Clay Pizza Ovens: Embrace the Art of Ancient Pizza-Making

Imagine this: you’re in your backyard, surrounded by friends and family, as you effortlessly slide a perfectly crispy, mouthwatering pizza out of your very own clay pizza oven.

We know you’re excited to take your pizza game to new heights, and we’re here to help you do just that.

With our years of experience crafting delicious pizzas and trying and testing pizza ovens, we’ve compiled an extensive list of the best clay pizza ovens, along with all the essential information you need to become a master of the art.

From the many benefits of owning a clay pizza oven to tips on preparation, cooking, and maintenance, you’re just a few scrolls away from unlocking the secrets to amazing homemade pizzas.

So, let’s dive in and explore the wonderful world of clay pizza ovens.

Let’s get started!

About Clay Pizza Ovens

Clay outdoor pizza ovens are built of tough, heat-resistant clay that can withstand extreme temperatures.

Clay pizza ovens are smaller than other varieties and come with a four-legged stand that allows you to use them on any heat-safe surface.

They feature a handcrafted look that gives your outdoor environment a beautiful touch.

Overall Design:

Single-Dome Chamber: This type features a single chamber, meaning the heat source and the cooking surface area are in the same chamber.

The dome shape allows this oven to reach high temperatures, ideal for achieving a crisp pizza crust.

Dual-Chamber: This outdoor pizza oven design features two chambers. The top chamber is designated for cooking, while the bottom chamber is made for the furnace. The flames from the bottom chamber fill the upper chamber with indirect heat. This disperses the heat and allows your pizza to cook evenly.

Cooking Surface Width

The cooking surface is another key measurement of the pizza oven’s surface area. Consider how many pizzas you plan to cook simultaneously to find the right width.

Small (Less Than 20″): Small outdoor pizza ovens have a cooking surface that is less than 20″ wide and can fit one 12″ pizza at a time.

Medium (20″ to 29″): This size has a cooking surface that ranges from 20″ to 29″ wide and can fit one to two 12″ pizzas.

Large (More Than 30″): Large outdoor pizza ovens feature a cooking surface that measures more than 30″ wide and can accommodate more than two 12″ pizzas.

Benefits of Having a Clay Pizza Oven

These clay wood-fired pizza ovens allow you to create an authentic, restaurant-quality pizza in the comfort of your own backyard.

Perfect for home cooks or even just food enthusiasts!

Benefits:

• Make Authentic Pizza at Home
• Inexpensive
• Handcrafted
• More Than Just a Pizza Oven

If you are not cooking for mouthwatering woodfired pizzas, you can prepare delicious grill recipes like fish, vegetables, sausage, or barbeque. You can even bake traditional tasty bread or grilled meats.

During the cold season, you can enjoy the breeze with your family and friends by using these clay wood-fired ovens as wood-fired space heaters.

The simple and distressed designs are best to enhance your patio or backyard, making it a centerpiece.

Indeed, it can impress your friends and visitors to experience the fun and enjoy the original wood-fired pizza and grill party.

Cook pizza the old-fashioned way!

Let’s check them out.

Clay Pizza Ovens

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As you continue to embark on your journey to create mouthwatering, wood-fired pizzas right in your backyard, we’ve got your back. Drawing from our years of experience, we’ve carefully curated a list of the top 5 clay pizza ovens that deliver exceptional performance, exquisite design, and ease of use.

From backyard gatherings to intimate alfresco dinners, these ovens promise to elevate your pizza-making game and leave your guests craving more. So, without further ado, let’s dive in and explore these fantastic options that will transform your outdoor cooking experience!

Petra Tools Outdoor Clay Wood-Fired Pizza Oven

Features:

The Petra Tools Outdoor Clay Wood-Fired Pizza Oven is an exceptional addition to any outdoor cooking space! We’ve enjoyed using and testing this fantastic oven and are eager to share our experience with you.

Design and Construction:
This wood-fired pizza oven boasts an impressive handcrafted clay construction with a beautiful terracotta finish that adds a rustic charm to your backyard. The oven’s design makes it an eye-catching centerpiece and provides excellent insulation and heat retention. Its sturdy iron stand ensures stability, while the open-front design allows for easy access to the cooking chamber and enhances heat circulation.

Capacity and Performance:
The Petra Tools Outdoor Clay Wood-Fired Pizza Oven offers a spacious cooking surface, allowing you to easily create up to 12-inch pizzas. We found that it heats up relatively quickly, reaching the ideal pizza-cooking temperature of around 750°F in just 30-45 minutes. The even heat distribution within the oven guarantees a perfectly crispy crust and evenly cooked toppings every time.

Ease of Use:
Using this clay pizza oven is an absolute delight. The open-front design makes it easy to slide your pizzas in and out using the included pizza peel. We also appreciated the built-in ash drawer, which makes cleaning up after your pizza party a hassle-free experience.

Versatility:
While the Petra Tools Clay Oven is specifically designed for pizza, its versatile nature allows you to explore a range of other dishes. From baking bread and roasting vegetables to grilling meats, this oven lets you unleash your culinary creativity and impress your guests with various delicious meals.

The Petra Tools Outdoor Clay Wood-Fired Pizza Oven is a fantastic investment for elevating the outdoor cooking experience. Its impressive design, outstanding performance, and user-friendly features make it an excellent choice for both novices and seasoned pizza-makers alike.

We highly recommend this oven to anyone who wants to bring a taste of authentic wood-fired pizza into their own backyard.

Ravenna Pottery Clay Brick Style Round Smooth Wood Burning Outdoor Pizza Oven

Features:

The Revena Outdoor Clay Brick Stone Style Wood-Fired Pizza Oven is a remarkable addition to any outdoor cooking space! We’ve enjoyed using and testing this extraordinary oven and are excited to share our experience with you.

Design and Construction:
The Revena Outdoor Clay Brick Stone Style Pizza Oven showcases a stunning combination of clay and brick construction, resulting in a beautiful stone-style appearance. This robust and well-built oven serves as a striking focal point in your backyard and provides excellent insulation and heat retention. The oven’s arched entrance allows for easy access to the cooking chamber, while the built-in chimney ensures proper ventilation and airflow.

Capacity and Performance:
The Revena Outdoor Clay Brick Stone Style Wood-Fired Pizza Oven offers ample cooking space to accommodate up to 14 inches in diameter pizzas. We found that the oven heats up efficiently, reaching the optimal pizza-cooking temperature of around 750°F in just 45-60 minutes. The well-distributed heat within the oven ensures a perfectly crispy crust and delectably cooked toppings every time.

Ease of Use:
Operating this clay pizza oven is an absolute joy. The arched entrance makes it easy to slide your pizzas in and out using the included pizza peel. The oven’s open design allows for simple temperature monitoring and effortless heat control. After your pizza feast, the oven’s straightforward design makes cleaning and maintenance a breeze.

Versatility:
While the Revena Clay Brick Stone Style Oven is purpose-built for pizza, its versatile nature allows you to explore an array of other dishes. From baking artisanal bread and roasting succulent meats to grilling fresh vegetables, this oven enables you to tap into your culinary creativity and impress your guests with various mouthwatering meals.

The Revena Outdoor Clay Brick Stone Style Wood-Fired Pizza Oven is an outstanding investment for those seeking to enhance their outdoor cooking experience. Its captivating design, remarkable performance, and user-friendly features make it an excellent choice for beginners and seasoned pizza-makers.

We highly recommend this oven to anyone who wants to bring the authentic taste of wood-fired pizza to their own backyard.

Tierra Firme Design Wood Burning Clay Outdoor Pizza Oven

Features:

The Tierra Firme Design Wood-Fired Pizza Oven is a delightful and efficient addition to any outdoor cooking space! We’ve had the opportunity to use and test this superb oven and can’t wait to share our experience with you.

Design and Construction:
The Tierra Firme Design Wood-Fired Pizza Oven boasts a captivating smooth clay construction with a vibrant red finish. This charming oven adds a pop of color to your outdoor cooking space while also providing excellent insulation and heat retention. The dome-shaped design ensures even heat distribution, and the open-front entrance allows easy access to the cooking chamber.

Capacity and Performance:
The Tierra Firme Design Wood-Fired Pizza Oven offers a spacious cooking surface, easily accommodating up to 14 inches in diameter pizzas. We found that the oven heats up efficiently, reaching the optimal pizza-cooking temperature of around 750°F in approximately 45-60 minutes. The consistent heat within the oven guarantees a delectably crispy crust and evenly cooked toppings every time.

Ease of Use:
Operating this clay pizza oven is a true pleasure. The open-front design makes it easy to slide your pizzas in and out using the included pizza peel. However, monitoring and controlling the temperature may require an external thermometer. The oven’s design also simplifies cleaning and maintenance after your pizza party.

Versatility:
While the Tierra Firme Design Wood-Fired Pizza Oven is primarily designed for pizza, its versatile nature invites you to explore a range of other dishes. From baking artisanal bread and roasting tender meats to grilling seasonal vegetables, this oven empowers you to showcase your culinary creativity and impress your guests with various delicious meals.

Vesuvius Wood Burning Clay Outdoor Pizza Oven

Features:

The Vesuvius Wood Burning Clay pizza oven is a remarkable addition to any outdoor cooking space! We’ve had the opportunity to use and test this exceptional oven and are eager to share our experience with you.

Design and Construction:
The Vesuvius 26 in. Wood Burning Outdoor Pizza Oven boasts a beautiful red brick construction, providing an eye-catching and classic appearance that enhances any outdoor setting. This well-built oven is both durable and efficient, offering excellent insulation and heat retention. The oven is perched on a sturdy metal stand, ensuring stability and a comfortable working height. The arched entrance allows for easy access to the cooking chamber, while the built-in chimney ensures proper ventilation and airflow.

Capacity and Performance:
The Vesuvius 26 in. Wood Burning Outdoor Pizza Oven provides a spacious cooking surface, accommodating pizzas up to 22 inches in diameter. We found that the oven heats up effectively, reaching the optimal pizza-cooking temperature of around 750°F in just 45-60 minutes. The even heat distribution within the oven ensures a delightfully crispy crust and perfectly cooked toppings every time.

Ease of Use:
Operating this wood-fired pizza oven is a true pleasure. The arched entrance allows for easy insertion and removal of your pizzas using the included pizza peel. The built-in thermometer makes monitoring the oven’s temperature simple, ensuring precise heat control for a perfect bake. After your pizza feast, the oven’s straightforward design makes cleaning and maintenance a breeze.

Versatility:
While the Vesuvius 26 in. Wood Burning Outdoor Pizza Oven is purpose-built for pizza, its versatile nature enables you to explore a wide range of other dishes. From baking artisanal bread and roasting succulent meats to grilling fresh vegetables, this oven allows you to tap into your culinary creativity and impress your guests with various mouthwatering meals.

The Vesuvius 26 in. Wood Burning Outdoor Pizza Oven with Red Brick on Stand is an outstanding investment for those looking to enhance their outdoor cooking experience. Its captivating design, excellent performance, and user-friendly features make it an ideal choice for beginners and seasoned pizza-makers.

Ravenna Pottery Talavera Tile Wood Burning Clay Outdoor Pizza Oven

Features:

The Ravenna Pottery Talavera Tile Ocre Round Smooth Wood Burning Outdoor Pizza Oven in Brown, a stunning addition to your outdoor cooking space that brings both beauty and functionality. We’ve had the opportunity to use and test this incredible oven and are excited to share our experience with you.

Design and Construction:
The Ravenna Pottery Talavera Tile Ocre Round Smooth Wood Burning Outdoor Pizza Oven features a captivating Talavera tile design in ocre tones, adding a touch of elegance and warmth to your outdoor area. The oven is crafted from high-quality clay, ensuring durability and excellent heat retention. Its rounded, smooth shape allows for proper heat circulation, producing perfectly cooked pizzas. The built-in chimney ensures proper ventilation and airflow while in use.

Capacity and Performance:
This wood-fired pizza oven provides a 22-inch diameter cooking surface, allowing you to easily create pizzas of various sizes. We found that the oven heats up effectively, reaching the optimal pizza-cooking temperature of around 750°F in approximately 45-60 minutes. The even heat distribution ensures a delightfully crispy crust and perfectly cooked toppings every time.

Ease of Use:
Operating the Ravenna Pottery Talavera Tile Ocre Round Smooth Wood Burning Outdoor Pizza Oven is a true pleasure. Its wide opening allows for easy insertion and removal of your pizzas using the included pizza peel. Although the oven does not have a built-in thermometer, an external one can be used to monitor the temperature for precise cooking control. Cleaning and maintenance are made simple, thanks to the oven’s straightforward design.

Versatility:
While the Ravenna Pottery Talavera Tile Ocre Round Smooth Wood Burning Outdoor Pizza Oven is specifically designed for pizza, its versatile nature allows you to explore a wide range of other dishes as well. From baking artisanal bread and roasting succulent meats to grilling fresh vegetables, this oven lets you tap into your culinary creativity and impress your guests with various delicious meals.

The Ravenna Pottery Talavera Tile Ocre Round Smooth Wood Burning Outdoor Pizza Oven in Brown is a fantastic investment for those looking to elevate their outdoor cooking experience. Its unique design, excellent performance, and user-friendly features make it an ideal choice for beginners and seasoned pizza-makers.

We highly recommend this oven to anyone seeking the authentic taste of wood-fired pizza and a visually stunning addition to their backyard.

Best Clay Pizza Oven

Among the clay pizza ovens we’ve reviewed, the Vesuvius Clay Pizza Oven stands out as the best choice, thanks to its exceptional features and performance.

One significant advantage is the inclusion of a sturdy stand, which not only provides stability but also eliminates the need for counter space, allowing the oven to stand independently in your outdoor cooking area.

The stand also features a convenient shelf to store wood, making the process of fueling the oven even more efficient. When it comes to heat retention, the Vesuvius oven truly excels, ensuring consistently even heat distribution for perfectly cooked pizzas every time.

Its attractive red brick design, spacious cooking surface, and versatility in cooking a wide range of dishes further contribute to its superior position among the other clay pizza ovens we’ve reviewed.

Overall, the Vesuvius Clay Pizza Oven offers a perfect combination of functionality, aesthetics, and performance, making it the best choice for any outdoor cooking enthusiast.

Clay Pizza Oven FAQs

How Do You Cook Pizza in a Clay Oven?

As far as cooking pizzas are concerned, there are two different ovens to cook our pizzas. These include pizza baked in a gas or electric range and wood-fired clay pizza ovens. Only the wood-fired oven can eventually reach its soaring temperatures, which is required for a pizza to cook appropriately.

Setting up clay pizza ovens is easier and quicker than we expect. We will also be amazed to see what kind of pizza such an oven will yield afterward. This is why we need the right skills and knowledge to cook pizza in a clay oven.

How to Heat up a Clay Pizza Oven

While waiting for the pizza dough to rise, we may now start heating our clay pizza oven.

1. Create a fire at the oven floor center using several sticks, allowing it to burn.
2. When the temperature reaches about 700F, its soot will vaporize, and we may observe a white patch appearance.
3. The heat will expand and migrate towards the oven floor and continue to heat. The oven is hot enough when the soot is already burned off.

Clay Pizza Oven Preparation

Once the clay oven is hot, we must use a long-handled metal scraper to push the coals effectively. Brush ashes from the floor using a metal bristled type of brush.

To measure the temperature of the clay oven, you can use an infrared thermometer.

After that, you can already cook your pizza in a clay oven.

Are Clay Pizza Ovens Good?

When it comes to outdoor clay pizza ovens are concerned, we can say that clay pizza ovens are good. It is considered a user-friendly and convenient outdoor pizza oven that we can use whenever we want to bake a delicious pizza.

Clay pizza ovens are not expensive kinds of specialized cooking appliances that we can have at home. It works better compared to other ovens sold on the market.

It also works better than others as far as its use and versatility are concerned.

Thus, if you want to save a massive amount of money and you’re not after sacrificing the capacity of an oven, then we should try clay oven pizza.

How Do You Waterproof a Clay Oven?

Wood-fired clay pizza ovens are primarily made from the best kind of high-quality material that can resist higher temperatures.

However, there are instances when clay materials are compromised by abrupt changes in extreme humidity and outdoor temperature, affecting the oven’s clay surfaces.

This may include scratches, chips, dents, and cracks. Although it may not directly affect the quality of the pizza you’re going to bake, you still need to be equipped with the proper waterproofing clay oven.

• Top with Sealant

One of the worst enemies of clay pizza ovens is moisture, even if it has already been treated with waterproof sealant. Thus, we recommend giving external oven dome coats of waterproof sealant at least once a year. This is to assure of prolonging its waterproofing capabilities.

• Cover It

Are you planning to have your clay oven pizza outdoors?

It could be possible for us to do such a routine provided that we will let it have its waterproof cover at all times. Be sure to choose the deluxe quality of breathable covers with polyester fabric that may withstand the weather test.

• Cure and Cure

Clay wood-fired oven pizza always requires curing when it is purchased and when it becomes wet. Curing includes drying all the water in the clay and tempering the clay.

This can be achieved by lighting several fires inside the oven for at least two days to increase its temperature gradually.

How to Clean a Clay Pizza Oven?

Cleaning a clay pizza oven is considered a standard routine, but it differs from other kitchen oven cleaning we usually do. There are things we can’t do and chemicals that we cannot use.

If we do not follow the proper steps to clean the clay pizza oven, it could damage the stove or harm us.

When you have started the cleaning process, be sure it is excellent. Wait for the clay oven pizza to cool completely.

When cleaning the pizza oven:

1. First, raise its temperature and burn for about 30 minutes continuously. Although it could be strange, it can significantly help burn off some debris that we can still scrape out of the clay oven.
2. When it is perfect, use a scraper to scratch off some of the residues on the oven effectively.

You can also use a brush to remove unnecessary debris on the stove. You can also use a handheld vacuum cleaner to ensure that all remnants have been removed properly.

Tips on How to Use a Clay Pizza Oven

When using a clay pizza oven for cooking your pizza, it is always best to consider some of the tips below to ensure baking the deliciously tasting and aromatic pizza we’ve always wanted to taste and eat.

• Proper Timing

Start for at least three hours before the time you want to cook. This ensures that we will have enough preparation time for the pizza.

• Feeding Fire

We may start firing the oven using kindling or scrunched newspapers. We need to get good fire and let it go and build up.

You need to feed the stove often and little without extensive dimension wood and not too wide. No chunks or logs of wood, and it should be dry.

• Don’t Overload Clay Oven Pizza

Not loading the pizza oven when baking a pizza is also recommended. This ensures that you don’t damage the stove itself or the quality of the pizza that you’re baking.

The Last Slice

Clay pizza ovens can give you the best kind and quality of pizza we can ever eat. Being directly baked on stones with radiant heat can cook pizza consistently and quickly.

It can also retain moisture content compared with another oven, which means the dough would always remain fluffy and light as if it were a plucked cloud down from the sky.

If you’ve never tasted or cooked such a pizza, it is now the best time to try using clay pizza ovens today!

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