Outdoor pizza ovens promise the kind of crispy, bubbly, restaurant-style pie you’d usually get from your favorite pizzeria. But before you spend big bucks to upgrade your backyard, Consumer Reports exclusive tests reveal which ovens are actually worth a slice of your budget.
As a trained chef and pizza enthusiast, Consumer Reports’ Paul Hope has spent years perfecting his pizzas at home and in CR’s labs. He says the latest outdoor pizza ovens can make pizza night at home much easier.
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Pizza ovens are great for people who really like to cook and want to play around with different toppings and perfect the process. They’re not great if you just want a quick route to good pizza.
CR evaluated 8 popular pizza ovens using the same store-bought dough, sauce, and cheese for consistency.
Fifty-plus pies later, the Solo Stove Pi Dual Fuel Pizza Oven for $500 model stood out among the competition, consistently turning out great pizzas. For smaller pies cooked with wood or charcoal, consider the Ooni Karu 12 Multi-Fuel Pizza Oven for $250.
Wood-fired ovens are great because they give you that sort of authentic, traditional crust and flavor, but gas ovens, in general, are much easier to use and provide more consistent results.
No matter which oven you choose, CR says these tips can help you create a great-tasting pizza.
First, get it hot – Preheat the oven for up to 30 minutes, so it’s at the optimal temperature for a perfectly crispy crust.
Then, move quickly. These ovens get really hot, and even 10 seconds can make a big difference in how the pie turns out, so you want to make sure you have everything ready before you start cooking.
Finally, practice makes perfect. Expect to make mistakes no matter which oven you choose. Cook with it, get familiar with it, then throw a pizza party.
If you’re still struggling to get the crust cooked through, CR says try precooking the crust for a few minutes in your outdoor pizza oven and then add toppings to the partly baked crust.