Best pizza ovens 2026: tried and tested for cooking outdoors and indoors
During testing, I found the gas mode a lot easier, as it heated up quickly and delivered consistent temperatures with very little effort. The pizza cooked evenly with a good crust and it only needed turning once. The wood pellets also produced a decent pizza but it was quite smoky and took a while to heat up, so I’d use the gas function day-to-day and the wood pellets for special occassions. For those who lack outdoor space or don’t want to wait for good weather, Ooni’s indoor pizza oven is excellent.
Cook restaurant-quality pizza in your kitchen with the Ooni Volt 2. Pizza ovens need to reach a scorching 400°C for Neapolitan pizza. We track how long they take to get there – some take ages, and others never make it. We’ve found a Great Value option that costs less than £300, and several Best Buys that prove you don’t have to plump for the most expensive oven to get the best pizza. This Hamper is the ideal gift for someone who already has an oven and all the accessories.
Finally, look for an oven that has a wide and tall enough mouth for you to easily launch and retrieve your pizza. Smaller ovens can be a dream to store, but if you struggle to cook with them, they’ll only gather dust in the shed. Outdoor pizza ovens are now far easier to use, with manufacturers making them simpler to light, cook in, and clean up afterwards. There’s also a host of accessories to prevent you from ending up with overly charred results.
How to Proof Pizza Dough
While it’s heavy it doesn’t seem so large when it’s in situ, thanks to the curved edges. Casa Mia’s bravo genuinely impressive for its price and is the best budget outdoor pizza oven I’ve tested. It’s gas powered and the gas runs around the edges of the oven, so you get a good even heat inside. It heated up reasonably quickly and produced really good pizza with a nice coloured crust.
I did find it strange not having any kind of door, but that did help when knowing when to rotate it. If you don’t have the room for a large pizza oven, but you still want a premium product then this is one of the best practical pizza ovens for everyday use. Once completely cooled, sweep away the ash with a dustpan and brush, or a dedicated pizza oven brush, then use a cloth or paper towels to wipe the interior. Scrape any remaining residue off the stone with a plastic spatula – don’t be tempted to use water or cleaners as the porous pizza stone will absorb them. When you replace the stone, flip it over, so any remaining residue can burn away on your next pizza artisan menu cook. It’s quite large and heavy, even when the stone isn’t in it, so you will most likely need a dedicated space for it, as it’s a little heavy to keep shifting around.
- Whilst the oven is warming up, it’s time to roll your dough.
- After reaching 500C, my pizza cooked in just over a minute.
- Gas connections and pipes must be checked regularly for signs of wear (and replaced), as leaks can cause fires or explosions.
- Another plus is that wood is widely available and usually inexpensive – make sure to buy from a sustainable, well-managed source.
Best budget pizza oven: ProCook outdoor pizza oven
Whether you’re a casual cook who enjoys regular pizza nights or a serious home chef looking for the authentic Neapolitan finish, the right oven can make all the difference. From indoor pizza ovens to larger, more permanent setups, there’s a wide range of options to suit all spaces, budgets and fuel preferences. Small enough to store in a shed (it’s just 48cm deep and less than 30cm tall), it feels robust but isn’t too heavy to carry solo (12kg). There’s no integral temperature display, however, so you’ll have to be handy with an IR thermometer. The pizza oven was easy to set up and thanks to its foldable legs, it’s also quick to take down and store away when not in use. The compact size of this oven also makes it a really good choice for smaller gardens.
When it gets to full temperature, it’ll make a noise and the LED light will go green to signify it’s ready to go. There’s also a digital timer on the side, which will sound when the time is up. We buy and test the most popular pizza ovens on the market to find out which cook the best pizza and are the easiest to use. We don’t accept freebies from manufacturers, so you can have confidence in the honesty and impartiality of our reviews.
However, the rise of the pizza wasn’t as good as I’d hoped for – it was still a bit doughy, with only the fourth one I cooked achieving a bubbled crust, after the third one burned. Because of this, I’d suggest some practice may be required for consistent results. In total, there are seven presets, but you can manually select your settings, too. The presets cover almost everything, from frozen pizza to traditional wood-fired.
Overall, this is one of the best gas pizza ovens on the market. It’s easy to set up, super simple to use and produces excellent results. It’s stainless steel and has a large viewing window with a light, so you can see your pizza cooking away (and more importantly, whip it out if it needs turning). The oven is pretty lightweight when the pizza stone isn’t in it, and there are handles on either side, so if you need to store it away, it’s easy to move around. It is on the large side, though, so if you are planning on keeping it on your counter, you will need a decent amount of room.