Derek Gaughan
Answering the question of what’s the best pizza oven is more complicated than you might think. But luckily, I’ve personally tested every major one on the market.
To start, there are a lot of variables and features that set pizza ovens apart from one another. But the most important factor to consider is which style of pizza you plan on making. If you’re looking to make NY style pizzas, then a high-heat big-flamed oven like the Gozney Roccbox is a poor choice.
On the other hand, if you plan on making Neapolitan style pizza, then those high-heat big-flamed ovens are an absolute requirement. But to make things more complex, it’s not as simple as picking an oven that can reach 900F. I’ve tested many that are capable of achieving this temperature, but cook awful Neapolitans. It’s all about balance. A strong overhead flame that can cook the top crust in an equal amount of time that it takes the stone to cook the bottom.
And, well, if you want to cook both styles, I’ve still got you covered.
How I Test Pizza Ovens for Neapolitan-Style Pizza
If you’ve read or watched any of my reviews, you’ll know that I measure the stone temperature in 5 minute intervals to test the preheat times and max temperature. However, this is just the beginning. The real test begins with the first pizza. For Neapolitan style, I first let the oven climb up to its max temperature and cook on high flame, before judging the results. If the top cooked too quickly, I’ll lower the flame and add a note to the review. Conversely, if the bottom cooked too fast, that means the max stone temp gets too high and/or the top burner lacks in size.
Apart from performance, which a lot of my scoring weight is factored into, I also tally points in these areas:
- Quality to cost ratio
- Design
- Customer Support / Maintenance
After testing over 40 pizza ovens, I’ve landed on a few which are clearly above the rest. Let’s dive into what makes a good Neapolitan pizza oven and show you which ones are best.
Pizza Oven Features You NEED for Good Neapolitans
Kitchen ovens can’t cook neapolitans. There, I said it. I know there’s people out there who think they can, but they can’t. What they’re making is either a hybrid dough, or simply haven’t tasted the good stuff (good stuff = insanely airy crust, very slight crunch on the exterior, and fresh mozzarella that isn’t overcooked). This also means that pizza ovens in the sub-800F temperature range can’t cook them either.
00 flour – the staple of Neapolitan pizza dough – requires very hot temperatures and short bake durations in order to achieve that authentic Italian style. So we’ll need a few well-designed features to get this.
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- Max Temperature: If you’ve researched anything about pizza ovens before landing on this article, even just a little bit, you probably heard about the legendary 900F. Many manufacturers boast how their oven can reach 900F in 15 minutes. Nearly all of them are lying (ok, not technically; but they’re not being truthful since they measure ambient heat rather than stone temp). Most ovens, or at least those who are capable of reaching 900F, actually take around 30 minutes to hit 900F in the center of the stone. Then there are many who cannot achieve this temperature. I’ve cooked a decent Neapolitan with an 850F stone temp, but the best ones are from stones that can reach 950F+.
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- 90-Second Bake (Give or Take): The speed of Neapolitan pizza bakes isn’t just so you can please your party guests. Like I mentioned earlier, it’s a requirement for a good Neapolitan. When 00 flour stays in the oven too long, it gets hard and loses the airy texture. So a 90 second or less bake is ideal. I’ve even cooked 50 second Neapolitans with the Gozney Dome S1, Pizza Party Emozione, and Effeuno.
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- Balanced Bake: Equally important to the max temperature is the ability to cook the top and bottom of the pizza in a balanced way. This means, if I leave the gas burner on medium to high, the bottom crust and top crust will finish at the same time (while staying under 90 seconds). I’ve tested pizza ovens where a strong flame can cook the top, but it struggles to maintain stone temperature, requiring you to lower the flame and prolong the bake, which is undesirable. Conversely, I’ve tested really bad ovens (Camp Chef Italia) who can get 900F stone temps, but completely lack overhead flame. A balanced pizza oven design makes it effortless to bake flawless pizzas, rather than causing a headache of adjusting temperatures.
- Biscotto Stone: Authentic pizzas made in Napoli are baked on Biscotto clay stones. This material has incredible heat retention – it takes awhile to heat up, but once it is, it stays hot for a long time. Saputo (Biscotto) stones reduces the cooking speed, allowing you to cook a 60-90 second Neapolitan at exceptionally high temperatures without burning the bottom. And if it wasn’t good enough yet, it’s also porous, allowing moisture to escape while baking. However, with that said, Biscotto stones are not a requirement. Depending on the balance of the pizza oven bake, cordierite stones can still make a really great pizza.
7 Best Pizza Ovens for Neapolitan
Rather than doing this list-style and trying to rank them in order, I decided to show my favorite oven for each category. This should help when deciding which oven is best for you. Here are the best pizza ovens for Neapolitan style:
Best Overall: Pizza Party Emozione
- Weight – 72lbs (32.7kg)
- Max pizza size – 15″ (or two 12″)
- Max heat – 1,000° F
- Price – See Best Price
- Preheat time – 30 minutes
- Neapolitan cook time – 60 seconds
- Warranty – 2 years
This was an easy choice. If you have some money to spend (but honestly this is still way cheaper than most in this category), the Pizza Party Emozione is astonishingly great. Coming in right around the $1,000 mark, this Italian-import has authentic Saputo biscotto clay stones, a huge cooking area, and a massive gas burner.
The Emozione had wonderful balance, whether I placed the pizza close to the flame or further away from it. This is because of the shape of the dome and the burner placement. When the burner is hot, the flame spreads across the ceiling, effectively heating the opposite side of the oven as well.
This design cooked beautiful Neapolitans. The biscotto stones bake the bottom slower than refractory stones, so it doesn’t scorch the bottom like most pizza ovens these days. Instead, you’re left with a perfectly cooked bottom that you’ll find in Naples.
Best on a Budget: Solo Pi Prime
- Weight – 30lbs
- Max pizza size – 12 inches
- Max heat – 950° F
- Price – $299 (coupon code PALAPIZZA10)
- Preheat time – 20 minutes
- Pizza cook time – 90 seconds
- Warranty – Lifetime on manufacturer defects.
The Pi Prime blew me away when I first tested it. You can often find this oven under $300. At such a cheap price, I figured it would perform like the others in this price range (sub-par). But it’s capable of really good Neapolitans.
The super wide mouth opening makes maneuvering pizzas easy and the gas dial is very responsive – meaning, you can get the flame really low if you wanted to. Because of the price, this oven only comes with refractory (cordierite) stones, so you’re losing a bit of authenticity and horsepower compared to the high-end picks.
But if you’re new to pizza ovens, I often recommend this product to get you started instead of dishing out a grand for a bigger oven. Check out my full Solo Pi Prime review for some awesome photos of pizzas I made. Note: you can also make New York styles with this oven.
Best Portable: Gozney Roccbox
- Weight – 44lbs
- Max pizza size – 12 inches
- Max heat – 950° F
- Price – See current price
- Preheat time – 20 minutes
- Pizza cook time – 60 seconds
- Warranty – 5 years (if you register the product) otherwise it’s one year.
Even though the Roccbox is built like a tank, and therefore a bit heavy considering its size, it’s still incredibly portable. The legs fold up into the body and the cover includes a really nice carrying strap. So you can pack this up without taking up much space at all, and start making pizzas anywhere.
But more importantly than portability, the Roccbox is a beast for Neapolitans. Much like the Pi Prime, the Roccbox uses a cordierite stone. The difference between the two ovens is substantial in terms of burner design.
The Roccbox uses a huge torch-style burner capable of cooking pizzas in under 60 seconds. This actually pairs well with the cordierite stone, since a Biscotto would require a bit more time to get color. So I absolutely love the design and balance of this oven.
Best for Neo and NY: Gozney Dome S1
- Weight – 107lbs
- Max pizza size – 17 inches
- Max heat – 950° F
- Price – See current price
- Preheat time – 30 minutes
- Pizza cook time – 55 seconds
- Warranty – 5 years (if you register the product) otherwise it’s one year.
Let’s say you love making authentic Neapolitan pizza, but your spouse or kids call the beautiful leoparding on the crust “burnt”. In that case, you may be in the market for a pizza oven that can cook both styles.
The Gozney Dome S1 is my favorite oven for this. When using the Neapolitan Arch accessory, I was able to make an incredible 55 second bake with cold outdoor temps! When I’m ready to make a NY style, I just pop off the arch (or if the oven is already hot, then I just leave it on and lower the flame more).
The Dome uses a large cordierite stone, so it’s already suitable for NY style too. I found that this pizza oven is the best at cooking both types. And you really don’t sacrifice one type for the other – both styles bake exceptionally well in this oven.
Coming in at around $1500 (check best price here), it’s the most expensive oven on my list but also one of the most well-built and beautiful looking ovens out there.
Best Indoor Electric: Multiple
I’m cheating here and including three picks. The reason is because the price of indoor ovens vary greatly, and so does performance. I selected a high-end, average, and budget pick, depending on how much you’re looking to invest (can you invest in eating pizza?). OF course, I also disclose the performance and any quirks they have.
Effeuno
This Italian-import uses 240v, so beware you may need some electrical work done if you do not have any 240v outlets in your home. But with that extra juice comes a much more powerful burner. The Effeuno is the only indoor pizza oven I tested that exceeds 1,000F. And even better, since it uses Biscotto clay stones, you can cook at this high of a temperature without over-scorching the bottom crust. I was blown away at how well this oven performed compared to outdoor units. It’s a lot of money to import, but it performs better than 80% of outdoor pizza ovens. And that’s just incredible. Best imported price is here (use coupon code PALAPIZZA5).
Ooni Volt
At nearly half the cost of the Effeuno, the Ooni Volt does a really solid job at baking Neapolitans. It doesn’t quite reach 900F, but that’s ok since it uses cordierite stones and a weaker top burner than what gas ovens can produce. This means the team at Ooni developed a really well designed build that matches top burner intensity to how fast the bottom cooks. The Volt doesn’t match the performance of the outdoor ovens listed above, but outperforms the majority of indoor pizza ovens. Best price is here.
Chefman Home Slice
The Chefman Home Slice can be a bit more finicky to achieve an ideal bake, but with its insanely cheap price (sometimes under $300!), you can get good results. The most important thing to do when using this oven is timing the launch of your pizza. You want to put the pizza in right when the top burner turns back on, so that you get overhead heat to cook the top of the pizza. If you launch it when the top burner turns off (safety precaution to avoid overheating), then you’ll end up with a very undercooked top. Best price is on Amazon (often cheaper than their own website).
