The choice of the best size pizza oven depends on the available space, your budget, and your intended purpose. You should also consider other things like the oven type, the floor type, and the area of the chimney. Here, we will discuss everything you need to know about selecting the best size for your pizza oven.
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Pizza oven sizes range from 26 inches for residential use to 72 inches for commercial purposes. While something around 32-inch would be a great pick, the best size depends on one’s needs, available space, and budget. Also, pick the appropriate oven base, type, and floor thickness for the best pizza baking experience.
Let’s explore various factors that will help you find the best pizza oven and size.
- What is the Best Pizza Oven Base?
Foundation is important, isn’t it? We’re talking about pizza oven here, but that’s true for all other aspects of life. Coming back to the topic, do you know the best option for a pizza oven base? It’s a concrete foundation. However, the selection depends on your location.
For an outdoor pizza oven, you can use home bricks, concrete, old railway sleepers, or breeze blocks for support.
Since the oven will be heavy, the supporting material should be flat and firm. If you opt for wood elements, use screws to hold them together. The plinth should be capable of withstanding the entire weight of the wood-fired oven. And yes, of course, you can reserve some free space on the plinth to store wood for fuel and lay bricks on top of this space to create a solid oven base.
For a leveled and smooth base, use a thin sand layer and lay bricks flush with each other.
Need a quick tip? Use flawless bricks without pits for the floor.
- What is the Best Size for a Pizza Oven?
What’s the first thing that comes to mind when considering having an oven at home? Most people say it’s the location and available space. Usually, homeowners prefer an outdoor oven, but get a small indoor range if you don’t have space outdoors.
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You can get an indoor electric oven that generally holds up to 12-inch pizzas while using average counter space.
Looking for an outdoor pizza oven? Lots of options are available. For most pizza ovens, an appropriately sized metal, stone, or wood surface for the base is an excellent choice to prevent tumbling risks.
For the size of the pizza oven, you need to consider the cooking area inside it. While most ranges easily accommodate 12-13-inch pizzas, some big ones can handle up to 16 inches.
- What are the Different Pizza Oven Types available in the market?
Didn’t we mention the type of oven also helps decide the best size you should get? Here are some of the best options in the market.
Know Your Options
Wood-Fired Pizza Oven
Do you crave the authentic smoky taste in your pizzas and want to treat your taste buds to a fantastic pizza feast?
The wood-fired oven delivers it to perfection. It follows the traditional approach of cooking the pizza using the heat that builds within the oven rather than by direct heat from the fire. For this reason, the wood-fired range is made from tough bricks prepared from ironstone crem or rigid clay residues capable of withstanding high temperatures.
Most restaurants use this type of oven. Do you know why? Because once the desired temperature is reached inside the oven, it can bake pizzas one after the other quickly.
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Convection Pizza Oven
Homeowners usually prefer multi-functional items to make the most of our space and money. The conventional oven is the perfect fit for both of these. For example, you can use it for baking bread quickly. Consider it a smaller version of a brick oven with high heat output.
This oven is the best pick for restaurants with multiple items on the menu.
Also, it is effortless to use and maintain. The pizza oven type will last longer with daily maintenance due to fewer moving parts.
Deck Pizza Oven
The largest of the three, deck ovens are also known for baking a dozen pizzas quickly. In addition, with two decks, it enables one to cook different pizzas simultaneously. Another plus of this oven type is the fuel efficiency, with only the bottom side lit up, and the upper half remains closed to reduce heat wastage.
The deck oven is the way to go if you want to avoid using bricks. That’s why most people prefer it. Also, it uses stainless steel or stone surface for the base for even heating and great crispiness.
- How Thick Should a Pizza Oven Floor be?
Choosing the right floor thickness depends on various factors, like the floor type and dome size. Ideally, the thickness should balance the dome, so both should be ready to cook simultaneously.
If you are going for a firebrick floor, the recommended thickness is 25 mm or 40 mm for a dome thickness of 40-50 mm.
However, if you use a concrete slab, the base should be 15 cm (150 mm) thick where the oven sits. This thick base will help insulate the oven, raise it to the appropriate cooking level, and carry the oven weight.
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- Does your pizza oven need a chimney?
One of the biggest problems with the oven is the smoke they create. So, the smoke can make your living room smoky or attract unwanted attention outdoors without a proper venting system. Thus, the best solution is to get your oven adequately vented.
But many people need to be aware of the importance of chimney installation. First, you must get your pizza oven vented like any other solid fuel appliance.
Ventilation serves multiple purposes – it makes the flames burn perfectly and removes the smoke effectively to avoid damage to food or area. Getting a chimney ensures upward air suction, keeping the smoke away and drawing cool air from the oven’s front. Selecting a suitable flue or chimney makes sure that your range works smoothly.
Before we end this, do you know how a chimney works? When the hot air through the vent rises, it forces the cooler outside air to be drawn inside the oven through the front, fueling the fire. So, the hotter the oven is, the stronger the flue’s draw will be, and the fresh air rushes in faster, making the fire burn efficiently.
The Verdict
There’s no one best size for a pizza oven. It depends on your space, available budget, and how you will use it. You can find pizza ovens as small as 26-inch to as big as 72-inch for residential and commercial uses.
However, we hope you found this article helpful in guiding you in selecting the right pizza oven. So, go ahead and get the best pizza oven for you.
Wishing you success in finding the perfect pizza oven!
