America's Test Kitchen

Compact and reliable, this gas-fired oven is our recommendation for most home cooks who want to cook excellent pizzas outdoors quickly and easily. A gas flame located at the rear of the oven heated up the baking stone relatively evenly while also heating the inside of the oven. An angled heat deflector on the roof of the oven helped direct heat to the tops of the pizzas as they baked. It was easy to ignite the flame and adjust the heat using a dial located at the rear of the oven.

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The Ooni Koda 12 Is an Outdoor Pizza Oven Made for Newbies

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This conveniently portable outdoor pizza oven lights up with the turn of a dial and can bake an obscene amount of pizzas on one tank of gas.

This spacious gas-fired oven is our pick for people who want the convenience of propane and the ability to make big, 16-inch pizzas. It has a powerful L-shaped burner located along the left and rear of the oven, which heats both the stone and the air in the oven effectively. We consistently produced pizzas that were perfectly cooked on top and had beautiful char and spotting on their undersides. Because the back left corner gets hotter than the rest of the oven, it’s important to rotate pizzas so that they cook evenly. The oven is impressively sleek, and its legs fold so that it’s fairly compact in storage or transit, but it’s bulkier and about twice as heavy as the Ooni Koda 12.

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If it weren't for Ooni, we might not be here at all &mdash; the company that first marketed the modern, portable pizza oven continues to build on an esteemed reputation with their flagship model, the Ooni Koda 12. This elegantly designed stainless steel oven only weighs 20 pounds, earning top marks for portability. The efficiently engineered Koda uses a rocket-booster of a gas burner at the back of the oven to crank out Neapolitan-style pizzas in a matter of minutes, making it a great choice if you plan on baking rounds of pizzas for a party. And when it's all over, the oven's heat is all that's required to burn off any mess or residue, making cleanup a breeze.
But just like a traditional oven, the Koda requires some time and patience to learn how to operate. The reflective interior of the stainless steel frame is part of what makes this oven so efficient. Still, it can also quickly overcook pizzas, transforming them into a charred brick if you're not careful to monitor the burner output. Although this oven is plenty insulated for quality cooking, it doesn't seem to carry as much thermal inertia as other ovens. But this is first-and-foremost a pizza oven &mdash; with top-notch quality, performance, and portability, it's no wonder it's a popular option.

If it weren't for Ooni, we might not be here at all &mdash; the company that first marketed the modern, portable pizza oven continues to build on an esteemed reputation with their flagship model, the Ooni Koda 12. This elegantly designed stainless steel oven only weighs 20 pounds, earning top marks for portability. The efficiently engineered Koda 12 uses a rocket-booster of a gas burner at the back of the oven to crank out Neapolitan-style pizzas in a matter of minutes, making it a great choice if you plan on baking rounds of pizzas for a party. And when it's all over, the oven's heat is all that's required to burn off any mess or residue, making cleanup a breeze.
But just like a traditional oven, the Koda 12 requires some time and patience to learn how to operate. The reflective interior of the stainless steel frame is part of what makes this oven so efficient. Still, it can also quickly overcook pizzas, transforming them into a charred brick if you're not careful to monitor the burner output. Although this oven is plenty insulated for quality cooking, it doesn't seem to carry as much thermal inertia as other ovens. But this is first-and-foremost a pizza oven &mdash; with top-notch quality, performance, and portability, it's no wonder it's a popular option.
Read more: Ooni Koda 12 review

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Consumer Reports

What we like: Gas burners provide effortless starting and easy temperature control

What we don't like: You don’t get the wood-fired taste provided by other ovens

What we like: It holds a slightly larger pizza than the other wood-fired options

What we don't like: The flimsier oven door

Pizza Oven Comparison