After a catered pizza event and just some changes in life and routine, I fell out of the habit of making pizza. I made some here and there, but I wasn't hosting any dinners and evaluating whether I was properly equipped to continue doing catering (or even wanted to). It really wasn't about those things or even pizza. It was a re-evaluation of all things that were bringing contentment (or not) to my life. In any case, while I knew I would always make pizza for friends and family, I became less certain that I have any aspirations beyond that. More on that in a future post.

Anyway, I lost touch with friends as we both got far too busy and so when we reconnected, I suggested a proper pizza night. They were enthusiastic at first and then broke it to me that she is now gluten free after an exhaustive battery of tests to diagnose some health issues revealed sensitivity to gluten. The whole family is not gluten free, so she was going to be a good sport and "bring something else" while the rest of the family enjoyed my normal pizza fare. However, I saw this as a challenge.

I am most definitely not gluten free. I am enthusiastic about gluten in all its forms. I knew nothing about making gluten free pizza, but felt like I would be no friend at all if I didn't at least try to come up with an alternative for her.

So, off I went in my search for a gluten free recipe, but more importantly, a Neapolitan recipe. Fortunately I didn't have to search for too long. I found this recipe that I followed religiously and I couldn't have been happier with the result. When I found the recipe, the author hadn't yet posted the section recommending the Caputo flour, but since I use only that flour, I had already bought a bag of their Fioreglut. The Caputo Fioreglut is a rice flour-based blend so there are other similar products. I can only speak to the workability and flavor of the Caputo however.

Although obviously the recipe varies in ingredients, the approach wasn't really all that dissimilar from my sourdough or IDY recipes. This recipe still does an initial bulk ferment although this is a room temp ferment rather than the cold ferment I usually do. When that completes, I made the individual dough balls and did a cold ferment for three days and not unlike my regular recipes, these developed quite a bit of flavor. I was concerned there would not be enough sugars for the yeast to eat, but that ended up being a non-issue. The cool thing about this dough is that it won't actually over-ferment.

The Leopard Crust recipe is detailed with video shorts to illustrate preparing dough balls for your bake. This is important since if you use the same techniques to open your regular dough balls, you aren't going to have much success. With these dough balls, you're not opening or stretching them - you're more spreading them by smushing gently. My first dough ball was a complete failure as I wasn't gentle enough and immediately started ripping holes in the dough.

Trying again, I dusted the ball generously with chickpea flour and took my time spreading out the dough by just pushing down and out. Because this has a 80% hydration, you need to use quite a bit of flour to make sure it doesn't stick to the prep surface and also to transfer to the peel. As I was alternating between the GF and my regular sourdough dough, I had to keep shifting between the two techniques for spreading. 

Once launched into the oven, it didn't really cook any different from one of my regular dough recipes. This pizza (a truffle chicken pesto) was the first in so the oven was just a little under temp. I got more char on subsequent pizzas. 

Once in the oven, there were no surprises. It was easy to work, no issues with sticking, and behaved like any other pizza. I was using a 1000° oven with ~850° floor temp and it puffed up and was light and airy.

Flavor was definitely different from my sourdough or IDY recipes, but just that: different. It brought a different flavor that was still neutral enough where toppings shined. 

Here's the deal though. As I served one sourdough pizza, then one GF, then sourdough and so on, the gluten free was consistently more consumed. Wait! Is the GF better?

The GF pizzas were good. As good as my sourdough or even long ferment IDY recipes? I feel confident in saying it's not, but it stands on its own. However, as my friends commented, they have ordered gluten free pizzas in probably a dozen different restaurants since they started the whole GF journey, and they've always been wildly underwhelmed by what they were served: thin, pale tasteless crusts.

I was more than a little surprised. There was a learning curve for me and a change in process, but this came out better than what restaurants are putting out? That's pretty disappointing. 

I had a conversation with my nephew who's a salesman for a wholesale food company and he was telling me about one of his customers that has a thriving neapolitan pizza business, but is reluctant to offer any gluten free items. Granted, the flour is stupid expensive in comparison to the Caputo pizza flour, but you could charge accordingly. 

I think though there is the fear of the process change. If you're cranking out 100 pizzas an hour, you have a process, a rhythm, that diverting to make the GF pizzas could throw off the flow of the whole kitchen. So, I understand the concerns of adding that to your offerings, but those that have already commited to it and are just phoning it in, that doesn't make any sense.

While still midway through my bake, my friend was asking for the recipe and sending it to her friends, so this was deifinitely as success. With the first one out of the way - and more expected - it will get easier as I develop my own process. 

(Updated 8/18/2023 - The market has changed quite a bit in the two years since I originally posted this, so I've updated to reflect.)

I had planned on writing an article about pizza ovens for some time, but was waiting to get some feedback on the newer ovens that came out. Then COVID hit and while that greatly affected production and shipment of ovens, it had an even bigger impact on the consumer market. With so many of us stuck at home and not able to eat out, a whole new set of amateur pizzaiolos were born. 

Typically manufacturers had to work quite a bit more to market their ovens to a niche market. Their product was typically expensive and for the masonry options, quite expensive to ship. Suddenly, with people trapped at home, many with disposable income to spend on items to make the best of a bad situation, the pizza oven market suddenly became (wait for the inevitable bad pun....wait for it....) hot! Sorry.

China recognized the opportunity and for better or worse, started churning out cheap knock-off ovens. Whereas you would be hard pressed to find more than a few manufacturers and a couple dozen models five years ago, today the market is saturated with options. Search for pizza oven on Amazon and you will get hundreds of results. This in addition to a number of releases by both established and new manufacturers that have received positive qualified reviews.

So, before I get too far into this missive, I should explain that while I may dismiss some ovens as being cheaply made, poorly designed, or incapable of producing good pizza, these are just my opinions based on my journey to create Neapolitan pizza. The reality is that when I transitioned from my home oven to the 700° Pizzeria Pronto, I was ecstatic with the eventual results. After transitioning to the next level oven, the Pronto wasn't as appreciated. Whenever I can make better pizza, I appreciate what helped me do that. For somebody just starting out on their journey, it's no different. Their pizzas may miss the mark in many areas, but if it's still better than anything they made before, it's a win.

Hopefully, you will take my advice not as law, but more information as part of a bigger study. I don't trust reviews unless I respect those who are giving them and even then, take it all with a grain of salt. I get stuck on a certain way of thinking and so do others. Take for instance, Pizzamaking.com, which is a great resource for those trying to become better pizzaiolos. I frequent the forums to glean more information on ovens, recipes, and mods. There are many on the forum that I would classify as experts, but get too caught up in strict adherence to classifications and procedures. And there are many prolific posters that are blowhards that just tends to frustrate newbies and veterans alike. Fortunately the forum isn't so politically correct that it won't call out dickish behavior on occasion.

With all that out of the way, I have a short list of ovens that I've researched and/or owned that I feel fairly confident in providing if not a review, at least an opinion. The first batch are the modern style ovens, which are more portable, usually insulated steel and/or aluminum rather than the traditional masonry brick construction.  Because traditional masonry ovens create high dome heat combined with slightly lower floor temps, any modern oven atempting to compete in that space should strive to exhibit that environment. In no particular order:

Pizza Party - website

For several years, Pizza Party had stopped selling to the American market. Last year, they jumped back in and in doing so, reclaimed their position as one of the best oven manufacturers. I own one of their Passione 70x70 ovens and regularly cook with that oven. I've also converted that oven to run propane and love having the option to switch back and forth.

The Pizza Party is manufactured outside of Florence, Italy and is one of the leading modern style ovens. Capable of reaching temperatures in excess of 1000° and offered with an optional Saputo floor, it excels at achieving Neapolitan bakes with dome temperatures of 950 - 1100° and floor temps of 850°. In addition to the wood burning models, they have the Adore, which is a smaller gas oven, and its bigger brother, the Emozione. 

Gozney (ROCCBOX, Dome) - website

The ROCCBOX was initially a crowd funded project and has grown to be one of the more popular ovens. Available in both wood and gas fueled models, the oven reaches temperatures in excess of 950° and I've seen a lot of classic pizza Napoletana come out of it. It does seem to work best for Neapolitan as it was made to reach those temps. Very portable and offered for $500 for the gas model and $600 for the dual fuel, it would be a good consideration for an oven to bring to friend's for your own traveling pizza.

The Dome is a new product for Gozney and was highly anticipated by amateur pizzaiolos. Available in both wood and dual fuel, it provides a low dome, recreating the classic brick oven in a much more compact package. At a starting price of $1500, it is a costly entry, but is a really nice looking oven. I had briefly considered getting one myself, but at nearly 130ibs. it wasn't going to give me the portability I wanted. Also, it may have improved, but the initial launch was something of a debacle as shipping lead times stretched out to six months and beyond. As a result, not much information is out there on whether the oven lives up to the hype. 

Ooni - website

Ooni offers a range of portable ovens in the $299 to $799 range for their gas ovens and their electric model for $999. In general, most of the ovens are pretty capable although the learning curve can frustrate many. That said, I have seen some good results from experienced pizzaiolos from the least expensive to their top of the line.

One of the more popular models is the Koda gas oven and when Pizza Party departed the U.S. market, became one of the best replacements for the Ardore. With either a 12" or 16" floor, the oven can reach temperatures of 950° in 20 minutes. Inevitably people try to bake other styles in their ovens and some have been able to produce decent NY style pizzas in the Koda.

Carbon - website

Carbon is a new California manufacturer with a novel idea for creating the wood oven environment. While most modern ovens mimic the rolling flame effect by positioning their burner above the stone relying on the flame to heat the stone, the Carbon uses two different burners: one below and one above the stone. It's a pretty clever approach. The floor is 15" which is ample. You might even have enough room to spin the pizza on smaller pies.

Some owners have complained about the placement of the gas control of the top burner, which is at the back of the oven. There's also no adjustment for the bottom burner. However, you can order a Saputo stone from Italy that will provide uniform saturated heat. Thus far, I have seen a lot of great looking pies coming out of the Carbon and some have even had great success cooking NY style. I own one and it performs admirably for one or two pizzas but then suffers from temperature control issues beyond that. Nonetheless, worth your consideration.

Bertello - website

Bertello was seen on the U.S. program Shark Tank and was initially funded through Kickstarter. It goes beyond dual fuel with pellet, wood, charcoal and gas fuel sources and is designed to produce temperatures of up to 950°. I like the range of fuels you can use, as well as its small size, but clearly results can vary. While their current photo gallery of pizzas by Bertello owners fall short of the classic Napoletana - most seem to never reach the full temperature needed - it seems to be merely a matter of experience. Vito Iacopelli did an unboxing review video and nailed a near perfect Neapolitan on the first try.

The Bertello can use four different fuels, but you have to buy the Everything bundle to get all burners and accessories to do so. However, at $499 it's not a bad deal. The oven is small with only a 12.5" wide floor, so there's no room to spin the pizza. Midway through the bake you will need to take the pizza out to rotate and drop it back in for the remainder. 

Edil Planet - website

Manufactured just outside of Palermo, Sicily, Edil Planet offers a line of wood and gas fired modern pizza ovens. Edil Planet uses a natural volcanic stone on their ovens which has very good conductivity characteristics, but some owners have complained the surface is rough and difficult to work a peel.

I own their Surriento gas oven and after a lot of futzing with it, quite happy with it. While I didn't have any trouble in ordering the oven, FedEx lived up to its reputation by hanging the shipment up for over a month before delivering it damaged. They claimed U.S. Customs was holding it up - which was a lie since FedEx' own people said Customs only had it for a couple days before releasing. Long story short, the oven finally arrived with a smashed floor stone and crushed gas valve bracket. With an ignored damage claim, I did my best to fix the oven and ultimately with the purchase of a Saputo stone from Biscotto Stones International and trial and error, I can say this a great oven.

I catered a small party and cranked out 18 pizzas, one right after another, without the need to adjust the gas at all. It maintained 1100° dome and 850° floor temps over a couple hours.

Maximus - website

The Maximus is a product of Portugal and is quite similar - at least in appearance - to the Pizza Party Passione. I've seen a number of companies offer the Portuguese products over the last few years, but it seems Authentic Pizza Ovens is now the established North American marketer. They also offer some decent brick ovens also made in Portugal that will be mentioned in Part two of this post.

While the Maximum looks very similar to its competitor, it's not quite an equal. First is the absence of a Saputo floor. While that has always been an optional item for the Pizza Party ovens, there's no such option for the Maximus and the stock floor leaves a lot to be desired. Some owners have upgraded the floor with fire bricks, as well as adding floor insulation. While they don't offer a gas model, one can build pipe style gas burner for it to make life easier. This used to be quite the bargain, but their price has gradually rose in the last couple years. 

Alfa - website

Manufactured in Italy, Alfa ovens set the modern pizza oven bar a bit higher. Available in both gas and wood models, their models range from 20" to 40" floors with special attention spent on design and quality. While the Alfa's are pricier, they look it and they perform well on pizza Napoletana bakes. Alfa uses a network of dealers, which can be a little spotty depending on the area, but you can typically find a few models on eBay.

Generally, the feedback and reviews I have seen on the Alfa ovens have all been positive albeit scarce. I think price and availability may factor into overall ownership numbers although I have absolutely nothing to back that up ;)

Forno Bravo - website

While Forno Bravo will be covered in part two with the masonry ovens, they have joined the modern oven fray with their Bella portable oven line. Although Forno Bravo has been a leader in the wood oven industry, I was unable to find much in the way of owner feedback or reviews on this line. While their current line does offer four dfferent sizes accomodating most needs, prices currently start at $2795 plus freight up to $5790. 

Fontana - website

Fontana is an Italian manufacturer of ovens offering wood or gas models. Owners report a high build quality and the U.S. distributor is highly regarded. Fontana has been making ovens for over forty years and is one of the few that offers optional Saputo floors. While they are considered pricier, those that have pulled the trigger have been pretty happy with their purchase. 

They have a nice design on their gas models in that they have their burners along the back wall, which allows for easier placement when cooking multiple pies. When I was experimenting with burner designs on my Pizza Party oven, I located a round burner along the back wall that made the whole oven feel much bigger as I could rotate two pizzas easily. The downside to their gas ovens is they are limited to just gas - no dual fuel capabilities here.

Everything Else

As stated earlier, this really hasn't been either an exhaustive review or roundup of  all modern pizza ovens. These were merely a compilation of all the ovens I have investigated or had personal experience with during my research. So, there are many more not listed here. Those may be good or bad. As I research or discover more, I will add to this post. I may even buy one of the cheap Amazon Chinese knock-offs just for comparison sake. And of course, if people have any experience or feedback they would like to share, please add a comment below.