This can result in pizzas with very crispy bases and underdone tops. You might need to use a pizza peel to hold your pizza aloft in the oven for a while to help the top catch up with how well done the base is. Electric pizza ovens Keep a consistent temperature 400°C is usually ideal for cooking pizza, but it can vary depending on what type of pizza you're cooking. A consistent heat will cook your pizzas evenly and keep them from burning unexpectedly. They often take up a lot of kitchen counter space, though, and cooking at such high temperatures can still have smoky results and be problematic when cooking indoors.

Pizza stone These are the cooking surface and are usually made from moisture-absorbent cordierite. They're fantastic for retaining heat and are key for crisping up the base of your pizza. Most ovens come with a pizza stone included. Those who want to use charcoal should go for a wood-fired oven and introduce a few briquettes to a mostly wood-based fire. BBQ pizza ovens Rotate it regularly The strongest heat usually comes from one direction, especially in gas and wood-fired ovens. You'll want to rotate the pizza a few times during cooking to make sure it cooks evenly. Once every 30 seconds is a good rule of thumb, but keep an eye on it while it cooks.We use an infrared thermometer to record the surface temperature of the pizza stone in the oven and time how long it takes to reach 400°C. Some pizza ovens take less than 15 minutes, while others fail to reach 400°C altogether. Pizza quality First, you should compare the dimensions of the oven you're interested in with the size of your barbecue – you won't get far if your grill isn't big enough for the oven to sit snugly. In each pizza oven, we cook three of the most popular types of pizza – margherita, pepperoni and veggie – to see what results we get when cooking with a variety of textures and flavours. The traditional and most popular type. They require the most patience and skill, as they usually take longer to get up to temperature than gas, and need almost constant attention to get the flames to the right size and consistency.

When getting the flames going, heating the oven to temperature and cooking pizzas, we note any design elements or features that impact our cooking experience. Time to reach cooking temperature Pizza ovens are often billed as portable, so we weigh them and carry them a short distance, taking bulkiness and comfort into account. Try other dishes too Pizza isn't the only thing these ovens are good for. If you have cookware that can handle the heat, there are endless possibilities – try roasting a joints of meat, steaming a pot of mussels or even baking bread. These are made to sit on top of a gas or charcoal barbecue, and are usually made up of a simple metal box with a pizza stone inside. They heat up from below using the barbecue grill.

Honestly, get an Ooni for yourself, and your life will absolutely improve (since the pizza will be flowing year-round), but give an Ooni as a gift, and you’re the GOAT. They do, however, usually produce the tastiest pizza, as the wood smoke infuses additional flavours into the crust and base.

We select the UK's bestselling pizza ovens and have cooked more than 80 pizzas to find out which are the easiest to use and which cook the best food. Bristle brush Especially useful for wood-fired ovens where ash is likely, a tough bristle brush is handy for removing ash from the pizza stone ready for cooking, as well as for cleaning out your oven after use. Sustainably sourced wood logs are available. Where possible, we'd suggest buying these for a reduced environmental impact. Charcoal pizza ovens Turning peel This smaller paddle has a rounded edge to help you slide it under one side of the pizza and turn it while it's cooking, without the need to take it out. This peel is a handy tool, but it's not essential like the standard pizza peel. Heat-proof gloves Getting up close and personal with an oven that can burn at 500°C comes with its risks. Wearing heat-proof gloves will help keep you safe while adding fuel, and if necessary, when launching and rotating pizzas.Pizza cutter A good pizza cutter is key for slicing up and serving your pizza. The larger the circular blade, the better. This prevents the pizza cutter from moving your toppings around and makes it easier to cut through extra-puffy pizza crusts. The weather outside is frightful—oh, and inside too, since we’re home for Thanksgiving and our Boomer parents for some reason insist on keeping the thermostat at 57 degrees. You know what would hit the spot and warm our weary bones? A hot, cheesy Neapolitan pizza topped with fresh mozz, guanciale, and spicy honey. LGIG—let’s get it going!