The best pizza ovens for 2024

In recent years, outdoor pizza ovens have become popular options for upping your culinary game at home. Whether it’s on the deck, patio, porch or anywhere else in your backyard, these products are more versatile and easily stored than a permanently installed setup. All the options I’ve selected in this guide are portable, though you might need some help lugging a few of them around due to their size and weight. These pizza ovens are versatile options for aspiring pie pushers with limited space or those who want to take their skills on the road as needed. And if the great indoors is your domain, I’ve got a candidate on this list for you too. But before you make a purchase, here are a few things you’ll want to consider ahead of time.

What to look for in a pizza oven

When shopping for a home pizza oven, you’ll first want to consider what types of pies you plan to make. Most portable outdoor pizza ovens from the likes of Ooni, Solo Stove and others use wood and are primarily designed for the high-heat cooking required for light and airy Neapolitan-style pizzas. We’re talking high temperatures up to 900 degrees Fahrenheit. These units can certainly cook different styles at cooler temperatures, but the learning curve is easiest when you’re running them wide open with a full load of wood.

You'll also want to consider alternate fuel types. If you purchase a propane or natural gas burner, you can adjust temperatures easily by turning a knob. For this reason, I recommend you spend the extra $100 or so on that accessory. This dual-fuel option makes your pizza oven a lot more versatile and gives you the option to still have a freshly fired pie when you don’t feel like messing with wood or charcoal. If you only want to cook with gas, there are models available that only use propane or natural gas.

The other key consideration for aspiring pizza makers is size. Most companies make ovens that fit 12-inch pizzas, a perfect size for a personal pan pizza. They’re also great for pizza parties, since people can customize their own without having to pick off toppings they don’t like. If you want to make larger pizzas or plan to use your oven for other things (pans, etc), consider a larger version that can accommodate more than just small pies. The interior dimensions – or at the very least the pizza stone size – will be listed on most product pages.

Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget

Plan for success

Making quality pizza at home requires a considerable amount of counter or table space. You’ll need room to stretch and prep your pizza dough, lay out your mozzarella, other cheeses and toppings and load pies onto a peel. Of course, some folks will be comfortable working in the tight confines of a small kitchen, but I’ve found it much easier to use extra space to make sure I’m not constantly moving things around during the various steps in the process.

It’s also less hassle to set up your pizza-making station in close proximity to your oven. As a pizza-baking beginner, I did the running back and forth from the kitchen to the back porch. It’s far from ideal. It’s difficult to maintain your fire (if using wood or charcoal) when you’re unable to watch it closely. The good news is a patio table can be easily converted into a pizza station with a large cutting board. This also gets your oven off the ground so it’s easier to access.

Ooni sells tables for its ovens that also offer shelving and storage for peels and other accessories. Solo Stove has a rolling stand for its Pi oven too, with small side shelves and a spot for your propane tank underneath. Of course, you can find other tables and stands to suit your needs, just make sure they can withstand any heat that may radiate from the bottom of the oven while cooking. Most ovens are either well insulated or don’t project too much excess heat toward the table, but you can never be too careful. For that reason, a stainless steel or metal surface is a good choice to set up an outdoor model.

Most of these ovens cook quickly at high heat, especially if you’re making Neapolitan pizza. Having everything you need nearby so you can keep tabs on the oven and quickly make the next pizza will ease a lot of unnecessary headaches. When your cook time is two minutes or less, you don’t want to venture too far.

Best outdoor pizza ovens in 2024

Best indoor pizza ovens in 2024

Let me preface this section by saying you probably already have an indoor option that you can use to make some great pizza. Whether that’s the main oven in your kitchen or a multi-function countertop unit, with some affordable accessories, you can easily up your game without spending $1,000 on a dedicated appliance. For example, my Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer has a convection pizza setting that automatically adjusts cook time based on the size, oven temperature and whether the pie is fresh or frozen. A key consideration here is size. These things are massive, about the size of a large microwave, so you likely won’t want to keep them out all the time unless you have a huge kitchen.

The best pizza accessories for the oven you already have

If you want to make good homemade pizza that rivals that of your favorite pizzeria (and without spending hundreds of dollars on a dedicated oven), you can definitely do it with the oven you already have in your kitchen. With a few gadgets, you can improve your game without splurging on a Breville, Ooni or Solo Stove. First, I’d recommend a high quality baking steel or stone.

Baking stones are great for getting better browning on the bottom of your pies than a pizza or sheet pan. You can also use them for bread, cookies and other items. The stone absorbs heat to cook pizza quickly, like the inside of a brick oven, which leads to a charred crust. They’re also more affordable compared to baking steels. Those metal slabs do have one key advantage: higher heat conductivity. This means a steel will cook your pizzas faster since it can absorb more heat from your oven. While baking steels can be used as griddles on your stovetop and for other types of baking, they’re not ideal for some leavened breads.

The second item you’ll want is a pizza peel. These come in all shapes and sizes, made out of a variety of materials. I typically use a bamboo or wooden peel when topping and launching my pizzas and then a metal one for retrieving them. I’ve found that dough doesn’t stick as easily to bamboo during prep and the metal resists the high heat of the oven when turning or retrieving a finished pizza (bamboo will burn). There are also perforated peels which allow both steam and excess flour to escape. A peel is a great tool for loading and turning pizzas, getting them in the back of the oven, and since you’ll typically be cooking them with your oven at 500 degrees or hotter, using something like parchment paper to move them around won’t work.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/best-pizza-oven-141550352.html?src=rss