Derek Gaughan
Well, I finally got my hands on a Pizza Party oven. Over the past year, many of my Youtube followers have been asking me to review their ovens. I heard a lot of really good things about this company, so I finally made the leap and tested their flagship, portable-sized Pizza Party Ardore.
Made in Florence, Italy, this beauty ships with a 1.2” thick Biscotto clay floor, and a huge 6kw propane burner that produces a beautiful blue flame.
Side burners seem to be all the rage lately (see Gozney Arc), so I’m incredibly excited to try this one out. Let’s unbox this pizza oven and see how well it can make a Neapolitan pizza.
VIDEO: Pizza Party Ardore gas pizza oven review
Recommendation: Buy it. The price is amazing for what you get: both build quality and performance. This is a little slice of Italy.
Coupon: PALAPIZZA10
Unboxing & Setup
I had no issues with the packaging, even with it coming across the ocean. The oven body is protected in a plastic wrap (similar to what new appliances come with) and the clay stones are strapped underneath. Just be sure you don’t tip the oven as you lift it out of the box, or else the clay stones could slide out.
Inside the oven you’ll find the manual and propane regulator.
Their perforated peels are incredibly light, but also strong enough to hold the weight of the pizza no problem. I really like these – but just a heads up these have to be purchased separately.
The legs are attached with a few screws; but before installing them, I recommend pulling a bit of the protective film from the bottom to get it out of the way. If you don’t, some of it can get stuck beneath the metal of the legs.
Design
Between the Florence, Italy cutout and the unique dome color, it makes for a pretty awesome looking oven. This is the antique copper, but it also comes in full stainless or a few other unique colors.
My first impression is you can tell this has a lot more insulation in it compared to other ovens at this price range. It’s very compact but still weighs 40 pounds, and the cooking space is very roomy. A bit over 15 inches of floor space, but I’d only bake up to a 13-14” pizza because the side burner takes up some room and you don’t want it too close to that.
Lighting it is a bit more hands-on because it lacks a spark ignitor. Make sure to start your lighter before turning the gas dial to prevent a bad day (you definitely don’t want the oven filling with gas before lighting). For the gas dial on the back, just line up the large flame icon with the black rivet.
I want to talk about the stone choices for a minute. I ordered mine with the Biscotto, but they also offer a refractory stone, or the option to buy both. If you live in a colder climate or plan to use it in the winter, I definitely recommend getting both. I noticed the biscotto is amazing on warmer days, but in freezing temps, the refractory stone is a lot easier to get up to temp.
Performance
Alright, the moment you’ve been waiting for. I love the clean-burning blue flame on this. It’s hard to see just how high the flames go depending on the lighting, since it’s a very clean combustion, but they reach pretty far up the dome ceiling.
Preheat Test
Their website says this oven will reach over 1,000 degrees, but I found it tough to get the Biscotto much higher than 920 when testing mid-winter. At first I thought this was concerning, but I found out that it cooks great at this temp – you just need to lower the flame during baking.
I finally got a warmer day in the mid-50s so I decided to fire up the Ardore and check the Biscotto temperature in 5 minute increments. Here are the results.
Yeah, crazy just how hot this is compared to other great ovens I tested.
By the way, if anyone makes the jump for one of these ovens, Pizza Party gave me a discount code for 10% off. That brings the price down cheaper than a Karu 16 or Volt, which is pretty sweet – but we’ll talk more about that in a minute.
Neapolitan Test #1
I prepared a 65% hydration poolish dough, the same recipe I use for all of my pizza oven reviews. I launched the pizza when the center stone read 923F.
I cooked this one with the burner on high the whole time, but it ended up being too powerful for how the bottom is cooking. This bake took exactly 60 seconds; the top had a lot of great leoparding, but the bottom needed more time.
Neapolitan Test #2
For my second test, I turned the gas dial back to halfway right before launching to prevent the top from cooking too fast. Check out this pizza…
A crunchy exterior and airy center. One of my favorite Neapolitans in recent memory. And this is what Biscotto stones offer – a cooked base without over-scorching.
Overall, I really like the build quality of this oven. But what I really love? The price. You’re getting a lot here for the same cost as a Karu 16. An authentic Biscotto stone hand-made in Naples, a well-insulated dome with ample room to maneuver pizzas, and a really nice side burner.
It’s less versatile that a multi-fueled Karu 16, but this is designed specifically for Neapolitan. I honestly think this is like a bigger, better Roccbox. And that should tell you everything you need to know. Buy it. You won’t regret it.
