This guide will help you choose the best pizza oven for your needs. We cover everything from size and materials to placement and style – all the factors you need to consider to find the perfect oven for your family.
Oven Size
How much food do you plan on cooking in your oven? This is the most important consideration for determining the best size oven for your needs. Other factors to consider are the amount of space available, the types of food you want to cook, and of course, your budget. Note that larger ovens tend to be more expensive.
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Small
Small ovens have interior widths measuring between 23”-31”, like our Garzoni-240 and Garzoni-260 models. This measurement refers to the size of the baking chamber, and gives you an idea of how much room you have available to cook with. An oven of this size can easily cook one standard-sized pizza at a time, or two smaller-sized ones, and is great for feeding 1-4 people – depending on appetite. It is also perfect for baking different types of breads.
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Medium
Medium sized ovens have interior widths between 31”-39”, like our Garzoni-280 and Garzoni-350 models. These ovens are big enough to cook 2-3 standard-sized pizzas at a time. These are family-sized ovens, and are perfect for feeding a family of 4-6 people – again, depending on appetite. They can even be used to roast large game, pig or lamb!
Large
Plan on catering to larger parties? You need to start looking into commercial oven models. Commercial ovens tend to be the largest options available, with interior widths measuring between 39”-51”. These ovens can cook 4-5 large standard-sized pizzas at a time. Among the Californo oven models, this would mean looking into the Verona-420 or Verona-560
Materials
Aesthetics are not the only consideration to be made when choosing a material for your oven. The material you choose will also impact your oven’s heat efficiency, as well as price.
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Clay
Neapolitan ovens are traditionally made with a specially formulated clay – and with good reason! Ovens made out of clay are incredibly cost efficient, as well as fuel efficient. All of our wood-fired pizza ovens are made with clay.
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Brick
Brick is another popular choice for pizza ovens. It is a very fuel efficient material, and can retain up to 85% of the heat generated by fuel. Adding cement render helps retain even more heat.
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Stone
When used for building pizza ovens, stone can have a similar heat efficiency to brick. Depending on the stone material you choose, this option can be quite costly. Still, many choose stone for their pizza ovens for its aesthetic qualities. You can choose to only have the facade of your oven in stone – rather than the whole oven – which will help reduce the cost.
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Steel
Stainless steel ovens require less maintenance than ovens made of other materials. It is a common choice in modern households as it is easier to connect to gas for an alternative fuel source.
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Placement
Do you plan on entertaining outdoors, or would you prefer to be protected from the elements? Your answer will affect the build of your oven.
Integrating your pizza oven into a home kitchen would mean choosing a smaller oven. You will also likely need to have a chimney installed, so that your home doesn’t fill up with smoke.
With an outdoor oven, you have more options.
If you don’t have enough space for an integrated pizza oven, or just prefer the mobility, you can choose a mobile oven instead. These ovens are simple to set up and can be stored away when not in use.
Style
Oven style refers to the shape of the baking chamber. There are many oven shapes available, but the most common styles available are the dome and the barrel vault.
- Dome
The dome is the traditional shape of Neapolitan-style pizza ovens. Dome-shaped ovens allow you to achieve and maintain an even temperature throughout the oven, resulting in evenly cooked food. Californo ovens feature a dome shape.
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Barrel Vault
Unlike dome-shaped ovens, barrel vault ovens extend further in the back to create a larger baking chamber. Barrel ovens need to be closely monitored, as they tend to have cold and hot spots.
What do you think is the most important factor to consider when buying a personal pizza oven? Are you thinking of buying an oven? We’d love to hear from you!