Can I Store My Ooni Outside? (2023)

The thought of having your very own pizza oven is pretty exciting, but there are some practical considerations you will need to think through. While an Ooni pizza oven is very functional, it's not very small, so you need to figure out where you will keep it. Keep in mind that depending on which model you choose, you may need to store a propane tank as well. The Ooni Koda models are gas-fueled ovens, so if storing a propane gas tank is concerning to you, keep that in mind.

Still, an outdoor pizza oven is an awesome addition to the family backyard. After all, who doesn't love amazing pizza? Even a good frozen pizza is hard to turn down, but authentic Neapolitan pizza made at home is an absolute game changer!

Can I Store My Ooni outside?

Most Ooni pizza ovens are built well from materials including stainless steel, which makes them durable enough to stay outside for reasonable periods of time. If you choose to leave your Ooni outside, just make sure it is sheltered from rain, snow, and high winds so that you can extend the life of your pizza oven.

I use wood and charcoal with my Ooni Pro, so I like to let the pizza oven cool off overnight before I clean it out. I try to choose days where there is no expected rain, mainly because it's easier to use the pizza oven in dry weather. After I am done cooking, I move the

If you do choose to leave the Ooni outside, it is best to remove the pizza baking stones so that the changing temperatures and other elements don't cause the stones to crack. If you have an Ooni featuring a chimney, be sure to leave the chimney cap on to protect the inside of the pizza oven from the elements. Protect the Ooni pizza stone by removing it, and the rest of the interior infrastructure by closing the chimney.

So, can you store your Ooni pizza oven outside? Ooni doesn't recommend leaving any of the ovens outside for extended periods of time. The newer ovens feature multiple materials beyond stainless steel, so in an effort to prolong the oven, we recommend you store it in a garage or other safe place. If you have an Ooni featuring a chimney, be sure to leave the chimney cap on to protect the inside of the pizza oven from the elements.

You may also consider purchasing one of Ooni's custom-fit oven covers as well.

Can Ooni Be Used In Winter?

Yes, Ooni can be used in cold weather, and in fact, the Ooni team has successfully used their Ooni ovens in temperatures as low as -22 degrees C (-8 degrees F). If you search long enough on YouTube, you will find beautiful videos of people using their pizza ovens during winter. There is something soul-warming about an open fire and slightly charred pizza on the backdrop of a fresh blanket of snow. Warm pizza and a cold snowy day are a great combination.

One thing we will note: Be careful with a gas pizza oven during freezing temperatures. The valves could freeze causing trouble with the gas supply. While we love the Ooni Koda pizza oven because of the convenience and ease of use gas offers, it might make sense to opt for a multi-fuel option like the Ooni Pro or the Ooni Karu.

Most Ooni models work well during the winter, and your neighbors will be jealous to see how you make winter outdoor cooking effortless. The pizza oven cooking process is fun and once you master authentic-tasting pizzas, you will never turn back.

Can You Use Ooni in The Rain?

If a surprising rain pops up while you are using your Ooni oven, don't fret. You can still make the perfect pizza, even in less than ideal conditions. Ooni pizza ovens are insulated and designed to retain heat, so functionally, you should still be able to cook pizza after pizza in 60-90 seconds when cooking at the maximum temperatures near 950 degrees.

And since the Ooni is built with stainless steel components, the oven shouldn't rust when used in the rain. In certain geographical areas, such as the Pacific Northwest, there is nearly always a drizzle, and regardless of geographical area, you never know when an afternoon rain might pop up.

Honestly, the biggest thing you need to consider when using Ooni in the rain is how to keep your pizza dry. You don't want your pizza to get wet, after all! And from a practical sense, if the pizza peel or dough gets wet, it will make it substantially more difficult to manage your pizza. Raw pizza dough that is too wet won't even slide off of the peel into the oven. At best, this will turn your pizza into a calzone. At worst, you may have to throw your pizza out, and that is just sad.

So, yes, you can use your Ooni in reasonable rain, but be careful to protect your pizza, or you won't be able to enjoy your tasty work.

Homemade Pizza Tips

If you do live in an area where the climate is tricky, we recommend you check out the various homemade pizza tips found on Ooni's website, and in our full

Of course, outdoor cooking has much more to offer than pizza, so you might also think about what else you can cook in your Ooni pizza oven. With a little creativity, your outdoor cooking experience may evolve from a pizza party to a full-on open-fire culinary experience.

Regarding cooking awesome pizza, here are a few more quick tips so your backyard pizza oven doesn't go to waste. Cooking at maximum temperature provides the most authentic flavoring and a crisp pizza crust, but it can also be a little difficult to manage. Reducing the temperature a little will still result in bubbling-hot pizza, but help you learn to cook your pizza without burning it.

One more tip: Don't overload your pizza with toppings. It can be quite fun to experiment with combinations of pizza toppings, but overloading the dough will stress it and cause it to break. Then you will just end up with a mess on your cooking surface, which I learned from first-hand experience. Properly using your Ooni pizza oven is one of the keys to producing high-quality pies.

How To Store Ooni Pizza Oven

In an ideal world, we recommend covering your Ooni with a custom-fit bag and storing it in a protected area such as a garage. This will keep your Ooni clean, protect it from the elements, and make sure your Ooni is ready to go whenever you need it.

Ooni pizza ovens are sturdy and built from durable and rust-resistant materials like stainless steel. Still, it is important to take care of your Ooni to protect it and you. As noted elsewhere in this article, it is fine to leave your Ooni outside for short periods of time. In fact, after I use my Ooni, I leave it outside overnight to let it cool, and then the next day I clean it up and move it to the garage.

You may want additional pizza tools such as a bamboo pizza peel and baking steels, which are useful if you are cooking a bunch of pizzas. Think about where you want to store these items as well to facilitate that best possible baking experience.

Can You Use Ooni Pizza Oven Indoors?

An Ooni pizza oven should not be used indoors, despite what you might see on Reddit. While controlling the adjustable heat control knob on a gas-fueled unit may help you control the flame, it is not the wisest decision to keep a tank of gas in your house near an open flame. Even if you are careful and open the windows, this is not advisable.

And for the multi-fuel pizza ovens or the wood-pellet Fyra oven, the flame can be challenging to control when you are adding wood or charcoal to your fire. You never know when a burst of heat or flame may jump from the unit, so while Ooni products are safe to use outdoors, we do not recommend using them indoors.

Keep in mind that Ooni pizza ovens produce consistent heat as high as 950 degrees. That is a seriously hot fire that will cause damage in a hurry if you aren't careful with what you are doing.

Can You Use Ooni in Garage?

For these same reasons, it's not advisable to use your Ooni in a garage either. Beyond the obvious fire hazard concerns, some of the Ooni pizza ovens produce a significant amount of smoke. This is especially true if you cook with wood or gas. So while we love the wood-fired flavor as much as the next person, we recommend waiting until you can go outside. I will personally go through great links to eat a delicious and authentic pizza, but potentially burning down your house or causing smoke damage aren't reasonable risks - health risks aside.

What Can I Put My Ooni Pizza Oven On?

Your Ooni pizza oven should sit on a heat-resistant surface. You could use a permanent outdoor table, or a modular pizza station such as the one Ooni sells on their website. Fortunately, an Ooni pizza oven will do just fine on most surfaces, including wood, stainless steel, or stone. Still, to stay safe and avoid mishaps, we recommend that you avoid any glass or plastic surfaces.

Portable Pizza Ovens

The Ooni Fyra is a wood-pellet pizza oven designed to be highly portable. If you are short on space, it might be considering the Ooni Fyra, because it is more compact. While some of the larger pizza ovens cook 16-inch pizza, the Ooni Fyra makes a smaller 12-inch pizza, but this is a small sacrifice to make if you are either short on space, or truly looking for a portable pizza oven that you can take with you to the beach.

While the Ooni Fyra only comes in one size at the time of this writing, the Ooni Karu is a multi-fuel pizza oven that comes in multiple sizes. The interesting thing about the Ooni Karu is that offers much more versatility. You can fire it up with wood or charcoal right out of the box, or attach the Ooni gas burner if you prefer to cook with a gas source.

The smaller Ooni Karu works wells for 12-inch pizzas, like the Ooni Fyra, while the larger Ooni Karu works well for 16-inch pizzas. Cooking with gas is very convenient because it makes it easier to control the temperature at which you are cooking, but for truly delicious pizza, it is hard to go wrong with the smoky flavor that wood provides.

Whether you opt for the Ooni Fyra or the Ooni Pro, choosing one of these smaller, more portable ovens is a great way to own a pizza oven if you don't have a ton of space for storage. For a full comparison of the various Ooni pizza oven models, see our Ooni pizza oven reviews.

You may also consider comparing Roccbox vs. Ooni because Roccbox is the most popular brand besides Ooni. Still, the Roccbox isn't as versatile as Ooni and doesn't offer as many options. For most people, we still think that