The Innovations that Help Ooni Ovens Bring the Heat

Flour, salt, water, yeast and heat. These are the building blocks of pizza. But it’s the last one, heat, where the magic happens. Heat turns a pale, blobby lump of dough into a hot, fresh, mouthwateringly delicious pizza. Delivering the right kind of heat in the right way can be tricky.

That’s why Ooni has been perfecting the art of building home pizza ovens for over ten years. We’ve experimented, tweaked, and tested our ovens so they bring the heat and make great homemade pizza possible for everyone everywhere. Here are just some of the ways we design our ovens to deliver great results and pizza-making experiences.

Taming the Flame

Traditional, solid-fueled pizza ovens, like those found in Naples, utilise a dome-shaped structure to circulate hot air and heat the baking surfaces. 

Ooni ovens operate similarly but on a scale ideal for a backyard, balcony or even for taking an oven on the go. The Ooni Karu range of multi-fuel ovens (includes the Karu 16, Karu 12 and Karu 12G) demonstrates this flame-taming ability quite nicely. When you light a fire in the fuel tray in the back of a Karu, air moves across the flame, through the oven, and up and out the chimney (called the “stack effect”). The movement of air, combined with the oven’s innovative design, creates a controlled, mini hurricane of super hot air that heats the Karu’s stone while cooking the top of your pizza.

Cooking with Gas

Gas-fueled Ooni ovens, like the Ooni Koda range, offer finer user control over the heat and flame. When cooking great pizza, more fire doesn’t equal better results. 

With a gas oven, you could have a burner lining all the way around (think of this as a “U” shape). But this is where a bit of maths comes in. A U-shaped burner would cook three-quarters of the pizza evenly, leaving one-third more under-done than the rest. 

Why does this matter? The gas-fueled Ooni Koda 16 solves this pizza geometry problem with an L-shaped burner. The Koda 16’s burner starts at the back and winds around the left side of the oven. The L-shape applies direct heat to half your pizza. With a quick 180° turn, you can cook the other half for a 100% even bake.

Plug-In Pizza

But if you really want to talk even heat, you need to talk about the Ooni Volt 12. This electric pizza oven not only gets up to a blazing 450 °C (850 °F) in about 20 minutes, but you can also adjust that heat to suit the style of pizza you want to make. 

With a twist of the dial, you can fine-tune the heat distribution across the Volt’s two heating elements. Turn the dial towards the top element for Neapolitan-style pizzas or the element under the stone for pan-style pies like Sicilians or Detroits. With the Volt, you have the power to make pizza your way. 

Bring the Heat 

If part of making pizza your way includes being able to make pizza anywhere, Ooni has you covered there too. The Ooni Fyra 12 uses a gravity-fed pellet hopper to ensure consistently high heat, and at just 22 pounds, it's made for adventure—especially when combined with a handy Carry Cover.

These are just some of the ways that Ooni ovens deliver great results and pizza-making experiences. To find the oven that’s right for you, visit ooni.com.