Gear

The Best Pizza Ovens to Make the Perfect Slice

In times of trouble, our nation turns to carbs. We picked our favorite portable ovens for backyards, countertops, or camping.

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. Now, the best portable pizza ovens can heat up as high as 900 degrees—the perfect temperature for making a crisp, Neapolitan-style pizza in minutes. For the past three 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 of you 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 our Best Portable Grills and Work-From-Home Gear guides.

Updated July 2021: We added the Ooni Karu 16 and removed out-of-stock options.

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  • Ooni Karu 16
    Photograph: Ooni

    Best Pizza Oven

    Ooni Karu 16

    Ooni makes pizza ovens in a variety of sizes and styles, but its latest 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 and 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 a helpful integrated digital thermometer to measure the temperature. 

    Like all of Ooni's ovens, the Karu is attractive, light, portable, and easy to clean. The best indicator that it's a great oven? I can't stop using it, and everyone who has seen me use it wants one too. 

    Bakes with wood or charcoal

    $799 at Ooni
    $800 at Williams & Sonoma
  • Photograph: Ooni

    Best for Beginners

    Ooni Koda Pizza Oven

    Does fiddling about with different 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, it's 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 both 12-inch pizza peels and 10-inch cast-iron skillets. However, unlike the Pro, you should not store it outside.

    Bakes with gas

    $349 at Ooni
    $350 at Williams Sonoma
  • Photograph: Ooni

    Best Budget Wood Oven

    Ooni Fyra

    Ooni's Fyra is perfect for the backyard pizzaiolo who wants to experiment with burning different types of wood, like oak or cherry. Like the Koda above, it's surprisingly small and easy to assemble, weighing in at a petite 22 pounds. The hopper is tall and thin; it doesn't have a diffuse tray that lets the heat out quickly, and the loading chute doesn't have a bend in it, making it easy to load. Plus, you don't have to load it as often. I got it up to 900 degrees within 20 minutes, although I recommend letting it preheat for an hour to let the stone heat through. 

    Bakes with wood

    $299 at Ooni
    $300 at Williams Sonoma
  • Photograph: Breville

    Best for Countertops

    Breville Smart Oven Pizzaiolo

    I was heartbroken when I had to send back Breville's Pizzaiolo after testing. Three heating elements (one under the pizza stone, two on top), an optimized interior heat shield, and two temperature sensors ensure that your pizza comes out perfect every time, whether you set it to toast a frozen pizza or crisp up your pepperoni, Neapolitan-style. It insulates well enough that I can sit in front of it while it's baking, and it takes up the same space as my microwave. It's not as exciting as an outdoor oven with live flames, but it's way more convenient (especially for those with only indoor spaces).

    Bakes using electricity

    $1,000 at Breville
    $1,000 at Williams Sonoma
  • Photograph: Camp Chef 

    Most Versatile

    Camp Chef Italia Artisan Pizza Oven

    Camp Chef's pizza oven is trickier than some of our other picks. The propane-powered flames flow upward from the sides, rather than from the back. If you're baking one pie in the middle of the oven, you'll get better results if you turn the temperature down to around 600 degrees and use the brand's pizza spatula to hold the pie close to the top so that the top crisps and the bottom doesn't burn. I like that it doesn't balance on spindly legs, which is an important factor when baking near sprinting toddlers. The included door and smaller jets make it easier to fine-tune cooking other items, like chicken thighs or asparagus. You can also buy it as an attachment for your existing Camp Chef stove.

    Bakes with gas

    $615 at Kohl's
    $600 at Camp Chef
  • Photograph: Gozney

    For Pros and Partyers

    Gozney Roccbox Outdoor Pizza Oven

    Initially, I was not fond of the Gozney Roccbox. But if you love to throw parties, it retains heat better than any oven I tried. It's nearly a commercial-grade oven—an imposing 45 pounds of dense, insulating calcium silicate covered by a soft silicone jacket and propped up on folding stainless steel legs. The baking stone is also secured to the bottom so it won't fall out and break, and it comes with a wide velcro carrying band to make it (slightly) easier to move around.

    Gozney also recently redesigned its hopper to be larger and much more efficient. Getting it hotter than 400 degrees still takes much longer than our other picks, but it is now much easier to keep it at that temperature without constant attention. 

    Bakes with gas and wood

    $499 at Gozney
  • Photograph: Getty Images

    Pizza Baking Tips

    We Believe in You

    Baking a Neapolitan-style pie looks easy, but a few hard-won tips and tricks can make your very first pie look, and taste, like heaven. If you're making your own dough, reach for the 00 flour, which is milled specifically for pizza and pasta. Don't try to poke and prod cold dough into a round shape; bring it to room temperature first. Torn mozzarella will make your pizza damp, so be sure to mix in some shredded, low-moisture cheese for the cheesiest, meltiest pie. Sprinkle flour or cornmeal generously on the peel before you assemble your pizza, and make sure it's not stuck to the bottom before you head out to the oven. 

    Pizza ovens are also more versatile than you might think—I cook everything from salmon to steak to chicken thighs in mine by preheating a cast iron pan in a hot oven and popping the food right in. For more guidance, Ooni has its own cookbook; I've also found chef Francis Mallman's books to be a good source of inspiration.  

  • Photograph: New Star

    Stuff You'll Want

    Our Favorite Pizza Accessories

    Many pizza ovens, like the Roccbox and the Ooni, provide you with proprietary accessories to set you on your pizza path. But I've also found a few extras to be helpful along the way. A handheld infrared thermometer ($28) verifies the differences in temperature on the baking stone and makes sure the stone has reheated after each pizza. Dough is much less likely to stick on a wooden pizza peel ($27), especially if you sprinkle cornmeal or flour on it first. I also like searing steaks or roasting broccoli in a cast-iron skillet ($18). If you do too, you might want to invest in a pair of heat-resistant grilling gloves ($17).

Adrienne So is a senior associate reviews editor for WIRED and reviews consumer technology. She graduated from the University of Virginia with bachelor’s degrees in English and Spanish, and she worked as a freelance writer for Cool Hunting, Paste, Slate, and other publications. She is currently based in Portland, Oregon.
Senior Associate Reviews Editor
TopicsShoppingbuying guidespizza ovenkitchencooking