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The best pizza ovens for outdoor dining this summer
Bring a taste of Italy to your parties this summer
With summer on our doorstep, there’s never been a better time to invest in a pizza oven for the garden.
Pizza ovens, like some of the best BBQs, can be pricey, so finding one that’s perfect for your garden and lifestyle is key. There are a few things to consider first before you buy a pizza oven.
What type of pizza oven should I buy?
Pizza ovens come with a range of fuel types. While many are traditional wood-fired ovens, there are also ceramic and charcoal options. A lot of pizza ovens are gas-fired and come with easy ignition and adjustable temperature, while some give you more than one option for cooking the perfect pizza. Whatever fuel you use, the most important thing about a pizza oven is the temperature. You need it to be between 400 °C and 500 °C before you can cook a pizza.
How big should my pizza oven be?
It might sound a little obvious, but before you buy a pizza oven, work out where it’s likely to live in your garden. We’d suggest opting for one that will work with your space without overwhelming it, so check the dimensions before you buy and think about whether you'd prefer one on legs or one that can sit on an outdoor tabletop. This is partly for aesthetics but also for safety, as your pizza oven needs to be stable, secure and away from your property’s exterior walls and any flammable materials.
What are the safety tips for using a pizza oven?
Speaking of safety, there are a few dos and don’ts when it comes to pizza ovens. Most are designed to only be used outside, to minimise the risk of fire and to let the fumes ventilate properly. Never leave your pizza oven unattended once you’ve fired it up, and keep an eye on your kids and pets while it’s in use. Look for pre-assembled ovens or make sure you follow the instructions carefully, if you’re building your own, to avoid any safety risks.
Do I need anything else?
While the pizza oven is the main investment, you might also want to consider adding a few accessories to make life with your pizza oven a little easier. These include oven gloves to protect your hands when you’re taking the pizzas out of the oven, a pizza peel tool to put your dough in the pizza oven (and take it out), and a thermometer gauge so you know when the oven is hot enough to put your dough in (though some ovens have this included).
Here, we've rounded up some of the best pizza ovens on the market right now, with a range of prices, sizes and fuel types.
Ooni is the go-to for brilliant pizza ovens. Since they created the world's first portable pellet pizza oven in 2012, they've adapted their back garden pizza ovens range to six, priced from £249 to £699. We think the Karu 12 is a great option for a first foray into pizza ovens because the multi-fuel options give you plenty of cooking flexibility. You can use wood or charcoal to start with and later, if you want to add gas into the mix, you can buy an Ooni Gas Burner to attach on. The pizza oven reaches 500c in just 15 minutes meaning by the time you’ve decided what toppings you fancy it’ll be good to go.
Sage Smart Oven™ Pizzaiolo Pizza Oven
One of the only pizza ovens we’ve come across that is okay to use both indoors and on a kitchen countertop, the Pizzaiolo promises to cook your delicious home-made pizza in just two minutes. It’s designed to replicate three types of heat to give you an authentic wood-fired style pizza cooked to perfection.
There are also preset cooking functions (deep pan, thin and crispy and frozen) and recipe cards to help you impress family and friends with your creations. This all-singing-all-dancing option also comes with a pizza peel and pizza pan.
Stoke up the fire in this outdoor oven and enjoy your pizza in less than five minutes. We love the style of this rustic option, which looks like it could be something you found at a reclamation yard. The pizza oven is made from corten steel sheets and contains two stone baking boards inside the top part of the oven. These boards absorb all the heat from the flames and then pass it on to the food, so when you bake a pizza, it’ll always have a perfect, light, crispy base. It’s up to you to assemble the pizza oven, so watch out for those instructions.
Outdoor Table Top Gas Powered Pizza Oven
This compact gas-fired pizza oven would be perfect for a smaller garden and comes with a host of accessories. There's a pizza stone, a water-resistant cover for when it’s not in use and a regulator and hose assembly for propane gas bottles, so you’ll have everything you need to get started straight away. The efficient oven has a glass window so you can keep an eye on the pie while it’s cooking without letting the heat out and the 30cm pizza stone promises to cook pizzas quickly and evenly.
Argos Home Pizza Oven BBQ Topper With Paddle
The most affordable pizza oven we’ve come across on the market, this BBQ topper pizza oven just needs to be placed onto a charcoal or gas BBQ (so steer clear of this option if you don’t already own a BBQ) and it’ll heat up ready to cook your pizza in minutes. Keep an eye on the thermometer and when the pizza is cooked, lift it out with the paddle provided.
Igneus Ceramiko 600 – Wood Fired Pizza Oven
Igneus Ceramiko 600 – Wood Fired Pizza Oven
This frost proof pizza oven is designed to live outside and can withstand all weathers. It reaches temperature in 20 minutes and can cook one large pizza or two small pizzas in just 60 seconds. It also retains its heat for up to four hours, which is ideal for those of us who love going back for a second helping. Better still, you can customise the paint colour, tile and render of the outer shell so it’s fits perfectly in your garden as though it’s always been there.
Charcoal Kettle Pizza Barbecue
This frost proof pizza oven is designed to live outside and can withstand all weathers. It reaches temperature in 20 minutes and can cook one large pizza or two small pizzas in just 60 seconds. It also retains its heat for up to four hours, which is ideal for those of us who love going back for a second helping. Better still, you can customise the paint colour, tile and render of the outer shell so it’s fits perfectly in your garden as though it’s always been there.
Ooni Karu 16 Multi-Fuel Pizza Oven
We're finishing on a high with another incredible pizza oven by gurus Ooni. This multi-fuel option has all the bells and whistles found on the other model - a mounted digital thermometer, the ability to cook with wood or charcoal and a three-year warranty - but it's slightly bigger with a cooking area spacious enough for 16inch pizzas.
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