- A high-quality pizza oven achieves high temperatures with minimal preheating, can cook mouth-watering pizzas of several sizes, and requires minimal clean-up.
Wouldn’t it be awesome to have a brick pizza oven in your backyard? You could host pizza parties and dish-out custom gourmet pizzas to guests with minimal effort. Unfortunately, not all of us have the funds or space for a true brick pizza oven. Luckily, there are several affordable pizza ovens that reach the same high temperatures without taking up dedicated space in your backyard.
There are essentially two main types of outdoor pizza ovens: gas and wood-fired. Gas ovens typically rely on propane and provide consistent fuel throughout the cooking process. Wood-fried ovens are a bit more temperamental. You need to keep a close watch on the wood – usually pellets – to ensure it’s getting plenty of airflow and doesn’t need to be replenished. Many purists claim wood-fired pizzas taste better. Charcoal can also often be used in wood-fired ovens. And, some ovens, including our top pick, offer both wood and gas options.
We also considered some indoor options, which are useful to have on hand when your dough balls are ready to go but the weather outside isn’t cooperating. However, don’t expect to find many indoor ovens that both reach 800-plus degrees Fahrenheit and don’t cost thousands of dollars.
While researching the best pizza ovens, we looked at countless ratings and reviews of dozens of models from experts and buyers. Our guide features ovens that are durable, easy to use, and cook top-quality pizzas.
Here are the best pizza ovens:
The best overall
The Roccbox Pizza Oven from Gozney uses gas or wood to reach temperatures up to 930 degrees Fahrenheit in 30 minutes or less, so you can cook pizzas faster.
The Roccbox Pizza Oven is a powerful oven for such a small footprint. With the legs folded up, the oven is only 21 inches by 16.5 inches by 11 inches, so it’s small enough for you to pack and bring with you to parties or camping, though it does weigh almost 45 pounds. Most impressively, the oven gets up to 932 degrees Fahrenheit. Due to the high temps, the oven incinerates any debris so there’s virtually no clean-up.
The oven comes with attachments for wood-burning and gas heating, an extensive user manual with recipes, a high-quality metal pizza peel, and a one-year warranty. The body of the oven is durable stainless steel covered with a safe-touch silicone jacket. A thermometer is built into the oven so you can easily tell how hot it is.
I used the Roccbox to make dozens of pizzas. I was impressed with how I could make delicious creations in about 60 seconds. I hosted a party where I made 12 pizzas in under an hour using this oven. And, the guests were impressed with the results.
Since the flames come from the back, you need to rotate the pizza halfway through, but the metal peel made that task easy. Overall, the Roccbox has improved the quality of my homemade pizzas.
J. Kenji López-Alt, the esteemed food journalist and culinary expert at Serious Eats, recommended the Roccbox because it cooked pizzas well when he tested it using gas, wood, and charcoal. He appreciated how it came almost fully assembled, reached top temperatures in 30 minutes, and the exterior didn't get dangerously hot. However, he thought it was quite expensive and hard to transport.
The oven is well-designed, the right size, durable, easy to use, and easy to clean. In addition to making pizza, the Roccbox easily handles steak, salmon, pork chops, and roasted vegetables. Just be mindful that you're cooking with extremely high heat, so you'll need to closely watch whatever you're cooking. - James Brains
Pros: Heats up to 932 degrees Fahrenheit in about 30 minutes, easy to assemble, self-cleaning, sleek design, great for more than just pizza
Cons: Expensive, 12-inch maximum pizza size, heavy
Read our full review of the Roccbox Pizza Oven.
The best wood-fired pizza oven
Featuring a wood-pellet heat source, portable design, and efficient heating and cooking, the Ooni 3 Pizza Oven is ideal for wood-fired pizza lovers.
The Ooni 3 Pizza Oven is made of 430-grade stainless steel for long-term durability and reaches temperatures up to 932 degrees Fahrenheit. The body features ceramic insulation to maintain heat efficiency. This model is heated by wood pellets, though a gas burner attachment is optional. The oven has a striking appearance with a large chimney for optimal airflow. It fits pizzas up to 13 inches in diameter.
The Ooni 3 is one of three pizza ovens recommended by Serious Eats' J. Kenji López-Alt. He found the oven got up to temperature in as little as 15 minutes and that a 20-pound bag of wood pellets was enough to make around 50 pizzas. He didn't like that you had to keep an eye on the pellets to make sure the airflow was just right and that they weren't jammed in the metal tube.
The flames are directed to the roof of the oven rather than directly onto the pizza, so you get excellent radiant heat. For best results, you should rotate the pizza every 20 to 30 seconds and keep a close eye on the pellets to ensure they are burning properly.
Due to a recent name change, you might find the Ooni 3 marketed as the Uuni 3. The company changed its name to Ooni in 2018 so buyers would have a better chance at pronouncing it correctly. - James Brains
Pros: Excellent value, heats quickly to 900 degrees Fahrenheit, portable, produces delicious pizzas
Cons: Have to babysit it to ensure the pellets are burning properly, somewhat of a learning curve for new users
The best high-temp indoor oven
The Breville Smart Oven Pizzaiolo brings the high-heat performance of a pizza oven into a compact kitchen appliance - and it makes awesome pizza.
How do you bring the fiery furnace of a pizza oven indoors? You could visit a pizzeria or get the Breville Smart Oven Pizzaiolo for your kitchen. This countertop appliance can reach temperatures of up to 750 degrees Fahrenheit, and is designed to emulate a brick oven; it's sealed to protect against heat loss, including the double-pane window.
Using Breville's Element IQ technology that's employed in other Breville ovens, the Pizzaiolo cooks pizzas evenly, whether it's frozen or fresh. It also has settings for pizza styles, like thin-and-crispy, New York, or wood-fired. I enjoy cooking pizza in my normal Breville Smart Oven but I can never achieve that satisfyingly crispy, chewy, and charred Neapolitan texture that this more specialized high-heat Pizzaiolo oven can.
In our review, we found the oven only required a few minutes to preheat, which makes getting a pizza from dough to mouth even faster. Despite the small opening, the Pizzaiolo can cook other foods too, thanks to the auto-eject door that facilitates easy removal of food from the oven. In our tests, pizzas baked evenly with just one spin (although this isn't really necessary).
Other expert reviewers also gave the Pizzaiolo high marks. Serious Eats' Sasha Marx was "blown away" by it and Wirecutter called it a "powerful pizza oven" that makes "excellent pies with very little learning curve."
But, if there's one common negative - us included - is that it's an expensive appliance that's really for a single purpose. If you love Neapolitan-style pizza, there's no other compact appliance that can achieve what the Pizzaiolo can. But, if you don't care about this particular style of pizza, you may be better served by Breville's Crispy Crust Pizza Maker, which can be had for around $150 and does a good job - it just won't deliver like the Pizzaiolo. - Les Shu
Pros: Makes terrific pizza, easy to use, emulates wood-fired oven, fast preheating
Cons: Takes up space, expensive, small cooking cavity
The best indoor pizza oven on a budget
The Presto Pizzazz Plus Rotating Oven is a great, affordable indoor pizza-maker for those days when the weather is less than ideal.
I wrote about the Presto Pizzazz Plus Rotating Oven in my guide to the best pizza-making tools you can buy. I awarded it the "best novelty pizza maker." Though not shaped like a classic oven, the Pizzazz features a 12-inch nonstick baking pan that rotates between two heating elements: one on top and one on the bottom. As it rotates, the pizza - or other foodstuffs - cook evenly.
My friend introduced me to this device when he received it as a joke gift. The joke turned serious as we put the Pizzazz through the paces. It has served as an integral part of several parties thanks to its ability to bake delicious homemade pizzas with minimal effort. Because your pizzas cook out in the open, it's a pretty hypnotizing way to watch your crust puff and your cheese bubble.
The Spruce Eats also liked the Pizzazz because, in its tests, it cooked pizzas twice as fast as a standard oven. The reviewer also found that it bakes pizzas evenly without burning them. She liked that you could walk away from it to do other things and the timer automatically turns the unit off.
Cooking pizza often requires screaming hot ovens, but with the Pizzazz, you'll get a well-cooked pizza without heating up the whole house. It's also a great way to crisp up the frozen ones - though of course, homemade dough will always yield a better result. - James Brains
Pros: Affordable, portable, usable indoors, custom heat settings, built-in timer, quick-cooking
Cons: Specialized appliance that you may not want to devote counter space to
The best oven for charcoal grill
Turn your Weber Kettle charcoal grill into an instant pizza oven with the KettlePizza Oven Kit.
When it comes to outdoor cooking, there's just nothing like the taste that comes from charcoal grilling.
Making pizzas on a charcoal grill isn't new, but the KettlePizza turns a Weber Kettle grill into a hot pizza oven that reaches temperatures of up to 750 degrees Fahrenheit, which is then capable of creating that crust and mouth-feel you'd get from a good pizzeria.
The basic kit comes with an expandable insert that fits on top of the base of a Kettle grill, which you cover with the lid; an aluminum pan is included. The Deluxe USA kit includes a metal peel and pizza stone. If you already have a Weber Kettle, this is by far the best value you'll get when buying a pizza oven.
America's Test Kitchen reviewed the Pro kit, which is designed for 22.5-inch grills only but includes everything you'd need. ATK found that the Pro kit can reach up to 900 degrees Fahrenheit, and performance was more consistent than the entry-level option. "If you're serious about pizza, it's much easier and cheaper to install than a professional oven, and it gets you pretty darn close," it said. - Les Shu
Pros: Affordable, easy to create a high-heat oven, doesn't take up extra space
Cons: Compatible only with select Weber Kettle charcoal grills, may have consistency issues, temperature may be hard to regulate
What else we considered
We considered many models of pizza ovens when researching this guide, and there are a few that we almost included. Here are some that just missed the cut:
- Betty Crocker BC-2958CR Pizza Maker: This pizza maker is incredibly easy to use and inexpensive. You just plug it in, and when it's up to temp, you load your pizza and close the lid. It fits pizzas up to 12 inches in diameter. This is a good option for dorms or if you don't have access to a kitchen. However, we felt the device is gimmicky and limited in what it can do. Plus, you're not going to be able to make restaurant-quality homemade pizzas with it.
- Oster Convection Oven with Dedicated Pizza Drawer: We had to consider this convection toaster oven since it has a special pizza drawer and is relatively affordable. It's a great option for cooking just about anything you'd make in a regular oven when you don't want to heat your whole house. The reason it didn't make it into our guide is that buyers complain of quality control issues and the oven heating unevenly.
- Ooni Pro Multi-Fueled Outdoor Pizza Oven: Ooni is one of the top names in affordable outdoor pizza ovens. The Pro is a great option because you can heat it using wood or gas, it preheats in 20 minutes, and it cooks 16-inch pizzas in about a minute. However, its weight and odd shape make it hard to transport. Also, since it's relatively new, there are few expert and buyer reviews. Yet, as we update this guide, we may add the Pro among our top options.
- ilFornino Professional Series Wood Fired Pizza Oven: If you have a couple grand to drop on a pizza oven, then the ilFornino Professional is the way to go. Made of high-gauge, 430-grade stainless steel, this behemoth can cook three large pizzas at the same time in under 70 seconds. It comes with a stand on wheels, a professional peel, and brush. We chose not to include it in our guide because it's outside of most budgets. - James Brains
Check out our other great pizza buying guides
The best pizza making tools
Delicious homemade pizza is not only more affordable than ordering out, but with the right tools and tips, it also tastes better. We've rounded up the best pizza-making tools to start you on your way to achieving master status.
The best pizza stones
Do you ever make pizza from scratch and wonder why it doesn't taste anything like what you get at your favorite pizzeria? The toppings might come out unevenly cooked, or the crust may not be right. If you want to put an end to these problems, then a pizza stone is the way to go.
The best pizza peels
High-quality pizza peels can transfer your raw dough from the counter to the oven without misshaping your creation, whether it's pizza or another delicious baked good. These are the best pizza peels.
The best pizza cutters
Whether you like your pizza frozen, homemade, or delivered, a good pizza cutter is a must to keep toppings in place and to eat pizza by the slice. These are the best pizza cutters you can buy.