Those who want to use charcoal should go for a wood-fired oven and introduce a few briquettes to a mostly wood-based fire. BBQ pizza ovens

They do, however, usually produce the tastiest pizza, as the wood smoke infuses additional flavours into the crust and base. It adds plenty of extra flavour and can help to bring a slow-burning stability to the heat the oven, but charcoal burns so slowly that you can’t easily top up the fire with more of it when the heat dies down, so it shouldn't be used on its own. Pizza stone These are the cooking surface and are usually made from moisture-absorbent cordierite. They're fantastic for retaining heat and are key for crisping up the base of your pizza. Most ovens come with a pizza stone included.Try other dishes too Pizza isn't the only thing these ovens are good for. If you have cookware that can handle the heat, there are endless possibilities – try roasting a joints of meat, steaming a pot of mussels or even baking bread.

Honestly, get an Ooni for yourself, and your life will absolutely improve (since the pizza will be flowing year-round), but give an Ooni as a gift, and you’re the GOAT. Heat-proof gloves Getting up close and personal with an oven that can burn at 500°C comes with its risks. Wearing heat-proof gloves will help keep you safe while adding fuel, and if necessary, when launching and rotating pizzas.Rotate it regularly The strongest heat usually comes from one direction, especially in gas and wood-fired ovens. You'll want to rotate the pizza a few times during cooking to make sure it cooks evenly. Once every 30 seconds is a good rule of thumb, but keep an eye on it while it cooks. We select the UK's bestselling pizza ovens and have cooked more than 80 pizzas to find out which are the easiest to use and which cook the best food. The traditional and most popular type. They require the most patience and skill, as they usually take longer to get up to temperature than gas, and need almost constant attention to get the flames to the right size and consistency. There aren't many electric pizza ovens around that are for use at home, but the Ooni Volt 12 and Sage Pizzaiolo are examples that might be a good fit for those who are keen to cook artisan-style pizza without the need for outdoor space. Keep a consistent temperature 400°C is usually ideal for cooking pizza, but it can vary depending on what type of pizza you're cooking. A consistent heat will cook your pizzas evenly and keep them from burning unexpectedly.

We use an infrared thermometer to record the surface temperature of the pizza stone in the oven and time how long it takes to reach 400°C. Some pizza ovens take less than 15 minutes, while others fail to reach 400°C altogether. Pizza quality These are made to sit on top of a gas or charcoal barbecue, and are usually made up of a simple metal box with a pizza stone inside. They heat up from below using the barbecue grill. You'll also likely find that a BBQ pizza oven is a slower cook than other oven types. It won't cook pizzas in 90 seconds flat like some freestanding ovens do, and because the heat source is below the pizza stone, the stone is often much hotter than the rest of the oven.

A blend of wood fired logs or pellets along with a few briquettes is the only workable way to introduce charcoal to cooking with pizza. As such, you won't find any 'charcoal-only' ovens for sale. Pizza cutter A good pizza cutter is key for slicing up and serving your pizza. The larger the circular blade, the better. This prevents the pizza cutter from moving your toppings around and makes it easier to cut through extra-puffy pizza crusts. Turning peel This smaller paddle has a rounded edge to help you slide it under one side of the pizza and turn it while it's cooking, without the need to take it out. This peel is a handy tool, but it's not essential like the standard pizza peel.