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These free-standing, portable, domed and barbecue-top ovens are the only way to make truly authentic pizza
Kulwinder has been a journalist, editor and public relations consultant for more than 30 years, specialising in technology, home entertainment, domestic appliances and cars. During this time, he’s tested, benchmarked and written about hundreds of products for both media publications and manufacturers.
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On the hunt for the best pizza oven to give to a foodie, or to get ahead for this summer’s al fresco dining? These days you can take your pick from hundreds of wood-fired, gas-fired and even electric pizza ovens. Wood-fired ovens deliver the classic smoky flavour preferred by traditionalists. Gas ovens are smaller, easier to use and offer better temperature control. Electric pizza ovens can cook more evenly.
Ooni leads the way, but Sage, Gozney and La Hacienda are also strong brands. At the top end sits Stefano Ferrara, whose domed, hand-bricked ovens appear in pizzerias worldwide, with prices starting at £6,000. For home cooks, you can achieve near-authentic results with a £300 model from Ninja.
We’ve tested all of these, among others, and you can read our reviews below, followed by answers to some frequently asked questions. But if you’re in a rush, here’s a quick look at our top five:
Matt Williams, Co-Founder of the The Oxford Charcoal Company, says the two things to factor is are size and fuel-type. Barbecue-top and portable pizza ovens which can run on gas or electricity are the best option for most homes, because they can be stored away more easily. If you want the best results, however, you do need a wood-fired oven.
“Being able to recreate that incredible wood-fired flavour and texture in your own garden is the ideal,” Williams says and for that, you’d probably need a wood-fired oven hot enough to cook a pizza in 60 seconds – which Italians will tell you is the best cooking time for a standout crust.”
Small wood-fired ovens are available, such as the Roccbox (reviewed below), but most are fairly large. All of the ovens in our guide will enable you to create a freshly-made pizza far superior to anything you’ll buy in a supermarket.
We asked Matt Williams and various other pizza-making experts, including The Telegraph’s own Xanthe Clay, to recommend their favourite pizza ovens of different sizes, for different uses and at different price points.
Kulwinder Rai has also tested a number of the best contenders at home, trying out their various functions and cooking a selection of different types of pizza on each.
Our experts all considered how reliable each pizza oven was, how well they were built and how easy they were to set up. As you would expect, they also measured how long it took to cook a pizza and how quickly each oven reached the desired temperature, as well as the results each oven produced.
Accessories available for each pizza oven were also considered. Scores on all of these metrics were combined to give the marks out of five you see below.
All opinions are based on independent expert opinion and our hands-on testing. Visit our Who We Are page to learn more.
Best Buy Pizza Oven
John Lewis £499.99
Buy nowThe Gozney Tread is similar in design to the Arc XL (reviewed below) but considerably smaller. It also has a pair of handles on top for carrying it around (within reason, it’s still heavy) as well as mounting the optional but brilliant Tread Roof Rack, which incorporates a chopping board and convenient place for plates.
Inside, the Tread employs the same type of lateral rolling flame burner as the Arc XL, but with its smaller oven volume, it heats up twice as fast as the Arc XL. I recommend getting the temperature into the high end of the green quadrant (440C-500C) on the speedo-style temperature gauge and then dialling it down to the first third (300-360C).
The maximum pizza size for Tread is 12in, but I gravitated towards 9in as these are easier to handle with a turning peel – and you’ll be doing a lot of turning. I had to move my pizza around every 15 to 20 seconds, which delivers amazing tasting, evenly cooked results after a couple of minutes. Get distracted though, even for a few seconds, and burnt toppings are inevitable. As for skillet-based cooking, while that’s a doddle in the larger Arc XL, I found the Tread too tight for comfort.
This is a fine-performing pizza oven built to high standards and one that cools down in around 20 minutes. As a faster-heating, more affordable domestic alternative to the Arc XL, the Tread makes a strong case for itself.
Best Value Pizza Oven
Not only can Ninja’s Artisan Electric Outdoor Pizza Oven turn out pizza, it can also ‘prove’ the dough beforehand, bake some focaccia for starters and then air fry some chicken wings.
Surprisingly lightweight, the Artisan is supplied with a removable 30cm square cordierite pizza stone, a large pizza peel, baking tray and a mesh air-fry basket that sits on top. It’s easy to use too, with a quartet of clearly marked touch-sensitive controls, a bright and legible front display and loud alerts.
You can choose from five pizza presets, but I cooked mostly 9in to 10in New York types (you can’t squeeze a 12in pizza into this,) as well as thin crust examples. The Sage Pizzaiolo (reviewed below) delivered fractionally better results overall, but the Artisan was within a whisker at every setting and comes with built-in illumination. Toppings were beautifully and consistently cooked. Cooking times and temperatures of the presets were mostly spot on too.
Proving my pizza dough balls was also straightforward, while my barbecue sauce chicken thighs emerged from the air fryer basket both juicy and evenly cooked. The Artisan’s air-frying efforts for reheating my samosas was exemplary too.
When it comes to versatility and value, the Ninja Artisan knocks it out of the park. It’s for outdoor-only use, but at a third the price of the Sage Pizzaiolo, it ranks as a fantastic mains-powered pizza oven in its own right. Factor in the additional air-fryer and baking talents and it’s a no-brainer.
Best Premium Pizza Oven
Gozney’s Arc XL is much lighter than the company’s flagship Dome oven, but this is still a static outdoor oven rather than a picnic companion. Inside its dual-layer insulated shell is a “lateral rolling flame burner”, designed to emulate a wood-burner and distribute heat more evenly. The burner itself is located on the left, however, so you’ll still need to turn the pizza manually to get an even cook.
Elsewhere, there’s a well-positioned flue vent, a gas control knob and a battery-powered display detailing the removable 20mm cordierite stone’s temperature. The mouth of the oven itself is pleasingly wide, offering plenty of room to turn pizzas and cook other food such as fish, steak and vegetables.
The recommended temperature range, depending on the type of pizza you want to cook, is between 320C and 480C, but maintaining a stable temperature at the upper end proved tricky. Hovering around 370C to 400C while cooking New York/Roman style pizzas worked better for me and meant the oven reached its working temperature in about 35 minutes.
Results were consistently good. Bases were crisp, edges fluffy and leopard-spotted, while the excellent level of visibility into the oven meant I could easily see when I needed to turn pizzas.
Being gas-powered, you do miss out on the smoke-infused aroma that comes with a wood-fired oven, but the enhanced controllability and ease of use of the Arc XL are tempting compensations. This is as good an example of a premium, gas-powered pizza oven you’ll find.
Best Wide-Mouth Pizza Oven
John Lewis £599.00
Buy nowOoni offers a humongous 24-inch pizza oven, the Koda 2 Max, but this modestly sized Koda 2 Pro 18-inch oven is more than enough for a large family and, like the Gozney Tread, is gas-powered. Available in Slate Blue or Foundry Black, this wide and deep pizza oven shares the same distinctive styling as its bigger cousin, offering an unobstructed cooking area.
Heating comes courtesy of the Ooni’s new G2 Gas Technology, which is designed to help minimise unwanted charring, reduce turning and deliver better heat distribution. This is a claim that was borne out in practice. I cooked up a succession of superb Neapolitan and New York-style pies, ranging in size from 8in to 13in, with bases all consistently evenly cooked.
I had to wait around 35-40 minutes for the stones to heat up so keep that in mind, but it was worth the wait. Toppings visibly benefitted from the more even heat distribution and the wide mouth made monitoring a doddle.
There are a couple of things to note. The oven’s output was affected by moderately windy conditions and the Bluetooth functionality only tells you the ambient oven temperature so it’s of limited use.
Overall, however, this proved to be a terrific oven. You’ll need space and it takes a while to heat up, but those are the only significant caveats. Otherwise, it’s easily able to deliver a high volume of consistently baked, relatively large pizzas for a family.
Best Portable Pizza Oven
Born out of a crowdfunded project back in 2016, the Roccbox distils Gozney’s commercial pizza oven expertise into a portable and more affordable device. Nine years is a long time for any product to stay in production, but the Roccbox wears its age well.
My matte green, silicone-skinned review sample (it also comes in black) still looks wondrously compact, perched on a trio of skeletal, albeit slightly sharp-edged, fold-out legs. The detachable gas burner still feels straightforward, while a fixed, double-layer stone base inhabits the snug oven space.
Its compactness means you’re limited to roughly 11in pizzas, but most will happily live with that. Heating times are slow at 30 to 35 minutes, with our Best Buy Gozney’s newer Tread pizza oven (reviewed above) significantly faster in this respect. The Roccbox is, by far, the more portable of the two however, even if its Velcro carrying strap feels cheap.
In terms of results, Neapolitan pizzas remain the Roccbox’s forte, giving me beautifully, evenly cooked results with great spotting on the base, within minutes. I found the side-mounted thermometer to be more accurate than most, while the excellent insulation, combined with the compact cooking area, meant heat wasn’t lost in between cooking pizzas.
Nearly a decade after it launched, the Roccbox’s original appeal hasn’t diminished. The design still looks fresh, while the quality of the pizzas it cooks remains beyond reproach. It’s a true classic.
Best Electric Woodfire Pizza Oven
Appliances Direct £256.00
Buy nowBoth this Ninja pizza oven and the Ninja Artisan Electric Outdoor Pizza Oven and Air Fryer (reviewed above) can produce 12-inch pizzas in under three minutes. But while they can both be plugged in for outdoor use, there are a few key differences. This one doesn’t offer an “air fry” or “prove” mode, instead offering settings for roasting, dehydrating, adding top heat and keeping food warm.
The integrated smoker box also sets the woodfire oven apart as it can burn natural wood pellets to give your pizza an authentic woodfire flavour, whichever of its five pizza settings you opt for (including thin and deep pan). The smoker box was straightforward to use, I just filled it with pellets and pressed the ignite switch. While it took a bit of trial and error to master it, I was glad not to have the headache of setting up a gas canister or relying on wood to heat up the oven outside.
The woodfire taste can be a little overpowering, so I also appreciated the option not to use it. As with all outdoor appliances, cleaning and packing it away properly took a bit of time too. The interior element was a little fiddly to clean, but a damp cloth got rid of most of the pizza-topping aftermath.
Best Pizza Oven for Indoors
Sage Appliances £729.95
Buy nowThe Sage Pizzaiolo (which means ‘pizza chef’ in Italian) is a 400C oven that’s primarily designed for indoor use. Pull open the lid and you’ll find a spring-loaded, circular 12-inch cordierite pizza stone, with electric heating elements located above and below it.
There are just three knobs to contend with; a timer, one for the presets (for wood-fired, thin and crispy, thick crust and even frozen pizzas), and one to adjust charring (to vary the heat coming from above).
The heat distribution both above and below the stone is fully controlled and warm up takes about 20 minutes. Once you’ve picked your preset and launched the pizza onto the stone, you just leave it there until the timer beeps.
I cooked up a succession of mostly New York-style pizzas, as well as a couple of thin and crispy examples, all of which emerged nicely cooked and browned above, with beautifully even leopard-spotting underneath.
I stuck to around nine inches, purely because that meant there was less internal cleaning to do. The results were a touch chewier than I’m used to from my gas-powered ovens, but other than that, there is little else to complain about.
The Pizzaiolo isn’t cheap, it takes up a lot of room in a kitchen and there’s no built-in illumination. Its surfaces also got grubby fast. Nevertheless, if you want great-tasting pizza, without the faff associated with gas and wood-fired ovens, the Pizzaiolo is a great option.
Best Pizza Oven for Big Families
This smart, steel oven punches above its price point. It weighs just 45kg – 20kg with the bricks removed – so it can sit on a table and be moved by two strong people. It got up to temperature quickly, in about 10 minutes, with just kindling and three logs. Although the heat fell a bit as we were baking pizzas, the results were tasty.
The temperature wasn’t as stable as the Delivita, recommended below, but the Igneus Classico can produce two stone-baked pizzas at the same time in less than 90 seconds. It’s also available in seven colours, has a removable chimney and removable refractory bricks, whilst also benefitting from a built-in thermometer.
Best Portable Pizza Oven for Small Appetites
Delivita’s Diavolo model cites portability as a super-strength, as well it might, given that it weighs a relatively luggable 10.1kg and is designed to be easily moved. It comes with a large, folding launching peel, an infrared temperature gun, separate gas regulators and hoses for propane and butane cylinders, plus a cover/carry bag. You even get a tiny (read: tokenistic) portable gas canister.
Underneath the oven are a trio of support legs, designed to fold flat for easier storage. A smart touch, but it’s perplexing to then discover there’s no quick-release fitting on the oven end of the gas pipe, which makes stowing it in the carrying case needlessly faffy.
Operating the Diavolo is simplicity itself, with piezo electric ignition and a single knob to adjust gas flow. The cooking performance, however, is less than totally convincing. That’s because the gas burner and oven design conspire to concentrate heat at the far end of the stone, but leave the centre cooler than it ideally should be.
Even after 70 minutes of pre-heating, I still found that the centre of the undersides of my 12-inch pizzas (made using Delivita’s delicious Organic Vegan doughballs) weren’t as well baked as the outer edges and tops.
Launching a couple of thinner, 8in pizzas proved fractionally more successful, but that’s a compromise no hunger-crazed pizza lover will relish, especially when they realise they’ll have to wait another eight to 10 minutes before the oven’s hot enough to cook again.
The pizza ovens below haven’t been tested at home by the Telegraph Recommended team, so you won’t see a score against them. However, each comes recommended by a pizza expert, including Matt Williams of the The Oxford Charcoal Company.
Best Wood Fired Pizza Oven
Expert recommended
“This postable pizza oven is small, light and quick,” says Matt Williams, co-Founder of the The Oxford Charcoal Company. It burns compressed wood or biomass pellets and is as easy to transport as a portable BBQ. “The Ooni Fyra’s ability to heat up and cool quickly, combined with its weight of just 10kg, makes a trip to the beach not out of the question. You can easily take it to a garden party.”
“It’s a quirky little thing, with a pellet burner that sits out the back of the oven and sends a flame licking through the roof of the oven and up the chimney. This provides a high temperature and heats the cordierite cooking stone inside quickly.”
“You’ll need to use a natural fire lighter in the burner, to which you add wood pellets to build your fire. This rocket-like burner will have the oven up to temperature – around 500C – in 15 minutes flat. At this temperature, you can knock out a pizza every 60 seconds or so.
“There’s no insulation on this oven by the way, which means the outside is properly hot – you’ve been warned. Also be aware that if you accidentally over-fuel the burner, you’ll choke the fire and the oven will soot up,” Williams adds. It comes with a free three-year warranty too.
Best Budget Pizza Oven
Expert recommended
Vinny Iaciofano, Outdoor Living buying manager at Argos, recommends this La Hacienda Multi-Function oven because it can burn either wood or coal, each of which produces a subtly different type of pizza.
“Coal burns hotter and turns out crispy pizzas with a chewy middle,” he says, “but wood has a higher flame, resulting in a faster cook time and pizzas with a thin centre and puffier edges. Both will have that delicious charred flavour.
“Whether coal or wood-fired, pizza ovens make cooking more fun and they add an extra layer of flavour that you can’t get from a regular oven. This one is weatherproof but I’d recommend packing it up at the end of every summer to avoid rusting.” It’s also worth watching the frame as it can be prone to bending.
Best Gas Pizza Oven
Expert recommended
Ooni is frequently tipped by top chefs. Chef James Cochran has the gas-powered Ooni Koda 16 at home. “My favourite pizza is ‘nduja, burrata and rocket pesto, with a negroni and then some tiramisu – there is no better combination,” he says.
The Koda 16 has a large, versatile cooking space that can cook crispy pizzas in 60 seconds, but also flame cook meat, fish and vegetables.
Gas pizza ovens are the easiest type to use – as with a gas BBQ, you just attach a propane gas canister, press the ignition and it will be ready to go in 20 minutes. This model does require some practice to get crispy crusts with a cooked through middle, but that means eating more pizza and that’s fine with us.
Best Pizza Stone
Expert recommended
A pizza stone is sort of a cheat’s way to a pizza oven, says Williams. “If you’ve already got a decent barbecue with a lid and you’re not too sure how the family will react to a whole new pizza oven arriving in the garden, this natty little thermal shock-resistant accessory lets you convert your charcoal barbecue into a pizza oven.”
“The stone is a 46.5cm diameter disc. The stone absorbs water from the dough during cooking, giving that light, crispy base without the sogginess that occurs with metal pans. It’s built to suit most gas and charcoal barbecues.
“I like to put a good layer of hot lump wood charcoal in the bottom and simply place the stone on the grill. To get the high heat required for pizza you’ll need to open all the air vents and let it rage. You can cook a pizza on this in just a couple of minutes.
“The problems begin when you lift the lid on your barbecue: you’ll lose all that heat and will need to let it build back up before popping another pizza in (when you’ll need to open the lid again). You’ll also have to guess when it’s ready as you can’t see inside.
“With a little determination and practice you can get great results from a small spend, but there’s not too much in the way of convenience and bragging rights.”
Delivita Wood Fired Oven
Expert recommended
“This is a serious pizza oven with a traditional clay interior, a stone floor with fibre glass insulation and weatherproofing. Your fire sits inside the oven space, so your pizza is going to get to know your wood,” says Williams. Like all the best pizza ovens, Delivita can cook a large pizza – or two smaller ones – in 90 seconds.
Weighing in at 42kg it’s fairly manoeuvrable, if not quite as portable as the Ooni. “This is more about planning an evening than a quick fire-up,” Williams says. “Proper wood fired flavours and a stable temperature are your reward and you will want to post pictures of your colour-coordinated oven on Instagram as soon as it arrives.” You a pay a premium for the name but this pizza oven can be a barbecue, smoker or tandoor too so it is versatile.
Make sure to perfect your pizza dough recipe and read our guide to the best garden heaters and best portable BBQs for dining al fresco, whatever the weather.
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