so they can properly verify your natural gas line has the appropriate volume and pressure to support that lean, mean pizza-making machine.
Note: Wood-fired and gas-fueled are probably the pizza ovens you’ve heard of, but did you know other varieties exist? Fuel types such as electric, pellet, and charcoal are available, though those aren’t as common as the standard wood and gas options. Electric is reasonably self-explanatory, and pellets have the advantage of convenience, delivering the flavor and dry heat of wood fire without the cleanup factor.
Pizza Oven Configurations
Built-In Pizza Ovens
Of these designs, the first features finished exteriors (usually stainless steel) and can be built into an enclosure or mounted to a cart. The other is a great option for DIY lovers: ready-to-finish pizza ovens that provide the interior shell and necessary internals, then let you customize with the exterior (such as capturing the aesthetic of true Italian brick pizza ovens). Built-in pizza ovens involve a ceramic or stone shell within a brick-constructed enclosure, which often houses a propane tank or a cubby for wood storage. If you plan to make a pizza oven the superstar of your outdoor kitchen, then a built-in pizza oven will be your new best friend.
Countertop Pizza Ovens
Think about that enclosure-friendly, cart-mounted built-in variant, and you’ve got the basics for a countertop pizza oven. These finished pizza ovens are designed to sit atop a flat surface, like a cart or counter, with exteriors to deflect the elements. Now, these are made to vent a lot of heat through open air, so enclosures will wreak some havoc, but some models give you a choice between countertop and built-in installations. Countertop units are fantastic for those who already have their kitchen situation sorted and want to give it extra versatility. Sure, pizza power is great and all, but pizza ovens do way more than that. Steaks! Chops! Roasts! Cakes, pies, and cobblers? You bet. Roasted vegetables, braised lamb, artisanal bread and more are at your fingertips!
Freestanding Pizza Ovens
Freestanding pizza ovens are great for those who want simple cooking capability added to their outdoor space, or limited space for permanent installations. These are finished pizza ovens on a cart. Both the ovens themselves and their carts vary in shapes and sizes for any environment. Mobility is the main advantage as they can be moved around a space to suit your needs. Compared to building an oven into an enclosure, or a large DIY pizza oven, this is the less expensive and wildly easier approach. Freestanding pizza ovens come in all fuel types, including both variants of the wood-burning pizza oven mentioned above.
Portable Pizza Ovens
Portable pizza ovens are the smallest and least expensive of pizza machines everywhere. A smaller cooking chamber makes for very little fuel consumption and an overall compact design that’s perfect for easy storage and portability. The trade-off is the number of pizzas you can churn out at once, since these ovens typically only hold one pie at a time. They are fueled by gas, wood, or pellets and make any outdoor trip with friends and family memorable. Overall, they make a great option for anyone who just wants to bake the occasional pie at home.
What Size Pizza Oven do You Need?
Pizza ovens come in all sizes, but to make things easier we've divided our pizza oven selection into 4 distinct size ranges. Our pizza experts get a lot of questions from customers on the maximum size of pizza that can fit inside an oven, but to compare models we find it helps to imagine how many pizzas of a certain size can fit inside the oven instead of the potential maximum. We use 12-inch pies to help show the difference in size between ovens, but some of our XL models can fit extremely large pies. The only limitation is what you can lift into the oven!
Which Class of Pizza Ovens is Best for You?
There are many factors at play when deciding on the perfect pizza oven. For more than 20 years, our experts have tested all kinds of pizza ovens. Using their wealth of knowledge, we split our selection into 4 easy-to-understand classifications: Luxury, Premium, Practical, and Entry-Level. All are judged by a combination of quality, performance, and features that lands a pizza oven in its class. See below for a brief overview of what each pizza oven class has to offer.
Luxury Pizza Ovens
- Ideal form and function combine to give you stunning craftsmanship and perfect pizza
- Top-of-the-line materials and lifetime warranties provide years of outdoor cooking
- Refractory cooking domes couple with smart chimneys for masterful heat retention
- Luxury features like interior lights and split glass doors add functionality and charm
Premium Pizza Ovens
- High-level versatility and customizability for your dream backyard pizzeria
- Mixed materials up to commercial-grade stainless steel are backed by solid warranties
- Thick insulation and heavy-gauge materials result in excellent performance
- Fun accessories plus unique features make for an immersive cooking experience
Practical Pizza Ovens
- Budget-friendly ovens made from a variety of materials with shorter warranties
- Can still achieve scorching temperatures despite relatively thin materials and less insulation
- Temperature maintenance is a breeze thanks to easy-to-access, offset fire boxes
- Lack the wide array of features and accessories common in higher classes
Pizza Oven Construction
Most of the pizza ovens you’ll see are assembled from a steel exterior and refractory cement interior. Powder-coated and painted steel are less expensive, but 304 stainless steel is better at holding up against the weather and tends to be more durable. On the interior, some models consist of a single poured cement dome; others are steel bodies with refractory tile floors and some others are steel. DIY and ready-to-finish models skip the exterior (that’s your job!) and are simply an inner shell ready to be outfitted for your kitchen.
Pizza Oven Accessories
To accompany your new oven, you can’t go wrong with the right accessories. Pizza peels will be your go-to for sliding your pies in and out of the oven. Wooden peels help build pizzas, while metal peels handle them around scorching heat. Next on your list should be a pizza cutter. Cutting boards make great backup; cast-iron cookware is awesome for deep dish pizza or more complex oven recipes. Don’t forget to keep your investment protected with a pizza oven cover! If you can’t decide, pizza accessory bundles tie up all the tools you’ll need to maintain order and stock up on incredible home-baked pizza. Looking for more advice? Our 5 Essential Pizza Oven Accessories guide will tell you everything you need to know.
If you still have questions about pizza ovens, we can still absolutely help. Our fantastic pizza experts are standing by and waiting for your call! Give them a call at 1 (877) 743-2269.