Ooni Pizza Oven Review: How It Solved My 30-Year Search for Great Pizza

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Game changing! That is the only way to describe the pizza when it’s made with the Ooni pizza oven.

Michael and I checking out the new pizza oven on our first day cooking. As you can see, we were both curious. You can also see the table Michael built in High School Wood Shop class.

I will get back to the Ooni in a bit as I first need to help set some context.

A Pizza Snob from New Jersey

When my wife first met me, she called me a pizza snob, and I have to agree. You see, I grew up in New Jersey and became accustomed to the New York style pizza. For the people who live in the New York/New Jersey area, you may have your favorite place to get your pizza from but in general, you will defend the New York style until the day you die. People from the New York area will scoff at the idea that someone likes pizza from Chicago, Detroit, or even New Haven, CT. To New York and New Jersey residents, there is no comparison, period.

Emma practicing her pizza throwing

I lived in New Jersey for almost 25 years and still visit on a regular basis as my mom and family are still there. Growing up, I used to have pizza a few times a week, especially as I got into middle school and high school where I could ride my bike down to the local pizza shop, Tony's Pizza. My friends and I would get a few slices each and every Friday was pizza night at our house. I still go to Tony's when I am home visiting my mom.

However, I moved to New England and my struggle to find good pizza was bewildering (especially because I really wasn't that far away- it's not like I moved across country). My first experience of non-New York style pizza was when I was in college in Rhode Island. Mary Beth, who was my girlfriend at the time (now wife) and I went out for pizza and I asked for a slice. The guy looked at me and stated, “no slides, we only sell a whole pizza”. It was at this time when I started to realize things were different and finding good pizza was going to be a lifelong challenge if I lived outside of the New York/New Jersey area. As they say, the struggle is real.

The Struggle to Find Great Pizza

For years, I went on a search for good pizza trying to find something that was at least comparable to what I grew up with. I was like a wondering nomad continuing to be disappointed in my efforts to find a place I would stack up, especially living 40 miles west of Boston. Over time, I started to find some restaurants that started offering Neapolitan style pizza, with my first experience in New York City and then a restaurant opened up near me in Worcester, MA called Volturno. Volturno was the first restaurant in Massachusetts to get certified in associazione verace pizza napoletana (apn) to guarantee the style of preparation and cooking that originated from Napoli, Italia. My family and I frequent Volturno often, not only for the great pizza and pasta, but the open-air atmosphere that it offers. However, when we are not going out for pizza, we now cook on our Ooni, which does a great job in replicating my experience going to Volturno with a Neapolitan style pizza.

My pizza going into the Ooni Pizza Oven. The metal launch peel is a requirement to slide the pizza in. A turning peel is also required to move it around so it doesn't burn in one spot.

Enter the Ooni Pizza Oven

Now, here is where I can say with 100% certainty that the pizza cooking in Ooni is Game Changing. For over 25 years, we have been using the same bread maker to make pizza dough (I know, I still haven’t ventured into making my dough by hand). The bread maker for us has been a great way to make multiple doughs with little effort. The bread maker and same recipe is our constant in this comparison.

As a gift when we were first married, someone gave us a really nice pizza stone which we used to cook our pizzas for many years. At some point about 10-15 years ago, we started cooking our pizzas on the grill. Same recipe from the same bread maker and the grilled pizza was 10 times better than the pizza stone. Cooking on the grill became our go to for pizza making for quite some time.

Finished product, about 90 seconds later. Even the slightly crispy/burnt parts of the crust taste really good.

A few years ago, Mary Beth gave me an Ooni pizza oven for my birthday and I was entering into a world I never knew existed. She solved the pizza problem I was trying to solve for 30 years.

I started to read and watch YouTube videos about the Ooni experience with the oven that gets up to 900 degrees Fahrenheit (482 degrees Celsius). I was impressed and couldn’t wait to get started. The problem was I didn’t have the proper tools and putting in dough into an oven that cooks in 60-90 seconds is unforgiving if you can’t get it out in time or can’t turn it quickly enough. My first day cooking on the Ooni wasn’t a success and most of the burned to a crisp pizza went into the garbage.

It wasn’t until I got the Ooni Pizza Peel and Ooni Pizza Turning Peel that I was able to control the cooking process. While I don’t consider myself an expert by any means, 9 out of every 10 pizzas I cook are impressive.

I wasn't kidding when I said it gets hot. This is pointed to the middle part of the stone inside the oven.

As a result, I now have the ability to compare the same bread maker dough recipe cooked on the pizza stone, grill, and now the Ooni. I can say with 100% certainty that the Ooni is hands down, the best option for cooking a restaurant quality Neapolitan pizza in the comfort of your own home.

Tools, Tips, and Pizza Nights

I have the Ooni Pro 16 which has since been discontinued. It is a multi-fuel oven that has an optional gas attachment. I have opted not to get the attachment and use a combination of wood and lump charcoal to cook my pizzas. They have so many great ovens now including electric ones if you live in an apartment. I was fortunate to have my son make me a pizza table that we use but Ooni also offers tables. To my surprise, I learned that Ooni pizza ovens can sit on top of a wood surface (in addition to metal and stone).

Since we have been using our Ooni pizza oven, we cook 9-12 pizzas at a time as we typically only bring it out when we have a crowd. To support 9-12 pizzas, we now have 3 individual wood pizza peels and just recently, a stacked pizza rack with 4 additional peels from Slyced. I also recommend getting an infrared thermometer to check the temperature of the stone.

Slyced Wooded Pizza Peel Rack holds 4 doughs ready for toppings to be added.

Lastly, for my birthday, I just received a cast iron Dual-Sided Grizzler Plate which similar to my experience cooking my first pizza. I am still getting used this new toy. In my first try, I cooked potatoes that cooked so fast, when I took them out, they were still cooking on the Grizzler. They were a bit crispier than I had hoped!

As you can tell I am passionate about my pizza. I hope you can elevate your sensory experience just the same.

Have you tried cooking your own pizza? What was your experience?

P.S. I had a few people ask me about Gluten Free flour so I asked the Ooni Facebook group. By a wide margin, they recommended Caputo Pizza Flour, Gluten Free flour.

Cover photo by Nik Owens

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For Transparency: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products I truly love and use myself.

Shop on Amazon- Ooni

Shop on Amazon- Pizza Rack

Shop on Amazon- KIZEN Infrared Thermometer

Shop on Amazon- Caputo Fioreglut Gluten Free Flour