The Best Wood Fired Pizza Oven Thats Portable in 2021 [UPDATED]
Love homemade pizza and want to make pizzas that are 10x better than the ones you get in restaurants? If so then you need a wood fired pizza oven. In this article I am going to share the best ones, as well as a buyers guide to help show you what you should look for.
Best Wood Fired Pizza Oven That’s Portable 2021
Ooni Fyra Pizza Oven
Dellonda Portable Wood-Fired Pizza Oven
Gozney Roccbox
Monster Shop Pizza Oven Outdoor Grill
I love getting friends round, cooking food outside whilst having a couple of drinks in the sun. One of the things I really like to cook is homemade pizzas, which is why I got into using pizza ovens.
I have tried a number of different pizza ovens and to be honest the best have got to be wood fired, they just give the pizza that extra smokey flavour. Now you could get one of these massive clay ones, which do look amazing but they can be a little over the top for most people.
I love the portable wood fired pizza ovens, as they make it so much easier to get them out and put them away again. Not just that, it also means I can go on holiday to the beach and take my pizza oven with me and enjoy a few slices of pizza before hitting the waves!
The aim of this guide is to share with you everything I have learnt about these wood pizza ovens, as well as which ones I do feel are the best and going to help you get the most amazing pizza flavours.
Table of Contents
Best Wood Fired Pizza Oven For Your Garden
1. Ooni Fyra Pizza Oven
- Designed To Be Portable
- Tasty Wood Fired Pizza in 60 Seconds
- Reaches 500C in 15 minutes
- Stylish Design & Durable
Ease Of Use: 5/5
5/5
Price: 4.5/5
4.5/5
Build Quality: 5/5
5/5
Appearance: 5/5
5/5
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The best Wood Fired Pizza Oven has to go to the Ooni Fyra, as it just does everything you need it to do. It is able to get to the right temperature for perfect pizza in just 15 minutes and as long as you continue to add wood, you will be able to cook pizza after pizza for hours.
One of the things I love is just how incredibly easy it is to use this oven. When it arrives its well package, with instructions and a pretty cool hat. You can have it set up within just a few minutes and lit ready to make tasty pizzas.
In terms of quality it is very well built, it is made from stainless steel but also uses a carbon powder to help protect the oven from weathering and also helps to keep the heat in. This does add to the look of the oven, which to be honest is very nice and stylish. The oven itself is only 10kg, so easy to pick up and move around.
It is certainly not the cheapest but at the same time it is nothing compared to the big ovens and is a great investment, well worth it.
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2. Dellonda Portable Wood-Fired Pizza Oven
- Can Be Disassembled For Easy Portability
- Built In Thermometer
- Ready to cook on in 15-20 minutes
- Includes Stainless Steel Peel
Ease Of Use: 4.5/5
4.5/5
Price: 4.5/5
4.5/5
Build Quality: 4.5/5
4.5/5
Appearance: 4/5
4/5
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Next up we have the portable wood fired pizza oven from Dellonda, which has actually received a lot of praise on the build quality and how easy it is to set up. It features 4 metal legs that are easily opened up for it to stand and is actually very sturdy. The chimney is then attached and can be easily removed for when you want to travel with it.
A few things I really like with this oven is the fact that you can clearly see the temperature of the fire, as it has a thermometer attached to the door. Although these can be less accurate over time, so I would still recommend getting a back up. I also like the fact that you can easily see into the oven through the brand lettering on the door.
Personally I am not a big fan of the look of this oven, compared to others and i’m not a fan of the wood handles. There have been some reports that these have gotten very hot and burnt, so it’s worth just being extra careful.
Overall though, it’s an excellent portable pizza oven for your garden and in terms of costs I do think it is very reasonable and good value for money.
3. Gozney Roccbox
- Simple To Use
- Multifuel Options
- Built-in Thermometer
- Easy To Transport
Ease Of Use: 4.5/5
4.5/5
Price: 3.5/5
3.5/5
Build Quality: 4.5/5
4.5/5
Appearance: 3.5/5
3.5/5
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The Gozney Roccbox Pizza Oven is a little different to the other two in this list, the reason is that it is a gas fired oven but you can get an adapter to be able to cook your pizza with wood. Unlike other ovens this one doesn’t have a chimney, which does make it very easy to transport.
It is a funky looking pizza oven, in fact it does look a bit like a spaceship. You can also choose between two different colours, black and green both of which do look good. There are a couple of things I really do like. The first is that it does have a built in thermometer, so you can see straight away how hot the oven is. I also like the fact that it doesn’t need a door, this makes it easier to put the pizza in and out as well as seeing the pizza cook.
The downside to this of course is that it will result in it taking longer for the oven to heat up and also cause you to use more fuel. Overall a really good wood fired pizza oven, although more expensive than alternatives.
4. Monster Shop Pizza Oven Outdoor Grill
- Simple To Use
- Handle For Portability
- Built-in Thermometer
- Easy to clean
Ease Of Use: 3.5/5
3.5/5
Price: 4/5
4/5
Build Quality: 4/5
4/5
Appearance: 3/5
3/5
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Now the last oven in this list of best wood fired pizza ovens is by Monster Shop, although there are several that are built pretty much the same. These are still classed as portable, although not as much as the ones above. It does feature two wheels and a handle to allow you to move it around, although it is not portable in the way that you could take it camping or to the beach.
This is actually the first type of pizza oven I have used and its not bad, it does the job. Its not really what I would typically think about when looking at getting an oven to cook fresh pizza but like I said it does do a very good job and it does go well with matching BBQ’s.
You basically put the wood on the lower wire rack and heat up the pizza stone on the top rack and then add your pizza when it reaches temperature. It does cook the pizza pretty quickly but it takes a while to heat up in the first place and to be honest it’s not the easiest to keep warm, so if you have a number of pizzas to make it could be a bit harder.
What is a Wood Fired Pizza Oven?
A wood fired pizza oven is basically an oven that you use to cook pizza with wood as a fuel source. The wood is burnt in the back of the oven and reaches incredibly high temperatures, so they cook the pizza quickly. The heat and smoke from the wood flows over the top of the pizza and out of the chimney, it is this process that gives it the incredibly smoky flavour.
Typically the larger ones are made out of brick with a clay dome, however the portable ones still have somewhat of a dome shape but are smaller and made out of stainless steel. These are designed in the same way as the bigger pizza ovens but are smaller so they can be easily transported.
How To Use A Wood Fired Pizza Oven
The great thing about portable wood fired pizza ovens is just how easy they are to use and take very little time to really master. Each oven is different so the first thing I would recommend is to just have a quick look at the instructions to fully understand how to use it.
The first thing you will want to do is to heat it up and get the fire going. You should set the chimney to be open, this will help the flow of smoke and heat to go through the pizza oven. With a portable one, you will normally find a compartment at the back of the oven. This is where you will place the wood pellets and the burners to set it alight.
Some Wood Fired Pizza Ovens will require you to place the wood pellets below the grill/stone, you would set these up as though you were making a BBQ. Again some will require a combination of charcoal and wood, so do bear that in mind and check the instructions to make sure you are using the right fuel source.
Make sure your pizza stone is inside the oven, whilst it’s warming up. It needs to warm with the pizza oven, if it goes in cold then it will break
You want to make sure the door is closed, if this is open then cold air will go into the Wood fired pizza oven and no matter what you do it will not reach temperature. Leave to heat up and keep checking the wood pellets to make sure they don’t need topping up.
Once it reaches 500°C, you can start cooking your pizza. Remember it is incredibly hot, the pizza will not take very long to cook. Continue to add wood to the pizza to keep it hot, when you are finished simply no longer add additional fuel to your wood fired pizza oven.
Why Buy A Wood Fired Pizza Oven?
So now you know what a wood fired pizza oven is and how to use it, you might be thinking why would you actually want one…
Amazing Flavours
First of all if you enjoy eating pizza then you are going to love homemade pizza, the dough tends to be nicer and you can decide on what toppings you want. Using a Pizza Oven that uses wood as a fuel source will take the taste of your pizza to the next level. You see the wood helps to add a bit more moisture to the cooking process, which gives you an amazing smoky taste to the pizza. Believe me, it will taste better than most restaurant pizza’s.
Quicker To Make
Did you know that cooking your pizza in a wood fired pizza oven is actually quicker than in a gas oven. This is because of the temperature that these pizza ovens can get to. Normally they will reach 500°C, which means you will often have a cooked pizza in 60-90 seconds. Perfect for when cooking more than one pizza for family and friends, as these ovens will often keep their temperature for hours.
Wood Fired Pizza Oven Buyers Guide – What You Should Look For
When looking at a Wood Fired Pizza Oven for your garden, there are a few things you really need to consider.
How Long It Takes To Heat Up
The first thing you need to think about is how long the pizza oven will take to heat up, the longer it takes the longer you have to wait to enjoy your pizza. Many of the portable wood fired pizza ovens like the Ooni Fyra will heat up within 15 mins, however others that are more like BBQ’s and heat up with a combination of charcoal and wood can take up to an hour to reach temperature.
It’s worth noting that if it is cold outside or the pizza oven door remains open, then it will take a lot longer for them to warm up and reach the right temperature.
Size and Capacity
One thing that is important to think about is how big your pizza oven needs to be and how many pizzas it can hold. Even if you had a lot of people round, you do not need a really big pizza oven. The portable wood fired pizza ovens like some of those above will be fine, this is because they can normally cook a pizza in just 60 seconds.
You also need to bear in mind that the bigger the pizza oven, the harder it is to store. After all these pizza ovens should be portable, so they need to be easily stored. Many of these in the list are lightweight or on wheels for easy moving.
How Long It Remains Hot For
The final thing you might want to think about is how long your wood fired pizza oven will stay hot for. If you are making a number of different pizzas then no doubt you want it to stay at full temperature for as long as possible. You can cook on a oven that is lowering in temperature but it is going to take so much longer and not have the same taste.
Ideally you want a pizza oven that you can continue to top up with wood, as this will help to keep the heat. As an example the Ooni Fyra can be kept at its top temperature for hours and hours.
However I have used those like the Monster Shop oven (that looks a bit like a BBQ), once the heat starts going down it is tough to keep it to temperature. You can add more charcoal and wood, but again you have to wait for it to get back to temperature again.
Common Questions
When looking for a wood fired pizza oven, you will no doubt have questions. Below I have tried to answer the most common questions I get, if you do have any please feel free to post them in the comments and ill be more than happy to answer them.
What Can I Cook In A Wood Fired Pizza Oven?
Now the most obvious answer to this would be pizza but that is not all. If you have the equipment then you can cook just about anything, for example having a cast iron griddle pan would allow you to make some tasty steak, where as a frying pan of some kind would be ideal for garlic potatoes.
The most common thing to cook is meat, as it helps give it that smokey flavour. At the same time vegetables and stir fries are very nice! If you can maintain the right temperature then you can also make bread. As you can see wood fired pizza ovens are very versatile, so you can continue to get a lot of use out of them.
What Type of Wood Should I Use?
I would recommend using a hardwood, as these tend to last longer. The most common would be maple, oak, hickory and ash. It is also possible to get fruitwood, this is wood that has been treated to give your food extra flavour such as apple, plum, almond, chestnut and cherry.
The one thing you do need to do is make sure that it is food grade wood, which means that it is safe to burn to cook food. If it is not food grade then it could potentially have harmful toxins on.
How Hot Do Wood Fired Pizza Ovens Get?
They are designed to not only get hot but to keep that heat for as long as possible and continuing to add additional wood to the fire will help it keep the heat. Generally they will get to around 500-600C, the time it takes to get to this temperature does depend on the actual oven used.
Conclusion
I really hope that this article on the best wood fired pizza oven has helped, all of these are portable and will allow you to make some of the very best pizzas. Its amazing how you can get these ovens heated in just 15 minutes and have a pizza ready to eat in as little as 60 seconds.
If you are a fan of homemade pizza like me and look forward to the summer months where you can enjoy pizza outside with family and friends, I would fully recommend one of these. Please do comment below if you do have any comments or questions.
