

Nevertheless, the fact is that it is heavier and more difficult to move. Therefore, it requires more surrounding clearance and may stain the surface below it. However, the fact that it burns hotter and can burn a wider variety of materials makes it the better choice for outdoor cooking. Particularly if you want not just to grill or barbecue, but are looking for an outdoor pizza oven. In fact, many cast iron versions come with grills and accessories for outdoor cooking, since they are so useful for this purpose.Īdditionally, If your chiminea pizza oven doesn’t come with a built-in grill, you can still make a great pizza using fire bricks and a grill or a pizza stone. Casita Style Cast Iron Wood Burning Chiminea in Charcoal Otherwise, you could buy one with a built-in pizza oven, like these popular models: The Blue Rooster Co. The Blue Rooster Casita Style Chiminea pizza oven is a compact, beautiful cast iron model with a built-in grill and oven, perfect for cooking while enjoying a warming fire. While it is possible to burn charcoal, wood is recommended for this chimenea pizza oven.Requires a metal tray (also available from Blue Rooster) beneath it if not placed on concrete.On the other hand, like all cast-iron versions, the Blue Rooster Casita Style will need occasional maintenance to prevent rust.Īlso, it should be covered in winter. Make sure that you start your pizza after the flames have burned down to hot coals, and use a non-stick peel. Cooking other foods: In addition to cooking pizzas, I tested a number of other foods in these ovens: roasted vegetables, broiled fish, seared steaks, and more.Nevertheless, Amazon reviewers love the pizzas they make out of this beautiful, durable chiminea pizza oven.Robustness and looks: Is the oven sturdy and reliable? Does it have many moving parts that are likely to fail at some point? And, while I'm generally in the performance-over-looks camp, given that most of these ovens require investments of at least several hundred dollars, I want them to look good in my backyard as well.Others require a little more finagling and monitoring to ensure that they're operating at optimal efficiency and heating properly. Ease of use: Using some of these ovens is literally as simple as turning them on.Faster cook times are better if you're after that true crisp-tender texture of a Neapolitan crust, though less important if you prefer a drier, extra-crispy crust. Obviously, faster preheat and recovery times are better. Timing: This was important, and I measured it in three ways: the time it takes to properly preheat a given oven before you can cook your first pizza, the time it takes to actually cook a single pizza, and the time it takes before the oven is ready to cook a subsequent pizza.(This effect is similar to the way direct sunlight or wind speed can change how hot or cold it feels outside, even given the same air temperature.) The relative conductivity and heat capacity of different materials can mean that two different surfaces at the exact same temperature can produce wildly different results in the base of a pizza, while different air currents and the relative emissivity of the top of a pizza oven can produce different results in the top of a pizza, even with the same temperature as measured on a thermometer. Temperature: The temperature of the base and of the air in the dome above is generally a good indicator of how rapidly a pizza can cook, though it's not a perfect measure and should be taken with a grain of salt.
CASTMASTER ROUND PIZZA OVEN FREE
You'd think that being that guy who always has pizza to give away would make you really popular with the neighbors, but I've had people turn down free pizza after I'd offered it to them too many times. There were days when I cooked over two dozen pizzas, and tasted at least a bite of each one. I've always contended that pizza is the one food I could never get sick of, and if you've been following my Instagram feed, you'll know that I've recently been putting that claim to the test. For a more detailed comparison of Ooni ovens, head here.
CASTMASTER ROUND PIZZA OVEN UPDATE
We will be re-testing pizza ovens and will update this article. We have replaced the product links with the Ooni Karu, which has a similar design, and updated the price below and added some information on the Karu, but have otherwise left the original text for the Ooni 3. This review was originally written for the Ooni 3, which is no longer available. Uuni rebranded as Ooni, and the model we tested has been replaced by newer ones.

Since this review was originally published, Blackstone has discontinued its pizza oven (which was one of our top picks).
