Guide to Choosing an Outdoor Pizza Oven

Here is our definitive guide to choosing an outdoor pizza oven!

An outdoor pizza oven is a wonderful thing to have.  There’s nothing more satisfying than lighting the fire, getting the oven up to temperature, and then cooking some incredibly delicious, fire-charred pizzas fresh and to order.

It’s an absolute treat for you, your family, and if they’re lucky, your friends.

Choosing the right outdoor pizza oven might seem like a daunting task, however, so we’ve put together our definitive guide to make your life easier.

Let’s dive in…

What is An Outdoor Pizza Oven?

Pizza ovens have one key difference to conventional ovens – they cook at extremely high temperatures!

Outdoor pizza ovens are traditionally made from brick and use a wood burning fire placed inside the oven at the back.

How Do Outdoor Pizza Ovens Work?

The secret to a good pizza oven and why it works so well is the way it’s built – everything is designed to keep the heat in!  This is because it’s not actually the fire and the flame at the back of the oven that cooks the pizza but the heat in the oven itself.

The base, the walls, the dome are all insulated to keep all that heat inside the oven, which is why pizza ovens can reach temperatures higher than 425 °c.

Why do they burn so hot?

Because pizzas should be cooked incredibly quickly and are traditionally ready in a couple of minutes!

Wood Burning Pizza Oven vs Gas Burning Pizza Oven

There are two types of fuel used in outdoor pizza ovens – wood and gas.

Wood – is the traditional fuel for outdoor pizza ovens.  Burning wood not only produces the necessary heat in the oven, but it also adds an extra level of flavour from the smoke it produces.

Wood burning pizza ovens do take a while to get up to heat though you do get the joy of building a fire from scratch each time. 

Gas – gas on the other hand is quick to light and get up to heat, which means you can be cooking your pizza in no time.

What it doesn’t do is any of that beautiful aromatic flavouring to your pizza, which honestly makes all the difference!

If you want to get the best, most authentic taste from your outdoor pizza oven then one that burns wood as its fuel is the only way to go!

The Best Wood for Your Outdoor Pizza Oven

Hardwood!  That’s the most important rule when choosing your wood – it has to be hardwood!

Softwood is actually dangerous to use as it gives off some dangerous toxins when burned and will not only add some horrible flavours to your pizza but could also make it toxic to eat.

There are a lot of hardwoods out there to choose from, all of which will bring their own unique flavours to the food.  Sticking with the classic smoking woods like hickory or applewood is always a good idea in your outdoor pizza oven.

What Type Of Pizza Oven?

Let’s also have a quick look at the different kinds of outdoor pizza ovens you could have.

Custom Built – these are your handmade (either a DIY project or through a hired contractor) and are usually large brick or clay structures built in the garden. 

Pre-Built or Freestanding – these are very popular choices for anyone wanting a larger oven space for their garden to cater to more people.  A freestanding pizza oven will usually have a fire chamber underneath and the oven space above.  This offers far more space meaning you can cook more pizzas at once.

Portable – the portable pizza oven is becoming more and more popular and offers a very convenient way of turning just about any outdoor space into the perfect pizza production kitchen.  Usually much smaller than the two above, they are ideal for cooking one pizza at a time.

Some of Our Favourite Outdoor Pizza Ovens

We have a great range of outdoor pizza ovens at firepit.co.uk that are ideal for a variety of outdoor spaces and styles.

Here are some of our favourites:

Adezz Forno Gap Outdoor 120cm High Fireplace and Pizza Oven

Made from corten steel the Adezz is a standout among outdoor pizza ovens.

Not only is this free-standing outdoor pizza oven ideal for the serious home pizza lover, but it’s also a gorgeously designed and eye-catching fireplace.

Made from corten steel you can be confident that it is incredibly durable as well as needing little to no maintenance throughout the year.

DeliVita Portable Wood-Fired Oven

DeliVita wood fired ovens are all handmade in Yorkshire and are perfect portable pizza ovens for your back garden.

Delivita produce the most delicious pizzas and are ideal for wowing your friends and family at home or away camping.

Gardeco Pizzaro Chimalin

A classic clay domed outdoor pizza oven, the Gardeco Pizzaro Chimalin is a fantastic little pizza oven at an incredibly competitive price.

The five clay CHIMALIN AFC developed by Gardeco makes it one of the most crack-resistant models on the market, meaning you’ll get plenty of enjoyment out of it for years to come.

Lifestyle Verona Deluxe Pizza Oven

If the thought of a traditional wood burning outdoor pizza oven sounds like a bit too much work, then the Lifestyle Verona is ideal for you.

It’s a gas burning outdoor pizza oven that has a large capacity and is ready for cooking in under 30 minutes.

It also has two collapsible prep shelves which are great when you are cooking for lots of people.

Pizza Oven Accessories

When buying a wood-fired pizza oven, it is important to consider pizza oven accessories. Some pizza ovens come in a bundle, with all the accessories others you may need to buy.

Here are some pizza accessories you may want to consider:

• Pizza Oven Stand

• Pizza Stone

• Pizza Oven Brush

• Blow

• Cutters

• Oven Gloves

• Temperature guns

• Pizza Peels

• Pizza Rake

And many more... you can check out our selection of Outdoor Pizza Oven Accessories.

Our Top Pizza Oven Tips

When it comes to getting the most out of your outdoor pizza oven and producing the best pizzas, there are some great tricks to getting it right just about every time.

Preparations Tips

1. Start your oven early – you want to make sure you give the oven plenty of time to get up to temperature, so light that fire a good couple of hours before you want to cook your pizza.  The hotter your oven, the better, and that takes time.

2. Check the Temperature – the temperature is key to cooking the best pizza, so you want to ensure your oven is good and hot before throwing your pizzas in.  A good indicator of your oven's readiness is when the dome looks good and clear with all the previous ash burned away.

3. Keep the flame going – unlike on a BBQ, where you want the flames to die out and only use the hot embers to cook, we want to keep our flames going in a pizza oven to keep that temperature nice and high.

Cooking Tips

4. Plenty of Flour – flour is your friend in helping you make sure your dough reacts perfectly to the heat, doesn’t stick to the base, and cooks evenly.  Many professionals have a tub of flour on hand to dunk the base into before cooking.

5. Don’t move the pizza too much – when you place the pizza in the oven, it will cool down the section of the oven it touches a little.  This is good, and you want to try your best to keep the pizza in that same spot for the entire time as it will help with a nice, even cook.  If you need to rotate the pizza, then do it in place.

6. The one exception to that! – the exception here is if the base of your pizza isn’t cooking as quickly as you want.  If that is the case, then move the pizza to another part of the oven to take advantage of the heat there.

7. Lift your pizza for extra sizzle – If you are wanting that extra bit of sizzle and char on top of your pizza then at the end lift the pizza to the top of the oven on your peel for an extra boost of heat

Final Thoughts

Hopefully, our guide to choosing an outdoor pizza oven has helped demystify the options you have and pointed you in the right direction.

There’s nothing better than a freshly cooked pizza out of your wood burning pizza oven – not for taste, texture, speed, or the general enjoyment and experience.  

We have a fantastic range of options on offer, and if you ever have any questions then please don’t hesitate to get in touch.