Best pizza oven for cooking the perfect slice at home

If you have the space in your home, a dedicated pizza oven can be a game-changer.

By Qin Xie | Published Jun 14, 2021 2:52 PM EDT

Gear

Man taking pizza out of the oven — Slice, slice, baby. Parker Ulry, Unsplash

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For the ultimate homemade pizza, it’s hard to beat the results from a dedicated pizza oven. It can achieve much higher temperatures than your regular oven at home, which means you can cook a pizza in a minute or two, instead of having to wait 20 minutes. The flash cooking process means that the base becomes lovely and crusty, just like the ones you get in a pizzeria.

But there’s a lot to consider when choosing the right one, including whether to get an indoor or outdoor one. And if outdoors, whether stand-alone, portable, or over the barbecue. Here’s what you need to know.

Indoor vs. Outdoor: The first thing you’ll need to think about is where you’re going to use your pizza oven. Indoor models are all electric and you will need suitable counter top space to use them. The good thing about them is that they’re all-weather devices, so you can enjoy great pizza any time. For outdoor ovens, you’ll obviously need space in your garden, but they can be more fun to use and are great for al fresco dining.
Style: There are three main styles of outdoor pizza ovens: barbecue top, portable, and stand alone. The standalone options are usually bespoke for your garden, but the barbecue top and portable ones are widely available off-the-shelf. Barbecue top ones are generally much cheaper, but you’ll need to make sure it will fit on your existing barbecue grill. The portable ones require a bit more space in your garden and usually need a bit of assembly.
Fuel: For outdoor pizza ovens, deciding on what fuel to go for is another important consideration. Gas is easy to control and you can turn it on or off with a flick of the switch, so there’s never any wasted fuel. But it’s hard to beat the distinct flavors of wood and coal-fired pizzas—although you will need to be cooking for quite a few people to make it worthwhile.