Tech
We Made More Than a Thousand Pizzas to Find the Best Pizza Ovens
Compare the Top 8 Pizza Ovens
Tips and FAQ
Who We Are and How We Tested
WIRED reviewer Adrienne So has tested many pizza ovens and made more than a thousand pizzas over the past seven years. WIRED reviewer Matthew Korfhage is a longtime food writer who’s written about pizza on both coasts over 15 years, from sausage slices in Portland to the story of Mexican pizza in Philadelphia.
We test each pizza oven over the course of a few weeks, using homemade dough (Adrienne likes Ooni’s classic pizza dough recipe), fresh dough balls procured from local pizzerias, store-bought fresh dough, and frozen pizzas. We use infrared thermometers to make sure the temperature of the cooking surface is consistent (and is what the built-in thermometer says it is). Where relevant, we also cross-check built-in thermometers on each oven against our own ambient thermometers.
Pizza ovens are also quite a bit more versatile than you might think. Over years of testing, Adrienne has used her pizza ovens to sear steaks, quick-cook salmon, and pan-fry broccoli. Matthew has air-fried wings in a pizza oven, grilled pork chops, charred asparagus, and blackened chicken.
It’s taken me many years, and many thousands of pizzas, to refine my pizza-making technique. And to be honest, my Neapolitan-style pizzas don’t really meet the standard set by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana, the world authority on Neapolitan pizzas. (Ooni pizza ovens, including previous models of our top-rated Karu 2, are the only models we recommend that the AVPN has also recommended.)
But over the years, I have accumulated a few tips for those of you who find making a pizza to be a little bit awkward or intimidating. If you’ve refrigerated your dough, bring it to room temperature first. Sprinkle flour lightly on the peel before you stretch the dough across and assemble your pizza, to keep dough from sticking. (Some use cornmeal, but note that cornmeal can burn and become bitter in a hot oven.) Be patient and stretch your dough from the inside out. It is cheating, but I also am guilty of using a tiny rolling pin ($10) to help me get the dough as thin as possible.
An authentic Neapolitan pie will use a few specific ingredients. When you’re making your own dough, reach for 00 flour, which is milled specifically for pizza and pasta. Fresh mozzarella will make your pizza damp, so I use a mix of fresh and shredded, low-moisture cheese for the cheesiest, meltiest pie. If you’re not sticking to a strictly Neapolitan recipe, we also have a few favorite pies we’d like to recommend. Senior director Martin Cizmar and I like a good Buffalo pie with Frank’s Red Hot and pickles. I also recently tried Brightland’s Pizza Oil in a squeeze bottle; while it’s good as a finishing sauce to drizzle over pies, you could make your own for much cheaper by putting olive oil and herbs in a squeeze bottle.
Besides ‘zas, I cook everything from salmon to steak to chicken thighs in my pizza oven by preheating a cast iron pan in a hot oven and popping the food right in. For more guidance, Ooni has a cookbook; chef Francis Mallmann’s books are also a good source of inspiration. —Adrienne So
Is your patio already occupied by a giant Traeger? Your grill or smoker probably has a pizza attachment that you can buy for less than a new oven. Cizmar’s favorite is the Yoder Smoker wood-fired oven attachment ($499), which has saved him from many a night of pellet fire flameouts. It sits under the smoker’s hood, atop a steel sheet that sits over the firebox. The sheet is a diffuser and has holes of increasing size as you move away from the fire, so that the section farthest from the flame gets more exposure. The design provides a consistent temperature along the oven’s floor, and it works well, with the farthest corners of the oven still cresting 650 degrees Fahrenheit.
You can also turn your normal, indoor oven into a pizza oven. While most ovens max out at 500 degrees Fahrenheit, one way to impart more heat to your pizza is by preheating a baking surface with a high thermal mass, which maintains temperature stability and directly delivers its stored-up heat energy. An easy way to do this is by preheating a cast-iron pan or baking steel. A classic Lloyd pan is one preferred tool for Detroit- or Sicilian-style pan pizza, which works well in conventional ovens.
Several of our favorite grill and pizza oven manufacturers, like Kamado and Weber, also make ceramic pizza stones. Check out our guide to the Best Portable Grills and Grill Accessories for more.
Honorable Mentions
We’ve tried a lot of pizza ovens. Here are a few that we liked that didn’t quite make our top picks.
Photograph: Stove Pi Prime
Solo Stove Pi Prime for $450: The Solo Stove Pi Prime remains a very, very tight contender for our top gas oven pick. If you’ve heard of Solo Stove, it’s because of its smokeless, stainless steel fire pits. This made the company’s transition to high-heat pizza ovens more or less seamless. Instead of the conventional elongated design, the Pi Prime 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. This really is a great design, and this remarkably compact propane pizza oven has previously been among WIRED’s top picks. The cooking surface is large enough to accommodate a large Lodge cast-iron pan. If you have a small backyard, the top’s flat surface is a convenient storage space, and the stove doesn’t sacrifice any of its heating capabilities for these details. So why is the Koda 2 better than Solo Stove Pi Prime in our books? The Koda 2 allows for bigger 14-inch pies, and the broader opening makes launching a bit easier. (But note, if you live in a windy area, the Pi Prime offers better wind shielding than the Koda.)
Photograph: Matthew Korfhage
Halo Versa 16 for $499: At first blush, the Halo Versa 16 appears to offer much the same specs as the All-Clad gas-powered pizza oven, but for half the price. It’s got a rotating pizza stone, room for a 16-inch pie, and a clever extra feature: a little heater under the pizza stone. This said, the built-in thermometer isn’t accurate (at all!), and insulation isn’t the best, leading to a hot exterior. The oven doesn’t reach its advertised top temps of 950 degrees Fahrenheit, though it can generally heat the stone to about 800 degrees. Consider this a better oven for New York–style pies, at a quite affordable price when you take into account the rotating stone.
Gozney
Gozney Roccbox for $499: When Adrienne So first reviewed the dual-fuel Gozney Roccbox, she praised the fast recovery time that has made the Roccbox popular among pizza pop-up chefs, allowing her to make 10 pies in less than 30 minutes when cooking pizza with propane. That said, few home pizza makers need such throughput, and the 44-pound device is heavier than other competitors. The optional woodbox was oppressively difficult to use, for those who want the ability to cook with fire. But the Gozney’s price, previously among the most expensive entrants, now seems downright reasonable. And Matthew Korfhage’s experience using the default propane option has been good, with terrific temperature stability.
Ooni Karu, First Edition for $349: Ooni is still selling the previous generation oven of WIRED’s top pick, the Karu 2, for about $100 less. Like other Ooni pizza ovens, OG Karu is an excellent oven—light, portable, and easy to clean—and WIRED reviewer Adrienne So couldn’t stop using the thing after first testing it. Nonetheless the newer Karu 2 heats more evenly, and holds more fuel than the first-generation oven.
Ooni Koda 12 for $399: The original Ooni Koda 12 is a mere 21 pounds, making it the most light and portable Koda. Its 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, you should not store it outside.
Photograph: Breville
Breville Pizzaiolo for $800: The Breville Pizzaiolo was our prior top-pick electric pizza oven, and like a lot of Breville devices it offers beauteous ease of use and admirable technological sophistication, with three separate heating elements and two sensors that make sure each part of your pie is perfectly cooked. Where the first-generation Ooni Volt edged it out was with better insulation, a higher max temperature, and more versatility for cooking other things besides pizza. Note, however, that the Volt will soon be fully phased out for the second-generation Volt 2, which follows Breville’s lead in moving toward greater automation.
Cuisinart 3-in-1 Propel Pizza Oven and Grill for $600: This Cuisinart Propel 3-in-1 offers an ingenious design. It’s a four-burner stand-up grill and griddle that’s perfectly good for burgers or pancakes—but with a pizza stone and mount, and a domed pizza lid. A smoked-glass door and temperature gauge lets you monitor your pie and turn your pizza without losing all the heat, while the side griddle means you can even cook toppings or sauces on the same device, without having to wander inside and outside. The extra workspace offered by the side tables is likewise truly welcome. But there are trade-offs to this versatility. You can heat your stone above 900 degrees Fahrenheit without trouble, but you won’t get reliable ambient baking temps above 750. And so there’s a bit of a learning curve. You’ll want to turn your middle burners down but leave the side burners on, to cook something between a New York pie and a Neapolitan. The build’s also a little clattery, and the poorly made burner knobs have an irritating habit of slipping on their pegs. This last flaw knocked this oven down to our honorable mentions, despite the Propel’s cleverness and versatility.
Photograph: Adrienne So
Ninja Wood-Fired Oven for $300: If you’re looking for a remarkably sturdy and versatile outdoor oven, this is a pretty good pick with a top temperature of 700 degrees Fahrenheit. The door is a little sticky, which makes baking pizza at high heat a little tricky, but if you want one device that can do everything from smoking a pork shoulder to making muffins to bake a pizza pie, this is your pick.
The Piezano for $100: This TikTok-popular oven is affordable, small, and convenient. It looks a little like a waffle iron, and comes with handy double paddles for easier placement. Astonishingly, its claims of heating the top and bottom elements to 800 degrees Fahrenheit are accurate, and it takes about 15 minutes, which allows for short cook times. But note the heating element at the top doesn’t cover the whole surface area, so you have to rotate your pies pretty frequently. Also, opening the top like a waffle maker means that it doesn’t retain heat very well. It dropped by 100 to 200 degrees between pies and requires a bit of recovery time.
Also Tested
Photograph: Matthew Korfhage
Current Backyard Model P for $699: No less a TV food personage than Alton Brown has signed on as an endorser of this 1,750-watt electric indoor/outdoor pizza oven, which will heat to 850 degrees Fahrenheit using a standard power outlet. Heat is relatively even across the oven, and it’ll get up to top temp in around 30 minutes. But cook settings are constrained to a few preset levels (New-York style, thin crust, Neapolitan, frozen), whose temps and cooking times can be a bit fussy to fiddle with. The app and on-device controls tend to offer more quirks than functionality. Display temp and actual temp don’t always match, and its top thermal elements turn on and off like the lights in a David Lynch movie, according to what the company calls a proprietary algorithm. Still, you can make a great pizza on this thing, and you can make it indoors. Current says it plans to add more functions and cooking modes in future updates, and we’ll keep testing. But it feels less than fully baked at the moment, especially at its price.
Pizzacraft Pizzaque for $130: This oven is adorable and affordable, and you can stand it in your driveway and cook a good pizza while sitting in your camp chair. However, it just doesn’t get as hot or cook as evenly as a better-insulated oven does.
The Best Accessories
Some pizza ovens provide you with proprietary accessories to set you on your pizza path. But we’ve also found a few extras to be helpful along the way:
A handheld infrared thermometer for $11: Even if the oven has a built-in thermometer, a handheld infrared thermometer is a great way to check the temperature on different areas of the pizza stone. It’s also important to make sure the stone has time to reheat after each pizza. For pizza purposes, this affordable one should be accurate enough to suit your needs.
A wooden pizza peel for $34: If you own multiple peels, it’s quick and easy to prep one pizza while another is baking. WIRED reviewers Adrienne So and Matthew Korfhage each own several peels, including a useful small turning peel. But for launching, the dough is much less likely to stick on a wooden peel, especially if you first sprinkle on some semolina or flour.
A cast-iron skillet for $25: You can also use a cast-iron pan in your pizza oven to sear steaks or pan-roast broccoli. Lodge’s pans work just as well as much more expensive options.
Heat-resistant gloves for $20: That cast iron gets extremely hot, so you’ll also need a good pair of mitts. (Even these won’t protect your hands for long, so you’ll need a place near the oven to set the pan down.)
Fire starters for $20: If you’ve ever been intimidated by the idea of cooking with wood, don’t be! These fire starters make it quick and simple. Just light the end with a match, drop it in the fuel tray, and line up a few oak sticks on top. Be sure to keep your wood dry if you don’t want to create a smoke stack in your backyard.
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Shopping for a Dyson vacuum is an experience. There are many models to navigate and serious price tags on most of them. As someone who tests vacuums for a living, I have to admit that a Dyson blows most other vacuums away. There are a few cheaper models I’ll still grab (check out my full guide to cordless and robot vacuums for more recommendations), but if you’re dreaming of a Dyson, this weekend is a great time to buy.
Several Dyson models I love are on sale for the long weekend. This weekend’s sale includes Dyson’s newest robot vacuum and the PencilVac that I can’t stop using, and my overall favorites like the V15 Detect and Gen5Detect, and more models our team has loved using. Read on to find out every on-sale Dyson I’d buy this weekend.
Best Dyson Vacuums on Sale for Memorial Day
The Best Dyson for the Price
If you’re looking for the best features for the best price, I already recommend the Dyson V15 Detect when it’s not on sale, making this an even better time to buy. You’ll get both a Fluffy Optic cleaner head and a Digital Motorbar cleaner head to use for hard floors, carpet, or rugs, trigger control, and details about the particles you suck up while you vacuum. It’s lightweight and easy to use anywhere in the house, and the hour-long battery life should be plenty for a whole-home clean.
A More Powerful Dyson
Dyson’s more powerful stick vacuum is the Gen5Detect, which is a great option if you have pets since it has a faster motor with more suction power than the V15 Detect to suck up more pet hair (it’s our top vacuum for pet hair for a reason) and has a HEPA filter to keep allergens contained inside of the vacuum instead of being released back into the air. It also comes with a true power button, so you don’t have to hold onto the trigger button the entire time to use it. Similar to the V15 Detect, it comes with both a Digital Motorbar cleaner head and a Fluffy Optic cleaner head to use on carpet and hard floors, respectively. You’ll also get two more attachments, plus a built-in dusting and crevice tool (it’s nice not to have to wonder where this attachment is!) It’s an expensive vacuum, but well worth the investment when it’s on sale.
If You Only Have Hard Floors
I shouldn’t like the PencilVac so much, but I find myself reaching for it often, and I think it’s plenty worth its abilities when it’s on sale. Part of what makes it so easy to grab compared to my other stick vacuums is how easy it is to store and keep charged with the freestanding charging base, letting it stand wherever I like in my home as long as there’s an outlet nearby. The PencilVac has two versions, the Fluffy and Fluffycones, with the latter having a design that has fluffy cone-shaped rollers to best collect debris. It is limited to only hard floors and has a short battery life, but I love how maneuverable and lightweight this vacuum is. It’s usually a high price tag for its abilities, and even on sale, it’s not what I would call cheap, but it’s a great, quick daily vacuum.
Dyson’s Latest Robot Vac
Dyson’s newest robot vacuum, the Spot+Scrub Ai, is its first that doubles as both a vacuum and a mop. It has a large base station that reminds me of Dyson’s vacuums, since the dry debris canister is clear and rounded like the ones you’d see attached to a Dyson stick vacuum or one of its upright models. It does a good job mopping and vacuuming, and can learn multiple floors, and the navigation has improved since the older Dyson 306 Vis Nav. Still, it’s not perfect navigation, since the camera sits below the top of the vacuum and doesn’t always see low-profile furniture that it’ll bump into. If you don’t have a ton of low furniture (or tons of IKEA pieces, as I do), this vacuum could be just perfect for you.
A Stick Vac and Mop
Dyson
V15s Detect Submarine
If you want a vacuum that doubles as a mop, look no further than this variation of the V15 Detect that’s also on sale for the holiday weekend. The V15s Detect Submarine comes with the Submarine wet roller head that transforms it from a regular Dyson vacuum (that still comes with both the Fluffy optic cleaner head and Digital motorbar cleaner head for you to use on hard floors and carpet) into a wet roller mop. You can’t buy a regular V15 Detect and add this attachment on; this V15s is made to work with this Submarine head. You’ll fill the small reservoir on the roller head with water and can start mopping away, but you will have to rinse the mop head afterwards by hand, which is a little gross.
A Handheld-Only Dyson
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Photograph: Brenda Stolyar
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If you’re not looking to spend a ton but want a Dyson that’s super portable and great for stairs, cars, and even boats, the Dyson Car+Boat is made for that. It’s in the name, after all. This handheld-only vacuum packs solid power and has a great battery life for a handheld vacuum. It uses a trigger-style control like the V15 Detect, which I actually find ideal for cleaning compact spaces like stairs and cars so that you’re not fumbling to switch it off as you move around the car or to the next set of stairs. It’s an affordable way to get into the Dyson ecosystem, especially since it’s on sale.
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Photograph: Michael Calore
The walls of the bag are tough enough, made from 1,200-denier polyester, which is heavy-duty and water-resistant, not to mention so rugged that it’s nearly indestructible. I’ve checked it as luggage on a dozen or so flights, and it doesn’t show any scuffs or tears. The zipper at the top isn’t sealed, but it’s heavier than it needs to be and works just fine in the rain. What truly sets the bag apart, though, is its lining. The whole interior of the tote is coated with a thin layer of thermoplastic, further increasing its imperviousness to moisture.
Photograph: Michael Calore
Photograph: Michael Calore
Now, of course, the purpose of this kind of lining is to keep the contents dry when you use the bag in a wet environment, like on a canoe trip, on a rainy bike ride, or on a duck hunt in the Maine wilderness. And surely, I have used the bag in a canoe and on many a rainy bike ride (I’ve never been on a duck hunt), and the goods inside have indeed always remained intact. I even trust the bag enough to carry electronics and musical equipment to the office or studio on drizzly mornings. But for me, the utility the bag provides is more so the opposite: it’s an excellent place to cleanly transport items that are, themselves, muddy, wet, or slimy.
For example, I’ve taken the bag car camping several times. Once, I used it to pack my tent, ground cloth, boots, and rain shell. On the last day of the trip, it poured outside, and upon it being time to head home, my rain jacket and tent were soaked, the ground cloth was dotted with wet pine needles and flecks of bark, and my boots had a thick layer of Mendocino, California, muck in the tread. I crammed all of those items in the Hunter’s Tote, zipped it up, and tossed it into the back seat of my rental car. The interior lining kept the mess inside, saving the rental car’s tuck-and-roll upholstery. Back home, I emptied the tote, flipped it inside out, and blasted out all the forest flooring with a hose.
There are two heavy plastic tabs on the edges of the tote, one at each end of the zipper. This is where the shoulder strap clips in. I’ve never really used the strap (honestly, it just gets in the way), but those tabs are great for hanging the tote to dry after rinsing it out.
The Hunter’s Tote comes in three sizes. I have the largest, the XL, which has a capacity of 53 liters. (That’s huge for a tote bag.) I prefer the larger size because when you set the reinforced bottom on a flat surface and prop the mouth of the bag open, you have a generous flat bottom inside of 10 by 19 inches. All that room really makes the bag more versatile, so my recommendation is to go large.
Also, just know there are no frills here: no exterior pockets, no padding, no laptop sleeve. Just a rugged carrier that’s ready for your dirtiest work. Whether you’re carrying twelvers of La Croix or bagging Buffleheads, it’s indispensable.
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As of July 1, all vehicles sold within the European Union must include a standard, preinstalled interface that allows a breathalyzer lock to be added to the ignition system. This measure is part of a larger strategy promoted by the EU to reduce drunk-driving-related deaths and injuries by at least 50 percent by 2030.
The requirement falls under the Vision Zero program, launched by European authorities more than five years ago, which aims to eliminate alcohol-related traffic fatalities entirely—or get as close to zero as possible—by 2050. The measure also aligns with the timetable established in the EU’s General Safety Regulation, which sets specific deadlines for manufacturers to incorporate various safety features into vehicle designs, starting at the factory.
The regulation that will become mandatory in July obliges automakers to provide an electrical connection and reserve a space inside the vehicle to allow the installation of an “alcolock” device. This device must comply with European standard EN 50436 for Alcohol Ignition Interlocks and have a certificate issued by an authorized accrediting entity.
The operation of an alcolock is simple. Before starting the vehicle, the driver must blow into the device, which measures the level of alcohol present in the breath. If the result exceeds the legal limit, the system, which connected to the vehicle’s ignition or starting mechanism, automatically blocks the ignition cycle and prevents the car from starting.
This type of technology already operates in several European countries, mainly as part of programs aimed at repeat offenders of alcohol-related offenses or in certain sectors of professional transport. Official figures estimate that its implementation can reduce fatal accidents associated with alcohol consumption by up to 65 percent.
Since 2018, the European Union’s road safety program has incorporated different technologies to reinforce safe driving. As of 2024, new vehicles integrate an intelligent speed assistant, a system that detects the permitted speed limit using cameras or GPS and alerts the driver when they are exceeded the limit.
In addition, there is the emergency lane keeping assistant, capable of correcting the trajectory when the vehicle deviates without prior signaling. Also noteworthy is the event data recorder, popularly known as the “black box,” which stores key information during the seconds prior to an accident to facilitate law enforcement and traffic safety agency investigations.
Recently, a requirement was added to incorporate the adaptive brake light, a mechanism that, in the event of sudden braking, automatically and intensely activates the rear lights to warn other drivers of the need to slow down and avoid a collision.
The obligation to install an interface for an on-board breathalyzer is the final step in this set of safety measures. As of the first day of July, no car will be allowed to leave a dealership within the EU without full compliance with all these requirements.
This story was originally published by WIRED en Español and has been translated from Spanish.
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