Pizza Oven Buying Guide

Pizza Ovens: Which One Is Right For You?

There is no question that pizza is one of the most popular dishes in the world. Of course, there are endless variations of the classic recipe, and everyone seems to have their favourite way of making it. But there’s one thing that all great pizzas have in common- they’re cooked in a pizza oven.
Pizza ovens come in all shapes and sizes, from wood-fired ovens to gas-powered units.

There’s an option out there for everyone. However, choosing the right one for your home can be tricky. In this blog post, we’ll look at the different types of pizza ovens available on the market today, and we’ll help you decide which one is right for you.no exception – they’re some of the most dedicated pizza fans out there.

The Different Types of Pizza Ovens:

Wood Fired Pizza Ovens

A wood fired pizza oven is simply a type of pizza oven that uses wood as the main fuel source. Compared to other types of pizza ovens, a wood fired oven can produce a more authentic and intense flavour. The heat from the burning wood also cooks the pizzas more evenly, resulting in a perfectly crispy crust.

Traditionally wood fired ovens are very large and are made of bricks and mortar. Fires are built with wood on one side of the oven to get the oven to temperature and then the pizza is placed beside the fire to cook.

These traditional pizza ovens can be very expensive ($3000+) unless you’re handy and can build one yourself. DIY pizza oven kits are another option available at many pizza oven retailers but they still require a degree of skilled workmanship to install.

If the idea of paving, grouting and rendering doesn’t sound like your cup of tea then a ready made contemporary wood fired oven might be more your style. We have included a video below to show you the steps and skills involved in assembling a DIY woodfired pizza oven kit.

View our DIY Pizza Oven Guide for some great ideas for making your own pizza oven.

Contemporary Wood Fired Pizza Ovens

Woodfired pizza ovens have made enormous leaps forward over the last few years. The market has been flooded with a vast array of stylish contemporary wood fired ovens ranging from tiny portable ovens that will fit almost anywhere, even on balconies and small gardens up to larger modern ovens which can be installed permanently either indoors or outdoors. Amazon and The Pizza Oven Store offer a number of different options in contemporary wood fired pizza ovens.

A big factor in determining if a wood fired pizza oven is right for you besides size and style is the amount of work required to light and fuel them.

If the thought of preparing, lighting, collecting and storing wood sounds joyful you’re probably in the wood fire pizza oven camp. If you’re like me however, the preparation required for this type of oven including the need to have a supply of good firewood on hand at all times is more of an annoyance than a relaxing hobby.

Gas Pizza Ovens

Gas pizza ovens are an alternative to the wood fired option. They have a number of advantages over in that they heat up quicker – usually only 30 minutes instead of 1-2 hours for wood fired ovens. They’re also much easier to manage, just turn it on and sit back.

The constant steady heat from gas means you can use the oven for other types of cooking such as baking bread or cooking a roast or BBQ.

Gas pizza ovens are generally cheaper than wood fired ovens and have a large market range bringing home pizza cooking to most budgets.

If you’re looking for an affordable and sleek looking gas pizza oven our research points us squarely in the direction of the popular Ooni Koda 12 gas oven. Its three leg design enables it to sit stably on most surfaces. It has an easy connection to the standard BBQ gas bottle with a control dial at the rear for cooking at lower heats if required.

The maximum pizza size is around 32 cm diameter, so if you’re wanting larger pizzas you can upgrade to the Koda 12’s big brother, the Koda 16.

See Our Best Portable Ovens Recommendations

OONI Koda 12 Gas Pizza Oven

The Good Stuff

Great portability
Reaches top temp in 25 minutes
Stone baking board included
Cook a pizza in 60 seconds

Meh!

Small opening makes turning pizza difficult

Wood Pellet Pizza Ovens

If you like the advantages of a portable pizza oven but still want the flavouring of a wood fired pizza oven, a wood pellet pizza oven might be right up your alley. The wood fired pellet ovens are ideal for camping as you never have to chop up wood again or carry bulky gas bottles around.

Wood pellets can be conveniently carried in bags are are generally a pretty efficient fuel with 1kg of pellets enough for 4-8 pizzas.

Just to tempt you a little more in the direction of a wood fire pellet oven, the OONI Karu range of ovens allow for the burning of wood pellets, charcoal or a mixture of both. It can also be used with an Ooni gas burner.

See Our Best Portable Ovens Recommendations

Our Top Pick

OONI Karu wood and charcoal fired pizza oven

The Good Stuff

3 Fuel Options
Cook a pizza in 60 seconds
Control heat via the chimney

Meh!

Maximum pizza size 30cm
Needs more attention if not using the gas option

Electric Convention Pizza Ovens

If the experience of cooking a pizza outside doesn’t float your boat but you love cooking and eating home made pizza, an indoor use convention oven might be more your style.

Your budget here more so than with gas and wood fired ovens will determine the quality of the pizza you cook. There are many low budget “pizza cookers” on the market online and in the big retail stores that will do an adequate job at cooking a pizza.

Most of these cook at far lower temperatures than gas and wood fired ovens and therefore have a much longer cooking time, with many in excess of the 10 minutes mark. If you’re planning on catering for a backyard shindig with a heap of mates, then cooking one small pizza every 10 minutes is unlikely to leave them satisfied.

To get that same authentic experience from an electric pizza oven with high temperatures and under 2 minute cooking times you’ll need to relax those purse strings a little.

Our pick for an electric convention pizza oven (not on a budget) is the Effeuno Electric Pizza Oven P134H.

The Good Stuff

Sleek Stainless steel design
Cooks a pizza in 1-2 minutes
Compact enough to fit on kitchen bench

Meh!

Pricey

So, what type of oven should you buy to make the perfect pizza? It depends on your needs, where you want to put it, your space and your budget. If you want something that’s versatile and can cook a variety of foods, then an electric or gas oven might be a good choice. But if you are looking for authentic pizzas specifically, then a wood-fired oven might be a better option. Whichever type of oven you choose, make sure to do your research so that you can find one that will meet your needs and cooking style.