Outdoor kitchens have become quite popular over the last decade. They have successfully turned backyards into entertaining destinations, especially during the warmer seasons. One of the features that homeowners are differentiating their outdoor kitchens with is the outdoor pizza oven. As they come in varying designs, styles, and sizes, it can be difficult to know exactly what to look out for, especially for first-time buyers.
We’ve come up with a buying guide that will help you choose an outdoor pizza oven that perfectly suits your needs.
Fuel sources
When it comes to fuel choices, you can choose between wood and gas pizza ovens. Wood pizza ovens are perhaps the most popular and conventional option. Although wood-fired pizza ovens take time to light, build-up the fire, and wait for the right temperature, most people love the flavor infused into the pizza by the wood smoke.
On the other hand, gas pizza ovens require no time-consuming preparation and wait-times. It is also easier to control the temperatures in gas pizza ovens compared to conventional wood pizza ovens. However, you can choose a gas/wood model if you crave the light and warmth a wood outdoor pizza oven gives as well the convenience of the gas-powered model.
Intended use
Despite their name, outdoor pizza ovens can be used to cook a wide variety of foods. Apart from incredibly scrumptious pastries including bread, pies, cakes, and so on, outdoor pizza ovens can also be used to grill steaks and meatballs, fry chicken and fish, roast vegetables, among other uses. Have the types of foods you will be cooking most in mind when buying your outdoor pizza.
Size
The size of the outdoor pizza oven you choose depends on your space. As smaller models require less space, they are ideal for small terraces or patios. Such will also require less fuel and take a shorter time to heat up. The size does not compromise on the quality of your foods.
With larger ovens, you can cook multiple dishes and rotate them as they cook. In case you are using a wood-fueled oven, you have more room to manage the fire.
The oven’s construction
Outdoor pizza ovens with insulated walls will stay hot long after the fire dies out. The insulation also helps to keep its exterior from getting too hot. An outdoor pizza oven with a refractory floor ensures even heat distribution as the refractory floor bounces the heat back to the top, thus creating a convection system. Stainless steel models are also quite convenient and economical as they heat up quite quickly. However, you need to ensure that your stainless steel oven is weatherproof.
Take your backyard party to the next level by buying an outdoor pizza oven. The fuel sources, what you intend to use it for, its size, and the materials it is made of are some of the factors you should consider when making your purchase.