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The Best Pizza Oven
Solo Stove Pi
Runner-Up
Ooni Karu 16
Best for Beginners
Ooni Koda Pizza Oven
Most Versatile Oven
Cuisinart 3-in-1 Pizza Oven Plus
There’s a reason why pizza is the menu choice of picky preschoolers, hungry teenagers, and discerning foodies alike. With enough cheese, tomato sauce, and arugula, homemade pizzas are a complete meal. They’re irresistible, easy to make, and customizable for a wide range of dietary preferences.
Until recently, an aspiring pizzaiolo had no choice but to crank up their kitchen oven to the standard 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Now, the best outdoor pizza ovens can heat up as high as 900 degrees—the perfect temperature for making a crisp Neapolitan pizza in minutes. For the past few years, I’ve memorized recipes, perfected my dough-tossing technique, and made hundreds of pizzas. You don’t have to limit yourself to pizza, either; I’ve seared steaks and pan-fried broccoli in ’em. Here are my—and my waistline’s—favorites. For those with limited access to outdoor spaces, I’ve included an indoor option and an oven that fits on a small deck, balcony, or patio.
Be sure to check out our many other buying guides, including the Best Portable Grills, Best Grills, and Best Camping Stoves.
Updated June 2023: We added the Ooni Volt and the Yoder Smoker Oven, added an honorable mentions slide, and added some toppings we like.
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Photograph: Solo Stove
The Best Pizza Oven
Solo Stove Pi
If you’ve heard of Solo Stove, it’s because of its smokeless, stainless steel fire pits. This makes the company’s transition to high-heat pizza ovens a seamless one. Instead of the conventional elongated design, the Pi oven’s fuel attachments are long and slim and hug the back of the oven. This allows Solo Stove to keep its signature round, symmetrical design.
I love how compact the oven is. The cooking surface is large enough to accommodate my biggest Lodge cast-iron pan, but I can leave the handle sticking out—a boon to anyone who has ever burned their hands through heat-resistant gloves. The top’s flat surface is a convenient storage space. And the stove doesn’t sacrifice any of its heating capabilities for these details. Only two pieces of chopped wood from my hardware store fit in the hopper at a time, but it still heated up from cold to 500 degrees in a matter of minutes.
Bakes with wood or gas
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Photograph: Ooni
Runner-Up
Ooni Karu 16
Ooni makes pizza ovens in a variety of sizes and styles, but its Karu 16 (9/10, WIRED Recommends) is the most versatile and easy-to-use oven I’ve tried. You can buy a separate gas attachment, but it’s designed to be used with charcoal or wood. Lighting the oven is fast and easy—simply drop a lit fire starter and a few oak sticks on the fuel tray and it’ll get hot within 10 minutes. Unlike previous iterations, the Karu 16 has a door that hooks closed to retain heat and an integrated digital thermometer to measure the temperature.
Like all of Ooni’s ovens, the Karu is attractive, light, portable, and easy to clean. You have to constantly add fuel to maintain the temperature, but not any more so than other ovens I’ve tried. The best indicator that it’s a great pizza oven? I can’t stop using it, and everyone who has seen me use it wants one too.
Bakes with wood or charcoal
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Photograph: Ooni
Best for Beginners
Ooni Koda Pizza Oven
Does fiddling about with attachments, chimneys, and griddles sound stressful and off-putting? This is another one from Ooni that might be for you (8/10, WIRED Recommends). At around 21 pounds, the Koda is light and portable. The thin, powder-coated steel shell insulates well enough that it remains cool to the touch, even when the fire is burning. Just slide in the baking stone, screw on the propane tank, and you’re ready to go. The door fits 12-inch pizza peels and 10-inch cast-iron skillets. However, unlike the Pro, you should not store it outside.
Bakes with gas
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Photograph: CuisinArt
Most Versatile Oven
Cuisinart 3-in-1 Pizza Oven Plus
My fondness for the Cuisinart 3-in-1 is not wholly justified. It doesn’t get as hot as our other picks. In my testing, it topped out at around 600 degrees. The door to the pizza oven is only 13 inches wide, so I can’t use my bigger pizza peels. It’s just not as attractive as our other picks. The handle feels cheap. The legs don’t fold down. What can I say, pizza chefs are sensitive to aesthetics.
But this is the oven my family uses the most often. Open the door to use it as a pizza oven! When people come over for unexpected burgers or hot dogs, flip up the lid and use it as a gas grill. Do kids want pancakes for breakfast? No problem, let me pop on the griddle top. It even has a space underneath the cooking surface to store the attachments. This is the best oven if you have limited outdoor space or aren’t sure you want a dedicated pizza oven. That it’s cheaper than most of our other picks doesn’t hurt.
Bakes with gas
