How to Select the Best Outdoor Pizza Oven

There are many varieties of great outdoor pizza ovens to choose from, but how do you decide which one is the perfect one for you?

• Should you pick one that burns wood, gas, charcoal, or maybe a combination unit?
• Do you select a pre-assembled stainless unit or a DIY brick oven kit?
• Do you frequently travel and want to have a unit you can take with you?
• Do you live in an apartment with small balcony or do you have a large patio with an outdoor kitchen ready for a large new appliance?

Let us narrow it down for you, so you can make the best, informed choice in selecting a Great Outdoor Pizza Oven that will serve you reliably for many years to come.

Your Lifestyle

The first step in choosing the best outdoor pizza oven is identifying your lifestyle.

What is your current living situation?

Do you live in an apartment, a townhouse, an RV, a single home with a small patio, or a larger home with a large patio?

Why do you want a pizza oven?

Are you a foodie who enjoys delicious homemade pizza, but who will only use your oven for yourself, your spouse, or your family? Or will you be entertaining guests frequently as you gather around the hot embers of the fire, enjoying delicious beverages while serving up great pizza and accompanying dishes?

Types of Outdoor Pizza Ovens

Once you have identified your current lifestyle conditions, selecting the next criteria becomes somewhat easier.

Brick Ovens

Brick ovens have not changed much since ancient times and are made of super-duty refractory firebricks and high-temperature mortar. A bottom Firebrick Cast is used for the floor and is NSF Standard 51 certified, meaning it’s safe for use in food contact and makes a durable solution for the cooking surface.

Covering the dome is an additional layer of insulating fabric that contains the heat inside while keeping the outside cool. Then, a custom finish such as stucco or tile is used to weatherproof the oven.

Precast Ovens

Similar to their brick oven cousins, this type of oven is available in separate or assembled precast molds. Precast ovens maintain much of the same features as a brick oven, but involve less assembly.

Metal Ovens

Designed for a more modern, elegant look, stainless steel pizza ovens maintain the same insulating factors of a brick oven, allowing for high heat. They are also more lightweight, come pre-assembled, and many have optional carts, some with wheeled-casters to allow for greater mobility.

Which One Is Right For Your Lifestyle?

If you’re more of a traditionalist who is creating an outdoor kitchen area and interested in the appeal of a traditional, wood-fired brick oven, then the choice is obvious. The DIY kits we sell at the Great Outdoor Pizza Ovens make it easy to build your own oven, and every kit comes with everything you need for assembly. The kits make for a fun weekend project, and you can take pride in building it yourself.

Perhaps you desire the more elegant look of a metal oven or you are looking for an oven head to place on the countertop. We have many styles, colors, and sizes to choose from. Look at the dimensions to see which one best fits your outdoor kitchen area. In either category, a separate pizza oven island added to your patio will make for many enjoyable and entertaining evenings with friends and family.

There is one thing you should consider if you own your home: having a built-in pizza oven will add value to your property, but the permanency means you can’t take it with you if you move.

One thing to consider if you own your home, is that having a built-in pizza oven will add value to your property, but the permanency means you can’t take it with you if you move.

Selecting a Fuel Type

The size of your oven and where it will be located can have an impact on whether you can use a wood-burning or gas-fueled oven.

Most portable ovens, like those used in apartment or townhouse dwellings, are usually better suited for small propane fuel, though some models like the small WPPO brand sold at Great Outdoor Pizza Ovens can use wood pellets.

Outdoor wood-fired ovens are by far the most commonly used pizza ovens because they typically burn the hottest. The disadvantages of wood ovens include the one to two hours it typically takes the oven to pre-heat, the ample supply of wood necessary, and the maintenance step of brushing out the ask after each use.

Still, many prefer wood, because the smoky flavors of the various woods you can use can impart directly into the food, giving it a superior taste.

A gas oven, on the other hand, can use either propane or natural gas as a fuel source. These ovens are easy to use, more convenient in many ways, and still deliver the heat and taste to make great pizza. Some allow wood chips to be added to give your food that smoky flavor without sacrificing the wait to preheat.

Selecting a Quality Oven

The Great Outdoor Pizza Ovens Company takes pride in carrying the best outdoor pizza ovens in the business. From the workmanship to the quality of the company and their material sources, we evaluate every oven carefully to ensure you bring the best quality product home. When you shop our collection, you can rest assured you’re ordering from a wide selection of reliable outdoor ovens.