Derek Gaughan
The Camp Chef Pizza Oven is a solid option for those who want quality pizza on the go. This oven is designed to accompany Camp Chef cooking systems, which is a handy tool for any avid camper who wants to make quality meals for friends and family beside the campfire. The Camp Chef oven allows you to enjoy hot, fresh, flavorful pizzas cooked on your patio, tailgating, at your favorite campground, or wherever else you take your Camp Chef cooking system. It’s more versatile than just pizza as well – from breads and cookies to pies and other desserts too.
The Camp Chef Artisan Pizza Oven 90 accessory is an add-on and was designed to mirror the intense heat of a classic wood-fire pizza oven for the famous Neapolitan-style pizzas. This is accomplished with a ceramic pizza stone base that gives your pizza an even heat source for that perfect crust, and an insulated dome to retain heat. Let’s take a deeper look into the features and performance of this oven and how it compares to a standard outdoor pizza ovens.
Design and Specs
The design of the Camp Chef Artisan Pizza Oven is a perfect mix of functional and mobile, without sacrificing size. The cooking surface is a hearty 300 square inches (15 in x 20 in) but the oven itself only weighs about 30 lbs. The heat adjusts easily so you can cook anything from pre-made frozen pizzas, to scratch made artisan pizzas that require high heat. The temperature can easily reach 700 degrees F on your Camp Chef and it has a precision temperature gauge built right into the system. This temperature falls significantly short when compared to other portable outdoor pizza ovens, which typically reach 900F+ in 20 minutes. If you’re looking for an oven for your backyard, I would not recommend the Camp Chef oven. However, if you’re looking for a pizza oven specifically for camping or tailgating, then the 700F max temperature will suffice.
Features
This oven has an open-faced entry so it cooks just like a traditional wood-fired brick oven, without the hassle of waiting on wood to burn to coals to create an even temperature. The cordierite ceramic stone pulls the moisture off the dough, which created a perfect crispy exterior, while leaving the inside soft and chewy.
- Built-in temperature gauge
- Removable cordierite pizza stone
- 700F max temperature
- Lightweight and portable, but requires the full Camp Chef modular cooking system.
First Cook
Alright, you’ve read all the reviews and specifications, and you decided that the Camp Chef Pizza Oven is a must have for your next camping trip. Let’s walk through what you might expect on your first cook.
The oven comes with the pizza stone separate so you have to install it. It’s only 5 screws on each side, so assembly is a breeze. After that, the first thing you need to do is get your oven up to 700 degrees. The manual states that it’s important not to turn your Camp Chef up to HIGH. We found this very odd, as I figured a pizza oven would need the high heat to achieve proper temperature for pizza. We assume this is to protect the underside of the oven itself from the open flame of the Camp Chef Cooking System. Nonetheless, Med/Low brought the temperature up to about 600F during our test – not ideal, but also not terrible. To get the claimed 700F max temperature, I found that the gauge was pretty much on high.
While the oven was preheating, I started to make my first pizza directly on a peel with some cornmeal to prevent sticking. After sliding the pizza onto the stone, I continued to rotate the pizza after 2-3 minutes to ensure an even bake. The pizza took about 8 minutes to get a decent crust.
This oven does a pretty good job of retaining heat after the first pizza is done, so it works pretty well for making multiple at a time (a shorter cook would be more ideal, however).
What We Love
- Excellent pizza oven when travelling (f you already have a Camp Chef cooking system or plan to buy one).
- The oven heats quickly and evenly without any hassle.
- The built in stone makes perfect crust every time.
What Can Be Improved?
- The open faced oven with no door can have its drawbacks in certain weather. On a windy/chilly day, it may be difficult to maintain the high temperature necessary for the crust. Some people have made makeshift doors to solve this problem.
- Max temperature of 700F is less than ideal for authentic Neapolitan pizza.
- While the oven itself is relatively lightweight, the modular cooking system itself is not nearly as portable when factoring both pieces in.
Overall we recommend this Pizza Oven for anyone who already enjoys Camp Chef systems because of how easily it integrates. It seems to work on other grilling systems too, but it probably integrates best with Camp Chef. The ease with which you can create quality pizza on-the-go makes this a must own for anyone trying to spice up their camping meals. However, we do not recommend this as a standard pizza oven for your backyard. You would be much better suited purchasing an Ooni Koda or Roccbox oven.
