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Buying an Outdoor Pizza Oven
You can add a tremendous amount of versatility (and deliciousness) to your outdoor kitchen with a pizza oven.
Okay, we know we said the magic word – pizza – but that’s not the only thing you can make with your outdoor pizza oven. You can also use the infrared heat to make delicious roasts and steaks or lower the baking temperature for cobblers, pastries, and other yummy desserts. Think about it – all of these foods can be available to you whenever you want, so your family dinners, cookouts, and parties can be a million times better! Besides all the versatility, pizza ovens give your outdoor kitchen a beautiful aesthetic that is sure to impress any guest. If you’re interested in adding a pizza oven to your dream outdoor kitchen but don’t know where to start, follow this handy guide to see what considerations you should be making about your purchase.
Fuel Type: Wood-Fired or Gas-Powered?
An electric heater is the most eco-friendly option as well as the easiest to install. You will likely need to hardwire an electric patio heater into its own circuit, but you may be able to get away with plugging into a standard 120-volt circuit depending on your heater’s wattage. If you plan to install multiple heaters, you could always install them on the same circuit, which makes them even easier to control. Electric patio heaters aren’t releasing harmful byproducts from combusting gas, they don’t usually have airflow requirements like gas patio heaters would. This means you have a bit more flexibility in where you can install your heater, generally speaking.
Wood-Fired
If you want to fuel your heater with gas, you can choose propane or natural gas. This option is less eco-friendly because of the harmful byproducts released in the heating process. Gas heaters usually need a constant airflow to vent out those byproducts, so they can’t be recessed or used indoors or in poorly ventilated areas. As with electric patio heaters, you’ll have to pay careful attention to combustible clearance requirements for your specific gas patio heater prior to installation.
Gas-Powered
Propane-powered heaters are usually tabletop or freestanding appliances that hide the propane tank in the heater’s base. Keeping in mind the clearance requirements, you can move these around your outdoor space. These can either be fueled with 20-pound portable tanks or using a bulk tank, if you have one. If you want to use a bulk tank, you will need a licensed professional to evaluate if you have the necessary pressure and volume in that tank to support a heater. If you do, they’ll need to hook it up for you.
Oven Configuration: Built-In, Countertop, Freestanding, or Portable
Next comes the question of where to put your outdoor pizza oven. There are many configuration choices depending on what overall look and feel you’re going for in your outdoor kitchen, as well as how you plan to use your pizza oven.
Built-in
If you want a built-in pizza oven, you’ll have lots of decisions to make. One option is to buy an oven that already has the finished exterior, usually made of stainless steel, and mount it to a cart or build it into an enclosure. Or, you can purchase just the inside shell made of stone or ceramic. The second option gives you the freedom to finish the exterior yourself so you can have the aesthetic you want. For instance, these look great in a brick enclosure, which will give it that old Italian pizza oven look. Depending on your fuel type, the enclosure can include an area to store wood or a propane tank.
Countertop
Alternatively, you could go the countertop route, so putting your finished pizza oven on a counter or cart. This might make more sense if you already have your outdoor kitchen mostly finished and are just adding the pizza oven later. You’ll have to pay attention to what type of ventilation your oven requires, like if your specific model will have a heat-venting chimney.
Freestanding
A freestanding unit could be a good option for you especially if you don’t think you’ll be using your pizza oven all that often. It’s very easy to move a cart out of the way when it’s not in use (make sure you cover it!), and you’ll have the flexibility to move a freestanding pizza oven around your outdoor kitchen when it is in use. If space is an issue, freestanding models on carts come in all different shapes and sizes, as well as a variety of fuel types, so you’ll be sure to find something that will fit your needs and your space. This is also a much more budget friendly (and easier) option than a built-in pizza oven.
Portable
The last configuration you should consider is a portable pizza oven. We don’t blame you if you want the flexibility to make yourself some pizza anywhere and not just in your outdoor kitchen. Think about the possibilities! In addition to the portability, you’ll find this option to be the least expensive configuration. These ovens are quite compact and usually designed to be very fuel efficient. That said, you’re not going to have as much space to cook as much food at once (usually one pizza at a time), but still not a bad trade-off for the portability piece.
Pizza Oven Size
The sky is the limit when it comes to what you can cook in a pizza oven, but we’re guessing pizza is going to be your main entrée. So, to help you visualize what size oven you’ll need, we’ll tell you approximately how many 12-inch pizzas you can fit in each oven at one time
Small – 26” wide or smaller
If you want a built-in pizza oven, you’ll have lots of decisions to make. One option is to buy an oven that already has the finished exterior, usually made of stainless steel, and mount it to a cart or build it into an enclosure. Or, you can purchase just the inside shell made of stone or ceramic. The second option gives you the freedom to finish the exterior yourself so you can have the aesthetic you want. For instance, these look great in a brick enclosure, which will give it that old Italian pizza oven look. Depending on your fuel type, the enclosure can include an area to store wood or a propane tank.