How Do I Choose the Best Convection Pizza Oven?

Choosing the best convection pizza oven is a relatively simple matter, requiring just a bit of research to find the perfect model. Look for an oven that cooks using convection, the process of moving the heated air around the food to cook it. If space is a consideration, select a convection pizza oven that fits easily on a kitchen countertop. Most of these pizza ovens will include extra accessories, so check out such details before making a selection. More than just a large toaster oven, a convection pizza oven is able to make pizza the way it was intended to be made.

The advantage of using a convection oven to bake pizza is the ability of the heat to move around inside the oven and bake the food all over. This means dough is baked thoroughly and toppings will be cooked crisp and brown if desired. Some standard, low-end countertop convection pizza ovens can bake one or more pizzas at a time and cost less than $100 United States dollars (USD). Countertop brick pizza ovens, which have the bricks permanently built into the sides of the oven, do a better job at providing authentic, restaurant brick-oven quality that seems to make the best tasting pizza. A countertop brick oven will likely cost a bit more than the standard, low-end, stainless steel pizza ovens.

The best oven will have enough room to bake a 13-inch (33 cm) diameter pizza, have top-mounted heating elements, which provide a broil function, to melt and brown the pizza, and have power-saving smart oven technology that allows for automatic adjustment of the power used for each specific baking situation. Also, to ensure the safe operation of the pizza oven, look for a model that can eject the hot oven rack and contents halfway out of the oven for burn-free pizza removal. Some models will include special added accessories, like a non-stick pizza pan and a broiler rack.

Wood-fired brick ovens are the oldest type of convection pizza ovens and have been around since the beginning of civilization. They are typically seen in restaurants and old-style pizza restaurants. Private homes and residences are typically not designed with the space needed for a wood-fired brick convection pizza oven. This is not a problem for a wood-fired outdoor convection oven. Some outdoor convection ovens allow the pizza to be baked directly on a stone surface which absorbs most of the moisture in the dough and makes a golden, crisp pizza crust. Choosing such a top-of-the-line convection pizza oven would likely be one of the most expensive ways to produce a tasty pizza.