While we love a good charcuterie board or cheese plate, the best appetizer and/or aperitivo setups are not complete without a multitude of pizza options. Thanks to modern technology, you can crank out damn near-perfect Neapolitan pizzas just like the Italians in under a few minutes with the correct setup. And, whipping up a few homemade pizzas is way more fun than just ordering from the local pizza joint. So, we think it’s about time you invested in an outdoor pizza oven. Here are the best outdoor pizza ovens to fuel your next dinner party.
What to Look For in an Outdoor Pizza Oven
Portability: Are you setting up a DIY brick pizza oven? If so, it obviously won’t be very mobile. But, if you’re hoping to make pizzas in the park, on the beach, and everywhere in between, you’ll want an outdoor pizza oven with some portability.
Fuel: Perhaps the most important component of your portable pizza oven: What fuel does it take? Many beginner models use wood or even wood pellets. But, if you already have a gas-powered grill, maybe you’ll want to use that propane to fuel your pizza oven. Or, perhaps you’d prefer charcoal. Whatever the case, confirm that your outdoor pizza oven uses your prefered fuel before you purchase. Your fuel choice will also have an impact on the final product. A wood fire pizza tastes remarkably different from one made in a charcoal pizza oven.
The Best Outdoor Pizza Ovens
Cuisinart CPO-600 Portable Outdoor Pizza Oven
As Cuisinart, one of the largest and most-trusted American home appliance brands tells it, the “Alfrescamoré Outdoor Pizza Oven is designed to replicate the perfect pizza environment of a brick oven, using convection, conduction, and reflected heat to create even cooking temperatures.” In practice, that means 15,000 BTUs of cooking temp for pizzas in as little as 5 mins, along with easy transport and wood-fired taste from the smoke chips. It also includes a folding pizza peel, cordierite pizza stone, recipe guide, and integrated smoke chip cup to help you on your pizza chef journey. We’re not gonna say it’s the best, but everyone has to start somewhere.
Buy Now $181
Only Fire Universal Stainless Steel Pizza Oven Kit
If you already have a charcoal kettle grill (preferably at least 22″ in size) and you want to make pizzas, the Only Fire Universal Stainless Steel Pizza Oven Kit is what you want. With its double-wall ceiling, cordierite stone, and tool-less assembly, this kit is purpose-built to make the best possible pizzas–as long as you monitor the cooking process and pull the ‘zas when they’re ready. If you’re looking for a budget option for your outdoor pizza oven, this is it.
Buy Now $170
Ooni Koda 12″ Pizza Oven
Outside of a very few specific use cases, Ooni is the only brand worth considering when it comes to pizza ovens. The Ooni Koda 12″ Pizza Oven is their entry-level option and is priced at just four hundred bucks. Honestly, that’s a steal given the built-in gas ignition, insulated stainless construction, multi-purpose cooking (pizza/meat/fish/veggies), and its ability to get to temp in 15 minutes and cook a pizza in the time it takes you to snap your fingers. The Ooni Koda would be our top recommendation for a first time pizza maker. It’s more of an investment but it performs significantly better than most pizza ovens.
Buy Now $399
DIY Pizza Oven
Short of going through the actual training, there’s no better way to feel like a pizzaiolo than pulling a freshly cooked pizza from a brick oven you built yourself. This is most definitely not the only way to DIY a permanent outdoor pizza oven–and it certainly costs just as much as buying a portable option given the current price of materials. But there’s just something to be said about making things with your own two hands… whether it’s the pizza itself or the oven you cook it in. If you want maximum points in every field, pick up the materials from your local big box like Home Depot, Menard’s, or Lowe’s and get cracking on your pizza operation. You’ll appreciate it when your backyard becomes the neighborhood’s de facto brick oven pizza destination. Learn More
Roccbox Pizza Oven
Buy Now $499
Ooni Karu 16 Multi-Fuel Pizza Oven
Cards on the table, if money is no object–or you plan a making a metric shitload of pizzas over the course of the rest of your life–the only outdoor pizza oven you should be buying is the Ooni Karu 16 Multi-Fuel Pizza Oven. It’s the first and only pizza oven to be ‘Recommended for Domestic Use’ by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (yea, there’s an acclaimed international authority on Neapolitan pizza), along with being wood/charcoal/gas ready, hitting almost 1,000 degrees in 15 minutes and churning out up to 16″ pizzas in less than two minutes. This is the Maybach of pizza ovens.
Buy Now $799
