5 Best Outdoor Brick Pizza Ovens (2023)

Brick pizza ovens are popular with artisan restaurants because the brick base maintains exceptionally high temperatures. These pizza ovens are fueled by wood, or perhaps coal, which results in a unique flavor profile that an electric oven simply doesn't provide. There are several factors to consider when looking for an outdoor brick pizza oven.

Top 5 Authentic Brick Pizza Ovens

Brands making portable pizza ovens are popping up on every corner. Still, for the most authentic experience, you are unlikely to find the right outdoor pizza oven at your local hardware store.

Authentic brick pizza ovens are bigger and offer that signature dome shape. The shape is essential for more than just aesthetics. The dome shape enables the heat to roll across the top of the pizza, which results in firey hot toppings and an even cook.

When we consider the best outdoor brick pizza ovens, these are the top brands that come to mind.

1 - Pizzaioli Brick Pizza Oven

Among authentic pizza ovens, Pizzaioli is one of the best-known styles. The Pizaioli Brick Wood Fired Pizza Oven has the capacity for two 12-inch pizzas and infinite possibilities. A Pizzaioli pizza oven is handcrafted in Portugal, representing decades of craftsmanship and authenticity.

One thing we love about a built-in wood-fired pizza oven is that it is rustic yet still refined. The brick oven design is romantic even. The premium Pizzaioli oven features a black aluminum door to maximize heating time and heat retention. The door opens downward, making getting food in and out easier.

The dome and the floor of the wood-fired oven are built with refractory bricks. The bricks help retain heat in the oven and help to evenly crisp the crust.

A Pizzaioli oven is designed for maximal heat retention. It is triple-insulated, features a door that can be closed while heating, and is built with those refractory bricks. As a result, the oven is designed to hold heat for more than three hours.

The oven needs to function well, but you likely want it to look attractive in your backyard. Unlike portable backyard pizza ovens, a Pizzaioli pizza oven can be painted or tiled for a one-of-a-kind look.

2 - Lisboa Brick Pizza Oven

If the Pizzaioli pizza oven doesn't feel right, you might try the Lisboa brick oven on for size. The biggest difference when comparing Pizzaioli vs. Lisboa is that Pizzaioli has a wider door. In contrast, the Lisboa pizza oven has a taller door.

The taller door makes it easier to roast meats and do backyard baking. All these ovens feature "pizza" prominently in the name. These highly versatile pizza oven kits are great for baking bread and roasting meats.

The taller doorway allows for two unique features worth mentioning. The door includes a glass piece that can withstand high temperatures, allowing you to view your pizza as it bakes. The door is also designed as a dutch door, so you can open half of the door if you want to watch the fire.

The Lisboa is triple-insulated and covered with refractory cement and natural clay. Advanced heat retention is a hallmark of the best outdoor pizza ovens.

While the Lisboa oven will reach as high as 1000 degrees, pizzas burn pretty quickly when the fire gets that hot. We've found that cooking at a temperature closer to 700 to 800 degrees is more manageable.

The Lisboa oven includes a built-in thermometer, terracotta baking dish, and rotisserie compatibility. The terracotta dish works well for vegetables or other items you don't want to cook directly on the brick cooking surface.

3 - Buena Ventura Brick Pizza Oven

The Buena Ventura Pizza Ovens are more akin to the Pizzaioli ovens than the Lisboa ovens. The doorway is wide, providing ample access for you to cook multiple pizzas at once. This is helpful when you are entertaining large groups in your outdoor kitchen.

While some ovens feature an iron door, we prefer brick ovens with a non-rust aluminum door, such as the one featured on the Buena Ventura pizza oven. Any of these brick ovens are a significant investment intended to last for many years, so the last thing you want to do is start dealing with a door that rusts or gives you trouble.

What makes A Buena Ventura unique? The

The Buena Ventura oven is a high-quality brick oven representing excellent value. The solid construction oven is shipped fully assembled, similar to the Pizzaioli and Lisboa ovens. You will need a sturdy stand for your new oven, but the only other thing you will need to do is determine how to design the exterior.

The oven's exterior can be painted or tiled to match your backyard aesthetic. And that alludes to a greater point, doesn't it? These brick ovens make great pizza, bread, and meat. That is the primary reason to purchase the oven, but an oven will also become a focal point of your backyard.

It makes sense to purchase an oven that will work as a permanent feature of your outdoor space. This can't be said of the many portable pizza ovens available on the market.

4 - Round Grove Fireplace and Wood Fired Pizza Oven

Baking pizza can be a fun family gathering experience, but you aren't likely to cook pizza (or even bake bread or roast meats) every night. Sadly, this might mean that even the best at-home cooks won't use their brick oven as much as they would like.

One solution to this problem is upgrading to a fireplace with a pizza oven combo. Round Grove makes the perfect wood-fired pizza ovens combined into a larger fireplace. The fireplace is the ideal place to gather on a nightly basis, while the pizza oven is a tasty add-on.

A Round Grove fireplace and pizza oven combo is an investment that will serve as a central gathering place for your family for years to come. Investing in a complete fireplace will cost significantly more than purchasing a standalone brick oven. Still, doing so will provide your family with the best of outdoor cooking and relaxation.

One thing to note: These fireplaces and pizza oven combos weigh as much as 2000 lbs. You will be required to have a forklift on site when the unit is delivered. This is doable for you or your contractor to plan for, but it does require planning all the same.

And building your own fireplace might sound like a good idea, but it is more complicated than you might imagine and can take as much as a few months to get all the pieces in place. Purchasing a manufactured, ready-to-finish outdoor pizza oven fireplace with save you significant time and effort.

You can finish the fireplace with your choice of natural stone, stone veneer, or outdoor brick veneer. This offers you the opportunity to match your home's aesthetic perfectly.

5 - Chicago Brick Oven

Chicago might be best known for its deep-dish pizza style, but they also have a heritage of brick oven pizzas.

Chicago Brick Oven is a brand that offers a variety of brick ovens, including items like the Chicago Brick Oven 750 on a wheeled cart or some countertop oven models without a wheeled cart. Purchasing with or without the purpose-made wheeled cart is an interesting decision.

The wheeled cart is convenient if you have a large patio or pool deck. The cart enables you to make pizza by the pool one day and your

And here is a crazy stat to consider: Some of the Chicago Brick Ovens have sufficient capacity to make as many as 60 pizzas per hour! When you heat the oven up to max capacity, you can fire up a pizza in as little as 90 seconds.

One thing that is notably different in comparing the Chicago Brick Ovens to all of the brick ovens mentioned above is the exterior finish. Chicago Brick Ovens feature a metallic finish, such as copper vein or silver, while the ovens noted above are much more insulated, making them safer to touch.

Still, whether you are a small business looking to add Neapolitan pizza to your menu or just a domestic pizza aficionado, Chicago Brick Oven is one of the best-known names in the game.

What Accessories Do You Need

Deciding on which of the outdoor brick pizza ovens is right for you is the best place to start. Still, you also need to consider where you will place your brick oven and how you will protect it. You will also need some other items, like a new pizza peel and a high-quality pizza cutter, but those are less immediately consequential than the former concerns.

Pizza Oven Cover

All outdoor pizza ovens featured here are built to last, but that doesn't mean they should be neglected. You should position ovens under a vented patio covering or purchase a brick oven pizza covering.

If you plan on spending a few grand on a backyard pizza oven, you should invest in the best and further the effort to protect your investment.

You can find some generic brick oven covers on Amazon or specialty fitting covers through pizza oven and patio niche sites.

Pizza Oven Stand

While a few of the pizza ovens we featured either have a compatible stand or are built into a fireplace unit, those are more exceptions than the rules. For most pizza ovens, you need to create a stand or buy a purpose-built one.

We respect any of you craftsmen out there upgrading your outdoor space with a custom-built outdoor kitchen or pizza oven stand. Still, most people will either need some help or a pre-determined solution.

If you find yourself in the latter situation, several potential solutions remain. Large stainless steel tables are great if they are big enough to provide a cook prep area. Also, brick kits are sturdy enough to hold a heavy backyard pizza oven.

What Is The Best Base For A Pizza Oven?

You can install a base for your pizza oven in a few different ways. For countertop pizza ovens, there are a few options. If installing a full kitchen in your backyard, build the countertop long enough to hold your pizza oven.

Even there, there likely needs to be special considerations. Some countertop pizza ovens are heavy, so you may not want to install them above a traditional cabinetry set. Remember that built-in pizza ovens are usually set upon a concrete or brick frame. In many instances, installing a concrete or brick base is the way to go.

The other alternative is to get a stainless steel table, and a few are available specifically for pizza ovens. Regardless, ensure that you compare the weight limit of your chosen table to the weight of your pizza oven. The last thing you want to happen is for the table to fall!

Can You Build A Pizza Oven?

If you consider yourself a highly resourceful and handy individual, you could also consider building your own brick pizza oven. Heck, if you make your own pizza dough, you might as well make your oven, too, right?

Even so, building a backyard pizza oven is a significant project, with a million ways it could fall off the track. Purchasing a DIY pizza oven kit might be the middle ground worth considering. Several brands make kits available.

This might be the perfect option for those who want to finish with brick or stonework but want to start with a professionally made pizza oven core kit.

There are several reasons you might consider going this route. The biggest reason that comes to mind is that if you are custom building an outdoor kitchen, it might make sense to purchase a DIY Kit and build your pizza oven into the outdoor kitchen.

Alternative Options

Outdoor brick pizza ovens offer the highest quality Neapolitan-style pizza you can get in a residential setting. That said, most of the brick ovens listed above are expensive, and we get that.

That doesn't change the fact that each wood-fired oven above hovers around as the gold standard in domestic outdoor pizza. Still, other options are more affordable. The Gozney Dome and the Ooni Karu 16 are the most prominent options.

One piece of advice: Regardless of which direction you go, learn how to properly clean a pizza stone to get the best tasting pizza. Avoid using soap.

Gozney Dome

The Gozney Dome is much more expensive than the most portable pizza ovens, such as those made by Ooni and Solo Stove. Gozney makes a portable pizza oven called the Gozney Roccbox, but the Gozney Dome is the far better pizza oven option.

The Gozney Dome pizza oven is a professional-grade oven designed for your backyard. It is bigger than the more affordable outdoor pizza ovens, but it isn't a built-in oven like those above. Instead, it fits on a purpose-made stand. It isn't portable because it can quickly move around the yard, but it isn't a permanent fixture either.

While some portable backyard ovens look cheap, the Gozney Dome is as beautiful as it is functional. Its most prominent features include a digital thermometer, specially designed heat retention, and a steam injector. Plus, an innovative air ventilation system helps you control the heat.

It is more than just pizza. It will work for wood-fired bread and meats as well. We like the Gozney Dome because it is bigger and more permanent than the smaller portable ovens but features more innovative technology than a built-in oven.

While the Gozney Dome is available as a wood-burning oven or as a multi-fuel source oven, large chunks of wood won't easily fit in the oven. It will be best to utilize pizza oven logs that have been cut down to size.

Portable Outdoor Pizza Ovens

You may consider a portable outdoor pizza oven because brands like Ooni sell gas-fueled pizza ovens. Gas-powered ovens are much less messy than wood or charcoal grills. Plus, the temperature can be controlled with the turn of a dial.

Gas-powered ovens don't provide the authentic flavoring you will get with wood-fired ovens, but the ease of use is undeniable. A portable oven like the Ooni Karu 16 is a multi-fuel pizza oven. You can switch between wood and gas as you desire, which makes the Ooni pizza oven a formidable alternative to traditional brick ovens.

The other big reason to purchase a portable pizza oven is that they are, well, portable. You can't take a built-in brick oven on your next camping trip, but you can take an Ooni. And an Ooni reaches a similarly high temp to those reached by the built-in ovens.

You can still cook a near-perfect pizza with a portable unit, but a portable pizza oven really serves a different purpose than a full-size brick oven. Brick oven pizza still offers slightly more authentic and nuanced flavoring, but you can cook pizzas on an Ooni with similar flavoring.

Design your backyard to be centered around a pizza oven and a smokeless fire pit, and you are sure to make countless memories.

Is A Brick Pizza Oven Worth It?

Cooking at home is a worthwhile effort that will likely save you money and enable you to control healthier ingredients. Still, cooking at home can get a little boring if you cook the same things week in and week out.

Authentic Neapolitan-style pizza must be cooked at a very high heat that a standard oven can't reach. Aside from aesthetics and placemaking, this is the reason to get a brick oven in your backyard. The brick ovens we've detailed above are the best on the market today.

Outdoor pizza ovens are great for gathering. They can be fun for your family and give you a reason to invite friends over. Plus, pizza baked in a brick oven objectively tastes better since it is infused with wood flavoring and that crispy charred crust.

Learn how to clean and maintain your pizza oven, and it will treat you well for years.

Adding a wood-fired oven to your backyard adds versatility to your repertoire too. You can cook nearly anything on a

A brick pizza oven is worth the investment. Decide where you want it to go, and then choose whether you prefer a standalone brick oven or a combination fireplace with a brick oven. There are also more portable options available, but installing a built-in pizza oven in your backyard will be a game changer.

A wood-fired brick pizza oven is also the most authentic pizza experience you can create.