A blend of wood fired logs or pellets along with a few briquettes is the only workable way to introduce charcoal to cooking with pizza. As such, you won't find any 'charcoal-only' ovens for sale. Roccbox recommends chopping kindling to about the size of a pencil, so I borrowed my husband’s hatchet. I split those darn things to splinters and stood in the dripping rain, sliding them down the chute ... until I got fed up and took my kids out for bratwurst. If a pizza cooks in as little as 60 seconds at high temperatures, retaining heat for extended periods of time is not a big selling point for the Roccbox, unless you plan on making dozens of pizzas in a row or using it commercially. The burner has a basket which you can pull in and out as you add wood and a tool which allows you to do that safely. I added wood every 3-4 minutes, and at around the 40-minute mark, the oven was hot enough to use.

We use an infrared thermometer to record the surface temperature of the pizza stone in the oven and time how long it takes to reach 400°C. Some pizza ovens take less than 15 minutes, while others fail to reach 400°C altogether. Pizza quality Not all Ooni pizza ovens have the same pizza stones. For example, the Koda 12, Fyra 12, and Volt 12 all have a 0.4″ pizza stones, while all other models have a larger size 0.6″ pizza stones. This should not affect the pizza, but it will affect how well the stone retains heat between uses.First, you should compare the dimensions of the oven you're interested in with the size of your barbecue – you won't get far if your grill isn't big enough for the oven to sit snugly. Ooni Karu 12G offers similar but newer and more efficient features at a lower price compared to Roccbox. We’re not going to focus on which portable pizza oven makes the best pizza for this review. That might seem odd, but both Ooni and Roccbox are premium pizza oven brands with excellent build quality, so it’s a given that both make great pizza. Those who want to use charcoal should go for a wood-fired oven and introduce a few briquettes to a mostly wood-based fire. BBQ pizza ovens All of these are optional, though. Everything you need to cook your first pizza is included in the box. Recommendation

In each pizza oven, we cook three of the most popular types of pizza – margherita, pepperoni and veggie – to see what results we get when cooking with a variety of textures and flavours. Least expensive, smaller pizza stone, multi-fuel options including wood and gas, barebones in terms of extras, less insulation This can result in pizzas with very crispy bases and underdone tops. You might need to use a pizza peel to hold your pizza aloft in the oven for a while to help the top catch up with how well done the base is. Electric pizza ovens

Our Verdict

There aren't many electric pizza ovens around that are for use at home, but the Ooni Volt 12 and Sage Pizzaiolo are examples that might be a good fit for those who are keen to cook artisan-style pizza without the need for outdoor space.

Also, both Ooni and Gozney are based in the UK, so you can expect good customer service as well as high-quality design standards. I’m confident that whichever pizza oven you choose, you will have a good experience dealing with either company from a customer service perspective. Ooni Has Better Options for New York and New Haven style Pizza The additional Roccbox Cover, which is fantastic for keeping Roccbox secure and snug in all sorts of weather, has a carry strap incorporated. What can I cook in Roccbox? Rotate it regularly The strongest heat usually comes from one direction, especially in gas and wood-fired ovens. You'll want to rotate the pizza a few times during cooking to make sure it cooks evenly. Once every 30 seconds is a good rule of thumb, but keep an eye on it while it cooks.The Ooni Koda 16 is a large pizza oven fueled exclusively by propane. That means if you’re looking for a wood-fired pizza ovenoption, the Roccbox is the logical choice. These are made to sit on top of a gas or charcoal barbecue, and are usually made up of a simple metal box with a pizza stone inside. They heat up from below using the barbecue grill. To help determine which pizza oven ics most cost effective, I’ve devised a “price per square inch” metric. This metric calculates how much you’re paying per square inch of baking surface, which is an important factor for most potential buyers. The included Pizza Peel means you have everything you need to create impressive pizzas straight out of the box.

I know it's rare, but the idea that you can actually 'set up in minutes' is actually, for once, true. Unlike some of the best BBQs, this is an outdoor buy that takes hardly any preparation if you're hosting a garden party. Using the gas burner to make pizza Pizza ovens get extremely hot, which can make them dangerous to touch when fired up. This is especially prevalent with cheaper pizza ovens without good insulation. The traditional and most popular type. They require the most patience and skill, as they usually take longer to get up to temperature than gas, and need almost constant attention to get the flames to the right size and consistency.The Roccbox works best as a gas powered oven than as a wood one due to some design limitations with the size of the wood burner where it opens. Heat-proof gloves Getting up close and personal with an oven that can burn at 500°C comes with its risks. Wearing heat-proof gloves will help keep you safe while adding fuel, and if necessary, when launching and rotating pizzas. If you can overlook the fact that the Roccbox is heavier than a Sisyphean stone, it has a few delightful features that make it particularly easy to set up as a propane oven. First, the oven’s stone baking surface is secured on the oven floor. I don’t have to remove a charred, loose stone to move it or worry about it slipping out of the oven and breaking.