Best pizza ovens 2024: tried and tested by experts

The best pizza oven will guarantee the tastiest slice this side of Italy. Simulating the smoky flavors of a traditional stone oven, the best pizza ovens help you to make restaurant-quality pizza in your backyard. Not only that, but you can use them to roast meats and vegetables, and even bake desserts.

As we head towards warmer weather and longer evenings, you might find yourself longing for a pizza oven to make dinner al fresco. You could opt for a wood-fired pizza oven for that authentic Neapolitan flavor or a gas oven for energy efficiency. If you couldn't fit one in your yard, you could pick up a pizza oven that's certified safe for indoor use. But with so much on the market, it's easy to feel spoiled for choice.

As a professional product tester, I've had hands-on experience with all the best garden gear, and I think a good pizza oven could give the best grills a run for their money. I've tested all the latest and greatest models from Ooni, Gozney, and Breville, and I've found the best pizza ovens to suit every style of garden and size of budget.

To help you compare and contrast, I've assessed each pizza oven against the same criteria: cook time, ease of assembly, price, and the all-important taste test. I've also identified which oven is best for making which sorts of pizza so that you know where to shop for traditional Neapolitans and deep-dish pies.

The quick list

We'll dig into the specifics further down. For now, these are all the best pizza ovens, at a glance.

Best pizza oven 2024

Best pizza oven overall

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We love the Ooni Karu 16 Multi-Fuel Pizza Oven. It's a generously sized oven that won't be easy to store, but it's surprisingly lightweight and perfect for propping up in an outdoor kitchen.

When it comes to taste, our tester Jason found that there is 'nothing like the pizzas' made in the Karu 16. It's the best pizza oven he's ever tried, and it's the first pizza oven recommended for domestic use by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana, the international authority on Neapolitan pizza.

This oven cooks with a Cordierite pizza stone with a 16-inch cooking area for large pies. The door has a unique hinge feature which makes it easy to pivot your pies as they cook. There's also a window to watch your pizza as it cooks. However, this was a little smoky as it cooked.

Perhaps the best feature is the built-in digital thermometer, which shows the fluctuations in temperature as your pizza oven is cooking. This is perfect for consistency between different pizzas. You can also switch between gas and wood fuel, opting for either the speed and convenience of gas cooking or the smoky flavors of a traditional wood-fired pizza.

However, bear in mind that the Ooni gas burner is sold separately. Like all Ooni pizzas, essential tools like a pizza peel and pizza cutter aren't included as standard. It's heavy, so it needs two people for assembly. Most of all, it's a little pricey.

There are more details in our Ooni Karu 16 Multi-Fuel Pizza Oven review.

Best wood-fired pizza oven

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Wood-fired pizza ovens create a smoky flavor and charred crust that isn’t achievable in an ordinary convection oven. The Ooni Fyra 12 comes in at number 2 as the best wood-fired pizza oven on the market.

Wood fuel can be daunting, but the Fyra 12 is easy to set up and use. This is thanks to clear instructions and a handy app packed with recipes for doughs and sauces. It's simple to add wood and control the temperature, and the fast heat-up time means it's ready to go in just 15 minutes.

The Ooni Fyra 12 makes a perfect Neapolitan pizza in two minutes. Our expert tester Helen found 'a crispy puffed-up crust with lightly charred patches' that cooked in just two minutes. You aren't limited to pizza, either – Helen also found great results when experimenting with roast garlic potatoes, lamb, and asparagus.

Like all wood-fired ovens, the Fyra 12 needs more care and attention than gas-powered ovens. You'll need to monitor the wood pellets as they reach temperature and stoke them to maintain the right heat.

It's also worth knowing that Ooni doesn't include accessories like a pizza peel or pizza slicer with their ovens. While the Fyra is the best-value Ooni, it costs an extra couple hundred dollars if you want all the bells and whistles, such as specialized wood pellets and a thermometer.

You can find more details in our Ooni Fyra 12 review.

Best budget pizza oven

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This Pi Pizza Oven is one of the cheapest pizza ovens we've tested, and it's great for beginners. Assembly is a matter of minutes: all you need to do is lay the cooking bricks, insert the fuel grate and ash pan, and you're good to go.

Our favorite feature sounds small, but it makes a big difference: a guard that protects you from throwing your pizza too far back in the oven. The hardest part of mastering a pizza oven is launching your pie, and it's easy to throw your pizza right to the back of the oven when it will squish and burn. The guard will stop this from happening.

The resulting pizzas were easy to make and tasted delicious. Our tester struggled to make the pizzas as fast as they were being eaten. They were easily among the best we've tested.

But while the taste is flawless, the Pi Pizza Oven is a little high-maintenance. You'll need to use a specific type of wood: kiln-dried, one inch wide, and five inches long. You'll also need a small fire starter to start the flames.

It's a bit less accessible than an Ooni, which allows you to top up fuel and check on your fire from the back of the machine. This oven is equipped to make 12" pizzas, but ours came out at around 10" with a bit of room at the edges. These are perfect for small gatherings but may be slow for big groups. You can speed up the process by cooking with gas, but you must buy the gas attachment separately.

You can find more details in our Solo Stove Pi Pizza Oven review.

Best gas pizza oven

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If some of these ovens sound like too much hassle, then the Ooni Koda 12 could be for you. Instead of charcoal, it runs off gas, so all you need to do is plug in your propane and you're good to go. It heats up in 15 minutes and cooks your pizza in two.

Our expert tester used the Koda 12 to make an excellent cheese pizza, a perfect pepperoni pie, and an indulgent garlic bread. Although most gas ovens can't create a crispy crust, this model achieved excellent charring, and it's especially good at baking thin-crust pizzas.

This oven can make more than just pizza. Our tester used it with a cast iron skillet to make delicious grilled chicken and roasted vegetables. The Koda 12 is lightweight, too, so it's easy to move and store.

The biggest issue with this oven is the lack of a door. It makes it easier to load the pizza but much harder to regulate the temperature. The Koda 12 is also missing the bonus features of Ooni's Karu 16, such as a built-in thermometer.

You can find more details in our Ooni Koda 12 review.

Best indoor pizza oven

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For a quick and easy pizza night, you need the Breville Smart Oven Pizzaiolo. This electric pizza oven is designed for indoor use, so it's the perfect option for apartment dwellers or people without a yard.

This countertop oven was the first domestic oven to reach 750°F. That means it can cook a 12-inch pizza in just two minutes. The Element iQ smart system regulates power so that the oven mimics the type of heat generated in a brick oven. This gives that leopard-spotted charred finish you usually get from a wood-fired pizza oven.

There are dedicated settings for different types of pizza, covering New York, pan, thin and crispy, or frozen pizzas. While you can control the temperature and heating element, our expert preferred the pre-set features which kept the process almost fool-proof. Though this indoor marvel comes close, it still can't recreate the smokiness that marks a traditional Neapolitan. It's also one of the most expensive ovens we've tested.

You can find more details in our Breville Smart Oven Pizzaiolo review.