Ooni Koda 16 Pizza Oven Assessment, Examined by Meals & Wine

In our home, we divide our life within the suburbs into two phases: pre-pizza oven and post-pizza oven. After residing in New York Metropolis for over a decade, we had been hard-pressed to discover a slice that lived as much as our requirements as soon as transferring additional north. Our DoorDash historical past was a mashup of native pizza joints in a feeble effort to discover a pie that we preferred sufficient to stay with, however nothing lived as much as the Neapolitan- and New York-style pizzas we liked.

That’s till we bought an Ooni Koda 16 Pizza Oven. We’d been dancing round shopping for one for some time (it’s a large funding, in spite of everything) however lastly purchased one after one too many rubbery, greasy deliveries that left us upset and jonesing for the actual deal. Even in the event you don’t take into account your self a very proficient at-home chef, Ooni makes cooking scrumptious pizza straightforward because of its progressive form and user-friendly design. We even named it the finest out of doors pizza oven in our assessments — and belief me after I inform you, that accolade is well-deserved. 

Within the 12 months since we introduced our Ooni dwelling, our quest for scrumptious pizza has ended. As a substitute of ordering subpar takeout, we are able to fireplace up our Ooni Koda 16 and rating the proper slice in 90 seconds.

How I Examined the Ooni Koda 16 Pizza Oven

The Ooni Koda 16 Pizza Oven has shortly change into a staple in our home on Pizza Friday. We will prepare dinner every kind of Neapolitan-style pies, from a standard margarita to a meat-lovers model that my husband and son adore. Whereas the Ooni is marketed primarily towards pizza making, that’s not the one kind of cooking it may well sort out. You’ll be able to put together virtually something within the oven, from roasted greens and meat to gooey skillet cookies. 

Ooni’s Koda pizza oven is powered by pure gasoline or propane, which is smart for our way of life, however there’s an alternate model (the Ooni Karu) that can be utilized with wooden or charcoal. I like to recommend going with the 16-inch design over the 12-inch, which is able to grant you extra flexibility for what you prepare dinner and the way large of a pizza you may make. We determined to go all-out with our Ooni buy and acquired the devoted stainless-steel stand, plus different pizza instruments (extra on that later). The stand is sturdy and brings the oven as much as peak so you’ll be able to simply monitor your pie whereas it cooks. The peak additionally creates leverage to maneuver the pizza peel and different instruments. It seems to be proper at dwelling alongside our gasoline grill on our terrace, and to this point it has held up nice to the weather. 

What I Love Concerning the Ooni Koda 16 Pizza Oven

There’s not a lot I don’t love about my Ooni oven, however its user-friendly performance is on the prime of my listing. It makes making a pro-worthy pie so seamless that I don’t even thoughts when my youngsters request pizza night time twice per weekend. You hook the oven as much as a gasoline supply (we join ours to our grill’s propane tank, which is close by), flip the entrance knob to preheat the oven to your required temperature, and get to cooking. Plus, with inside temperatures that may attain 950°F, your pizza cooks quick (round 90 seconds), so making pies for a crowd is straightforward. We’ve hosted a number of pizza events, and company are all the time impressed by the pizza’s style and cooking efficiency with an Ooni — it’s dinner and a present. 

Past that, I like how the Ooni Koda is refined but efficient. If I had been to contemplate putting in a real wood-burning pizza oven in my dwelling, I’d be a number of time, cash, and sq. footage, however Ooni makes it straightforward to realize the identical outcomes with a small footprint, even when utilizing gasoline. The secret’s within the base stone and distinctive L-shaped burner, which mix to crisp up my pizza shortly and evenly, leaving me with a pillowy crust, a sturdy backside, and the telltale bubbles signature of an Italian-style pie. I can transfer the oven round simply or take it on a visit; we’ve taken ours down the Jersey Shore for a household trip as a result of it’s change into that beloved. 

How It Compares

Once we lab-tested the most effective out of doors pizza ovens, the Ooni Koda rose to the highest of the pack, incomes the title of the most effective total pizza oven. We liked how straightforward it’s to assemble out of the field (connect the legs, then hook as much as your propane supply) and located it user-friendly. The outcomes had been spectacular. Throughout testing, we cooked up pro-worthy pies in beneath two minutes, with management over how crispy they bought. Whereas we acknowledge there’s a studying curve with the Ooni, the outcomes are worthwhile. 

The Caveats

Whenever you first convey dwelling your Ooni oven, anticipate to burn a couple of pies. Although it’s easy and user-friendly, it’s going to take time to excellent your pizza-making expertise and get used to how your oven distributes warmth (and, truthfully, simply how briskly it may well prepare dinner your dough). We went by our fair proportion of char-crusted pizzas till we nailed our cooking methodology, however upon getting it down pat, you’re good to go. One other issue to contemplate is propane utilization. You will have to preheat your oven for a minimum of 15-20 minutes earlier than cooking to make sure the bottom stone is sizzling sufficient to prepare dinner your pie; whereas that is on par with preheating a grill, it’s a good suggestion to remember the fact that you’ll undergo an honest quantity of propane.

All reward apart, there’s no denying that the Ooni Koda is an funding. Nevertheless, the model runs gross sales typically, particularly these pegged to purchasing holidays like Black Friday, Cyber Cash, or Labor Day. The oven additionally makes an excellent present thought for dwelling cooks, whether or not you’re seeking to have fun a milestone birthday, congratulate a pal on a brand new home, or spoil a pair of newlyweds. Finally, our Ooni oven has held up extremely properly through the years and has greater than paid for itself contemplating the amount of cash we spent on subpar takeout pizza.  

Suggestions and Methods

• Contemplate splurging on the equipment that Ooni suggests pairing along with your pizza oven. We’ve bought their devoted stainless-steel storage tower, two several types of pizza peels, and the protecting cowl, all of which assist us use (and look after) our oven higher. 
• An infrared thermometer is a vital instrument to have readily available. Not solely will it show you how to decide in case your pizza stone is sizzling sufficient to start cooking your pie, however it’ll make sure you hold tabs in your oven’s warmth so that you don’t find yourself with burnt spots or worse, a fried pie. 
• Thoughts the thickness of your dough. Too thick can result in an uneven prepare dinner, uncooked pizza, or a pie that’s so heavy it turns into inconceivable to show within the oven, inflicting a burned-on mess. 
• The less substances, the higher. Too many moist toppings (like a ton of sauce) can result in an uneven prepare dinner or burned pizza. It’s finest to maintain your layers gentle and keep away from overdoing it on all that cheese. The identical goes for the way a lot flour you employ — you need sufficient in order that your pizza doesn’t stick with the peel, however an excessive amount of and also you’ll find yourself with a burnt taste. 
• The oven’s L-shaped burner is oriented on the again left nook of the gadget, so turning your pizza periodically is crucial for getting a fair prepare dinner in your crust. 

The Verdict

Ooni’s Koda 16 Pizza Oven is a worthy splurge and one I’d suggest to anybody seeking to improve their weekly pizza takeout to one thing selfmade. It helps you obtain restaurant-level pizza at dwelling, and it gives versatility in your routine by cooking rooster wings, complete branzino, cornbread, or caramelized fruit. Setup is straightforward, the footprint is small, and the educational curve is transient — what extra might you need from an out of doors pizza oven?

Our Experience

Alyssa Longobucco is a contract author, editor, and stylist with a background in meals, inside, and way of life content material. She has over a decade of expertise within the digital and journal business creating distinctive and progressive content material for storied manufacturers comparable to Meals and Wine, Home Stunning, HGTV, The Knot, Domino, House Remedy, Actual Easy, Food52, Good Housekeeping, and extra.