Ooni Koda 16 Pizza Oven Evaluation, Examined by Meals & Wine

In our home, we divide our life within the suburbs into two phases: pre-pizza oven and post-pizza oven. After residing in New York Metropolis for over a decade, we have been hard-pressed to discover a slice that lived as much as our requirements as soon as transferring additional north. Our DoorDash historical past was a mashup of native pizza joints in a feeble effort to discover a pie that we favored sufficient to stay with, however nothing lived as much as the Neapolitan- and New York-style pizzas we beloved.

That’s till we obtained an Ooni Koda 16 Pizza Oven. We’d been dancing round shopping for one for some time (it’s a massive funding, in spite of everything) however lastly purchased one after one too many rubbery, greasy deliveries that left us upset and jonesing for the true deal. Even should you don’t take into account your self a very proficient at-home chef, Ooni makes cooking scrumptious pizza straightforward because of its revolutionary form and user-friendly design. We even named it the greatest outside pizza oven in our checks — and belief me after I let you know, that accolade is well-deserved. 

Within the 12 months since we introduced our Ooni house, our quest for scrumptious pizza has ended. As an alternative of ordering subpar takeout, we will fireplace up our Ooni Koda 16 and rating the proper slice in 90 seconds.

How I Examined the Ooni Koda 16 Pizza Oven

The Ooni Koda 16 Pizza Oven has shortly grow to be a staple in our home on Pizza Friday. We are able to prepare dinner all types of Neapolitan-style pies, from a conventional margarita to a meat-lovers model that my husband and son adore. Whereas the Ooni is marketed primarily towards pizza making, that’s not the one sort of cooking it could actually deal with. You possibly can put together nearly something within the oven, from roasted greens and meat to gooey skillet cookies. 

Ooni’s Koda pizza oven is powered by pure fuel or propane, which is smart for our way of life, however there may be an alternate model (the Ooni Karu) that can be utilized with wooden or charcoal. I like to recommend going with the 16-inch design over the 12-inch, which is able to grant you extra flexibility for what you prepare dinner and the way massive of a pizza you can also make. We determined to go all-out with our Ooni buy and acquired the devoted chrome steel stand, plus different pizza instruments (extra on that later). The stand is sturdy and brings the oven as much as top so you’ll be able to simply monitor your pie whereas it cooks. The peak additionally creates leverage to maneuver the pizza peel and different instruments. It seems to be proper at house alongside our fuel grill on our terrace, and thus far it has held up nice to the weather. 

What I Love In regards to the Ooni Koda 16 Pizza Oven

There’s not a lot I don’t love about my Ooni oven, however its user-friendly performance is on the prime of my checklist. It makes making a pro-worthy pie so seamless that I don’t even thoughts when my children request pizza night time twice per weekend. You hook the oven as much as a gas supply (we join ours to our grill’s propane tank, which is close by), flip the entrance knob to preheat the oven to your required temperature, and get to cooking. Plus, with inside temperatures that may attain 950°F, your pizza cooks quick (round 90 seconds), so making pies for a crowd is simple. We’ve hosted a number of pizza events, and visitors are all the time impressed by the pizza’s style and cooking efficiency with an Ooni — it’s dinner and a present. 

Past that, I really like how the Ooni Koda is refined but efficient. If I have been to think about putting in a real wood-burning pizza oven in my house, I’d be numerous time, cash, and sq. footage, however Ooni makes it straightforward to realize the identical outcomes with a small footprint, even when utilizing fuel. The hot button is within the base stone and distinctive L-shaped burner, which mix to crisp up my pizza shortly and evenly, leaving me with a pillowy crust, a sturdy backside, and the telltale bubbles signature of an Italian-style pie. I can transfer the oven round simply or take it on a visit; we’ve taken ours down the Jersey Shore for a household trip as a result of it’s grow to be that beloved. 

How It Compares

Once we lab-tested the perfect outside pizza ovens, the Ooni Koda rose to the highest of the pack, incomes the title of the perfect total pizza oven. We beloved how straightforward it’s to assemble out of the field (connect the legs, then hook as much as your propane supply) and located it user-friendly. The outcomes have been spectacular. Throughout testing, we cooked up pro-worthy pies in underneath two minutes, with management over how crispy they obtained. Whereas we acknowledge there’s a studying curve with the Ooni, the outcomes are worthwhile. 

The Caveats

Whenever you first convey house your Ooni oven, anticipate to burn a number of pies. Although it’s simple and user-friendly, it would take time to good your pizza-making expertise and get used to how your oven distributes warmth (and, truthfully, simply how briskly it could actually prepare dinner your dough). We went via our fair proportion of char-crusted pizzas till we nailed our cooking technique, however upon getting it down pat, you’re good to go. One other issue to think about is propane utilization. You have to to preheat your oven for at the very least 15-20 minutes earlier than cooking to make sure the bottom stone is sizzling sufficient to prepare dinner your pie; whereas that is on par with preheating a grill, it’s a good suggestion to remember the fact that you’ll undergo a good quantity of propane.

All reward apart, there’s no denying that the Ooni Koda is an funding. Nevertheless, the model runs gross sales typically, particularly these pegged to purchasing holidays like Black Friday, Cyber Cash, or Labor Day. The oven additionally makes an awesome present concept for house cooks, whether or not you’re seeking to rejoice a milestone birthday, congratulate a good friend on a brand new home, or spoil a pair of newlyweds. Finally, our Ooni oven has held up extremely nicely through the years and has greater than paid for itself contemplating the amount of cash we spent on subpar takeout pizza.  

Suggestions and Methods

• Contemplate splurging on the equipment that Ooni suggests pairing together with your pizza oven. We have now bought their devoted chrome steel storage tower, two various kinds of pizza peels, and the protecting cowl, all of which assist us use (and look after) our oven higher. 
• An infrared thermometer is a vital instrument to have readily available. Not solely will it assist you decide in case your pizza stone is sizzling sufficient to start cooking your pie, however it’ll make sure you preserve tabs in your oven’s warmth so that you don’t find yourself with burnt spots or worse, a fried pie. 
• Thoughts the thickness of your dough. Too thick can result in an uneven prepare dinner, uncooked pizza, or a pie that’s so heavy it turns into inconceivable to show within the oven, inflicting a burned-on mess. 
• The less elements, the higher. Too many moist toppings (like a ton of sauce) can result in an uneven prepare dinner or burned pizza. It’s greatest to maintain your layers gentle and keep away from overdoing it on all that cheese. The identical goes for the way a lot flour you utilize — you need sufficient in order that your pizza doesn’t stick with the peel, however an excessive amount of and also you’ll find yourself with a burnt taste. 
• The oven’s L-shaped burner is oriented on the again left nook of the gadget, so turning your pizza periodically is important for getting an excellent prepare dinner in your crust. 

The Verdict

Ooni’s Koda 16 Pizza Oven is a worthy splurge and one I’d suggest to anybody seeking to improve their weekly pizza takeout to one thing do-it-yourself. It helps you obtain restaurant-level pizza at house, and it supplies versatility in your routine by cooking rooster wings, complete branzino, cornbread, or caramelized fruit. Setup is simple, the footprint is small, and the training curve is transient — what extra may you need from an out of doors pizza oven?

Our Experience

Alyssa Longobucco is a contract author, editor, and stylist with a background in meals, inside, and way of life content material. She has over a decade of expertise within the digital and journal trade creating distinctive and revolutionary content material for storied manufacturers resembling Meals and Wine, Home Stunning, HGTV, The Knot, Domino, House Remedy, Actual Easy, Food52, Good Housekeeping, and extra.