Who We Are and How We Examined
WIRED reviewer Adrienne So has examined many pizza ovens and made greater than a thousand pizzas over the past seven years. WIRED reviewer Matthew Korfhage is a longtime meals author who’s written about pizza on each coasts over 15 years, from sausage slices in Portland to the story of Mexican pizza in Philadelphia.
We take a look at every pizza oven over the course of some weeks, utilizing home made dough (Adrienne likes Ooni’s classic pizza dough recipe), recent dough procured from native pizzerias, store-bought recent dough, and frozen pizzas. We use infrared thermometers to verify the temperature of the cooking floor is constant (and is what the built-in thermometer says it’s). The place related, we additionally cross-check built-in thermometers on every oven towards our personal ambient thermometers.
Pizza ovens are additionally fairly a bit extra versatile than you would possibly assume. Over years of testing, Adrienne has used her pizza ovens to sear steaks, quick-cook salmon, and pan-fry broccoli. Matthew has air fried wings in a pizza oven, grilled pork chops, charred asparagus, and blackened rooster.
It is taken me a few years, and lots of 1000’s of pizzas, to refine my pizza-making approach. And to be sincere, my Neapolitan-style pizzas do not actually meet the usual set by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana, the world authority on Neapolitan pizzas. (Ooni pizza ovens, together with earlier fashions of our top-rated Karu 2, are the one fashions we advocate that the AVPN has additionally really useful.)
However over time, I’ve amassed a couple of suggestions for these of you who discover making a pizza to be a bit bit awkward or intimidating. If you happen to’ve refrigerated your dough, carry it to room temperature first. Sprinkle flour or cornmeal generously on the peel earlier than you assemble your pizza. Be affected person and stretch it from the within out. It’s dishonest, however I additionally am responsible of utilizing a tiny rolling pin ($10) to assist me get the dough as skinny as attainable.
An genuine Neapolitan pie will use a couple of particular substances. Once you’re making your individual dough, attain for 00 flour, which is milled particularly for pizza and pasta. Contemporary mozzarella will make your pizza damp, so I take advantage of a mixture of recent and shredded, low-moisture cheese for the cheesiest, meltiest pie. If you happen to’re not sticking to a strictly Neapolitan recipe, we even have a couple of favourite pies we might prefer to advocate. Cizmar and I like Buffalo pie with Frank’s Red Hot and pickles. I additionally lately tried Brightland’s Pizza Oil in a squeeze bottle; whereas it is good as a ending sauce to drizzle over pies, you possibly can make your individual for less expensive by placing olive oil and herbs in a squeeze bottle.
Pizza ovens are extra versatile than you would possibly assume: I prepare dinner every thing from salmon to steak to rooster thighs in mine by preheating a cast iron pan in a scorching oven and popping the meals proper in. For extra steering, Ooni has a cookbook; chef Francis Mallman’s books are additionally supply of inspiration. —Adrienne So
Is your patio already occupied by an enormous Traeger? Your grill or smoker in all probability has a pizza attachment that you could purchase for lower than a brand new oven. Senior director Martin Cizmar’s favourite is the Yoder Smoker wood-fired oven attachment ($499), which has saved him from many an evening of pellet fireplace flameouts. It sits beneath the smoker’s hood, atop a metal sheet that sits over the firebox. The sheet is a diffuser and has holes of accelerating measurement as you progress away from the fireplace in order that the part farthest from the flame will get extra publicity. The design offers a constant temperature alongside the oven’s ground, and it really works properly, with the farthest corners of the oven nonetheless cresting 650 levels Fahrenheit.
It’s also possible to flip your regular, indoor oven right into a pizza oven. Whereas most ovens max out at 500 levels Fahrenheit, one technique to impart extra warmth to your pizza is by pre-heating a baking floor with a excessive thermal mass—which can preserve temperature stability and immediately ship its stored-up warmth vitality. A simple approach to do that is by pre-heating a cast-iron pan or baking steel. A basic Lloyd pan is one most well-liked software for Detroit- or Sicilian-style pan pizza, which work properly in standard ovens.
A number of of our favourite grill and pizza oven producers, like Kamado and Weber, additionally make ceramic pizza stones. Try our information to the Best Portable Grills and Grill Accessories for extra.
Honorable Mentions
We have tried a number of pizza ovens. Listed here are a couple of that we favored that did not fairly make the reduce.
{Photograph}: Adrienne So
Ooni Karu, First Edition for $349: Ooni remains to be promoting the earlier era oven of WIRED’s prime choose, the Karu 2, for about $100 much less. Like different Ooni pizza ovens, O.G. Karu is a superb oven—mild, moveable, and straightforward to wash—and WIRED reviewer Adrienne So could not cease utilizing the factor after first testing it. Nonetheless the newer Karu 2 heats extra evenly, and holds extra gas than the first-generation oven.
Ooni Koda 12 for $399: The unique Ooni Koda 12 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is a mere 21 kilos, making it essentially the most mild and moveable Koda. Its skinny, powder-coated metal shell insulates properly sufficient that it stays cool to the contact, even when the fireplace is burning. Simply slide within the baking stone, screw on the propane tank, and also you’re able to go. The door matches 12-inch pizza peels and 10-inch cast-iron skillets. Nonetheless, you must not retailer it outdoors.
Gozney Roccbox for $499: When Adrienne So first reviewed the dual-fuel Gozney Roccbox (5/10, WIRED Review), she praised the quick restoration time that has made the Roccbox widespread amongst pizza pop-up cooks, permitting her to make 10 pies in lower than half-hour when cooking pizza with propane. That mentioned, few house pizza makers want such throughput, and the 44-pound gadget is heavier than different rivals. The non-obligatory woodbox was oppressively tough to make use of, for many who need the flexibility to prepare dinner with fireplace. However the Gozney’s worth, beforehand among the many most costly entrants, now appears fairly affordable.
Ninja Wood-Fired Oven for $300: If you happen to’re on the lookout for a remarkably sturdy and versatile outside oven, that is a pretty good pick with a prime temperature of 700 levels. The door is a bit sticky which makes baking pizza at excessive warmth a bit tough, however if you’d like one gadget that may do every thing from smoke a pork shoulder to make muffins to bake a pizza pie, that is your choose.
The Piezano for $99: This TikTok-popular oven is inexpensive, small, and handy. It appears to be like a bit like a waffle iron, and comes with handy double paddles for simpler placement. Astonishingly, its claims of heating the highest and backside parts to 800 levels Fahrenheit are correct, and it takes about quarter-hour, which permits for brief prepare dinner occasions. However word the heating factor on the prime would not cowl the entire floor space, so it’s a must to rotate your pies fairly incessantly. Additionally, opening the highest like a waffle maker signifies that it would not retain warmth very properly. It dropped by 100 to 200 levels between pies and requires a little bit of restoration time.
Additionally Examined
{Photograph}: Matthew Korfhage
Current Backyard Model P for $699: No much less a TV meals personage than Alton Brown has signed on as an endorser of this 1,750-watt electrical indoor/outside pizza oven, which can warmth to 850 levels Fahrenheit utilizing a regular energy outlet. Warmth is comparatively even throughout the oven, and it will stand up to prime temp in round half-hour. However prepare dinner settings are constrained to some preset ranges (New-York model, skinny crust, Neapolitan, frozen), whose temps and cooking occasions generally is a bit fussy to fiddle with: At the least throughout early months, the app and on-device controls have a tendency to supply extra quirks than performance. Show temp and precise temp do not all the time match, and its prime thermal parts activate and off just like the lights in a David Lynch film in accordance towhat the corporate calls a proprietary algorithm. You can also make an incredible pizza on this factor, and you may make it indoors. Present says it plans so as to add extra features and cooking modes in future updates, and we’ll maintain testing. Nevertheless it feels lower than totally baked in the mean time, particularly at its worth.
Pizzacraft Pizzaque for $130: This oven is lovely and inexpensive, and you may stand it in your driveway and prepare dinner pizza whereas sitting in your camp chair. Nonetheless, it simply would not get as scorching or prepare dinner as evenly as a better-insulated oven does.
The Greatest Equipment
Some pizza ovens give you proprietary equipment to set you in your pizza path. However I’ve additionally discovered a couple of extras to be useful alongside the best way:
A handheld infrared thermometer for $47: Even when the oven has a built-in thermometer, a handheld infrared thermometer is a good way to verify the temperature on completely different areas of the pizza stone. It is also necessary to verify the stone has time to reheat after every pizza.
A wooden pizza peel for $34: If you happen to personal a number of peels, it is fast and straightforward to prep one pizza whereas one other is baking. WIRED reviewers Adrienne So and Matthew Korfhage every personal a number of peels, together with a useful small turning peel. However for launching, the dough is way much less more likely to stick on a wood peel, particularly in the event you first sprinkle on some semolina or flour.
A cast-iron skillet for $25: It’s also possible to use a cast-iron pan in your pizza oven to sear steaks or pan-roast broccoli. Lodge’s pans work just as well as far more costly choices.
Heat-resistant gloves for $20: That forged iron will get extraordinarily scorching, so you will additionally want pair of mitts. (Even these will not defend your arms for lengthy, so you will want a spot close to the oven to set the pan down.)
Fire starters for $20: If you happen to’ve ever been intimidated by the thought of cooking with wooden, do not be! These fireplace starters make it fast and easy. Simply mild the top with a match, drop it within the gas tray, and line up a few oak sticks on prime. Make sure you maintain your wooden dry in the event you do not need to create a smoke stack in your yard.
