When we’re craving a crisp wood-fired pizza, our indoor ovens never satisfy. That’s why so many are turning to outdoor pizza ovens for a more authentic Italian experience. Just picture it, it’s a breezy summer afternoon – you invite your friends over for fresh, restaurant-quality pizzas from an outdoor pizza oven, all while sipping Aperol Spritzes as the sun sets. Sign us up.
But with so many pizza ovens on the market, it’s hard to know which one to invest in. So we thought we’d test out one of the more hyped pizza ovens – the gas-powered Ooni Koda 16. With an innovative L-shaped flame for one-turn cooking, this outdoor pizza oven heats up to 500°C and is designed for stone-baking 16-inch pizzas, steaks, fish, and more.
We put the Ooni oven to the test to see if it holds up to its popularity. Here are our thoughts.
What does the Ooni Koda 16 come with?
The Ooni Koda 16 includes a pizza oven body, stone baking board, a hose attachment for your propane tank; then there is an optional cleaning brush. We definitely recommend adding on the Pizza Peel tool as this made it easier to slide the pizza in and out of the oven.
The set up and how to use
We didn’t have to wait too long to dig into our pizzas as setting up the oven was easier than expected – we simply attached the oven to our gas bottle. Just make sure you place the oven on a stable table or bench outside that has sufficient space around it. Unsurprisingly, there is a lot of heat involved in the cooking process, especially as it has such a large cooking area for supersized pizzas – so you don’t want to be in a cramped area.
If you decide the location of your oven isn’t ideal, the good news is that it is very easy to manoeuvre. Although it’s portable, we were still surprised by its lightness and how effortless it was to move around our backyard. This bodes well for when you want to take it around a friend’s house for a pizza party.
Once you have attached the pizza oven to the propane gas, insert the board, turn it on, and let it heat up for about 20 to 30 minutes. Then simply place your uncooked pizza in, ideally using the pizza peel, for 60 to 90 seconds maximum.
Extra tips
- Use the Pizza Peel to turn the pizza if it starts to burn too much on one side.
- We had a test pizza – you may want to try a bit of dough to get an idea of how fast it will cook.
The results
While it is preferable to avoid premade pizza bases, we went against this advice and, honestly, the result turned out fine. Just bear in mind that premade bases will cook a lot quicker than fresh dough may.
Even with a premade base, the result was fluffy and didn’t dry out or stiffen like it does in an indoor oven. The cheese also melted perfectly, and the pizzas tasted restaurant-quality. The size was also a big plus, and we are excited to try out the oven for meats and other meals.
Cleaning and storage
After stuffing our faces with pizza, it was time to clean up. Luckily the mess was minimal with just a bit of char landing on the stone board – this was very easy to clean with the brush. Once the oven had cooled down, we were able to fold down the legs and store it away to save space outside.
Final thoughts
The Ooni Koda 16 Gas Powered oven lives up to the hype. It was exceptionally easy to set up, manoeuvre, fast-cooking, and produced restaurant-quality pizza – what more could we ask for?
Selling fast, don’t miss out on the the Ooni Koda 16 Gas Powered Oven, $1,119. Find out more and purchase here.
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