Your membership has expired

The payment for your account couldn't be processed or you've canceled your account with us.

Re-activate

Save products you love, products you own and much more!

Save products icon

Other Membership Benefits:

Savings icon Exclusive Deals for Members Best time to buy icon Best Time to Buy Products Recall tracker icon Recall & Safety Alerts TV screen optimizer icon TV Screen Optimizer and more
    outside the labs

    Best Outdoor Pizza Ovens of 2024

    We tried 8 ovens from brands like Ooni and Solo Stove. These days, pizza ovens can be larger, and some let you switch between gas and charcoal or wood.

    When you shop through retailer links on our site, we may earn affiliate commissions. 100% of the fees we collect are used to support our nonprofit mission. Learn more.

    A finished pizza being slid out of the Ooni Pizza Oven on a wooden pizza peel
    Pepperoni pizza cooked in the Ooni Karu pizza oven. 
    Photo: Paul Hope/Consumer Reports

    Outdoor pizza ovens are all grown up. In a few short years, these pandemic darlings have evolved from basic metal boxes into, well, more refined metal boxes. Many new models are larger, and some have gas burners in addition to charcoal reservoirs. And at least one model I tried comes with a self-spinning pizza stone, powered by electricity, to ensure even cooking.

    As a group, outdoor pizza ovens feel better made and more deliberate in their designs than when I evaluated this kind of oven for the first time, back in 2021. And in some cases, prices have dropped quite a bit, too. Our favorite charcoal oven would have set you back $400 just a few years ago. Now it’s available for about $230. 

    In this article Arrow link
    More on Outdoor Living and Cooking

    Outdoor pizza ovens are simply smaller (and in some cases portable) versions of the larger pizza ovens that have been built into upscale outdoor kitchens for years. But the appeal remains the same: You can build a roaring fire and cook a pizza at temperatures north of 700° F, which is on a par with the cooking temperatures you’d register in the big ovens used in pizzerias. You’d never reach temperatures that high in your kitchen oven or even on many grills.

    And with the wood- and charcoal-burning pizza ovens, you get a distinct smoky taste that you can’t safely replicate indoors.

    As a culinary school grad and former chef, I’ll admit that for years, perfect pizza was my white whale. I’ve nailed it a few times in a kamado grill, but outdoor pizza ovens make the process far simpler. I’ve made about 50 pizzas, split between the eight models below, and I have some pretty clear favorites, plus a few tips for the best results. 

    Become a member to read the full article and get access to digital ratings.

    We investigate, research, and test so you can choose with confidence.


    Paul Hope

    Paul Hope is a Home & DIY Editor at Consumer Reports and a trained chef. He covers ranges, cooktops, and wall ovens, as well as grills, drills, outdoor power tools, decking, and wood stains. Before joining CR in 2016, he tested kitchen products at Good Housekeeping and covered tools and remodeling for This Old House magazine. You’ll typically find him in his old fixer-upper, engrossed in a DIY project or trying out a new recipe.