Pizza is one of the most popular foods around the world, but sadly, most people are resigned to the fate of either ordering it from a restaurant or purchasing a frozen or pre-prepared pizza at a store. Luckily, you don’t have to be one of them! With an outdoor pizza oven, you can skip the hassle of a trip to the store or ordering out amongst a long list of other advantages to investing in one of these culinary wonders.
In this article, we’re going to list the top eight reasons why an outdoor pizza oven is a worthwhile investment. These reasons will range from their culinary uses to the advantages they can have for your relationships, economics, and more.
You’ll Have Higher Quality Dinners Compared to Frozen and Take Out
Everyone can remember a time when all they wanted was a steamy piece of pizza with gooey, stretchy cheese, a crisp crust, and mouthwatering toppings, but by the time you go it, it was lukewarm, chewy, and major let down on all accounts. With an outdoor pizza oven of your own, quality is never an issue.
One of the biggest perks of owning an outdoor pizza oven is that they produce the highest quality pizzas you can have. Not only are you eating them fresh every time, but you also know exactly what is in them compared to the ones you purchase from an eatery.
You’ve never had good pizza until you’ve eaten one that was made fresh and steaming right from the oven. Oftentimes, the only way to get this elsewhere is to go to a nice restaurant that has its own pizza oven and makes each from scratch and to order. But, of course, people usually opt for the easier choice of taking out or frozen, neither of which is ideal.
Take-out pizza usually arrives 30 minutes or more after it was made, so it is far from fresh. Or worse, you walk in and buy one of the slices that have been sitting in the display case for who even knows how long. Many of them also have enough oil seeping from the cheeses and meats that you could drink it from a cup; not the most appetizing sight.
Comparatively, frozen pizzas are often filled with preservatives and other ingredients that allow them to last longer, and you can bet the majority of their ingredients, from meats to cheeses to vegetables, are far from high quality, especially since they aren’t fresh.
Overall, a pizza made from your own outdoor pizza oven is going to taste infinitely better than these options, and it will give you the ability to make a healthier and more filling version of this favored meal than what you would normally purchase.
They Can Be a Major Money Saver
Most people will take a glance at an outdoor pizza oven’s price tag and immediately decide the price isn’t worth it. While we agree that they can be expensive, with a cost ranging from $100 to thousands of dollars, one benefit of outdoor pizza ovens is that they can actually save you money, enough so to even pay off what they cost, and then some!
Having an outdoor pizza oven can be a major money-saver, both on the cost of purchasing pizza from food establishments and on your home’s energy bills.
Think about it. When you decide you want pizza, the option most people prefer is to order one from a pizzeria (since frozen pizzas are abysmally unsatisfying). Not only do you have to pay for the pizza itself, which can be $10-$20 depending on its size, but you also have to pay for additional toppings, tax, and most likely, delivery fees and tips.
Altogether, you might find yourself paying $20-$30 for one pizza, and hopefully, that’s enough for your family. If this is a favored meal in your household, you might be doing this multiple times a month, which adds up quickly.
Although the up-front cost of an outdoor pizza oven easily outweighs one night of ordering out, you’ll be saving a hefty sum over time by using this piece of culinary equipment and items you have around the house. You also get to customize it however you want without adding $1.25 per topping.
There’s also the energy bill to consider. The best pizza ovens are arguably wood-fired pizza ovens. Not only will having one of these mean you no never have to waste electricity using your oven to heat a frozen pizza again, but it also gives you an alternative way to cook than your stovetop, oven, and other appliances. Therefore, using your oven-fired pizza oven a few times a month or weekly could result in a visible decline in your energy bills.
Allows You to Cook a Speedy and Filling Dinner
Now, we know what you’re thinking. An outdoor pizza oven is probably a ton of work to start, and pizzas take ages to cook in them; ordering out or cooking one in the oven inside is going to be exponentially faster. Not true!
Outdoor pizza ovens are renowned for being extremely efficient with their cook times and can potentially hold more than your indoor oven, allowing you to create a filling meal for your family in mere minutes.
An outdoor wood-fired pizza oven can reach temperatures of 700 degrees Fahrenheit, which means your pizzas shouldn’t need to be inside cooking for more than 3 minutes. That’s nothing compared to the typical delivery time or even the 15 minutes, or so it takes frozen pizzas to cook in the typical oven.
Yes, there is the catch that you need to preheat your outdoor pizza oven, which can take about 1-2 hours for wood-fired ovens, depending on its size, but electric ovens can preheat in as little as 30 minutes, which is pretty comparable to indoor oven preheat times.
If you decide to opt for a larger outdoor pizza oven, you can also fit substantially more food inside to cook at once than your indoor oven. This will allow you to make more food simultaneously. Plus, if you prepare your pizzas and other dishes while the oven is preheating, you won’t even notice the preheat wait and the oven will likely be ready by the time your prep work is complete and the food is ready to go in.
They Increase Your Culinary Possibilities
We know it says “pizza” in the oven’s title, but cooking stunning pizzas is far from an outdoor pizza oven’s full culinary capabilities.
Outdoor pizza ovens are extremely versatile pieces of cooking equipment that can do everything from baking homemade bread to roasting a turkey to cooking the most delectable desserts.
The biggest mistake you can make with an outdoor pizza oven is using it for nothing more than cooking pizzas. While we fully encourage you to do this, as it will make the most amazing pizzas you’ve ever had, your culinary possibilities are endless with this equipment.
This is thanks to the oven’s ability to reach a wide range of temperatures that other appliances can’t. You can set it as low as 200 degrees Fahrenheit to slow-cook delicate breads like focaccia or ciabatta, or as high as 700 degrees Fahrenheit to quickly cook a pizza and select side dishes and appetizers.
Of course, it can reach everything in between to barbecue, slow-roast, or grill the best meats and vegetables, along with baking your favorite desserts and much more. Never underestimate what you can use your outdoor pizza oven to create.
Adds an Aesthetic Element to Your Outdoor Space
Let’s move away from the money, taste, and cooking benefits of outdoor pizza ovens and talk about how stunning they look.
Installing an outdoor pizza oven is a fantastic way to add an eye-catching aesthetic piece to your outdoor space. If you have an outdoor kitchen, it will fit right in with your other appliances, and if you don’t, you can use it as the centerpiece of a social area, such as outdoor seating and/or dining area.
One of the great things about these ovens is that they can come in a wide range of designs to suit your tastes and any pre-established aesthetic of your outdoor spaces. Some people like to opt for the large outdoor pizza ovens made from fireproof brick, stone, or clay, allowing them to create beautiful designs and stunning mosaics, especially when paired with tile to create the classic Napoli oven look.
There are even some outdoor pizza ovens you can combine with an outdoor fireplace to really make a statement piece and social center for your outdoor patio.
Alternatively, if you prefer a more modern aesthetic, there are a number of outdoor pizza ovens made of stainless steel that will add elegance and refinement to any patio or outdoor kitchen setup.
Provides an Opportunity for Family and Social Experiences
Possibly our favorite benefit of owning an outdoor pizza oven is its ability to bring people together and give you an opportunity to bond and socialize through cooking.
Making pizzas is a fun activity family and friends can do, but an outdoor pizza oven gives you to extend this experience into a full-on event. After everyone has created their own personalized pizza, they can sit around the oven watching their pizza crisp and bubble before their eyes.
Having an outdoor pizza oven is a great way to get everyone involved in cooking rather than a parent or host doing all the work.
Another great perk is that you can use these pieces of culinary equipment year-round. So, when you’re sick of being stuck inside all winter, you can fire up the outdoor pizza oven and spend some quality time outdoors with the people you love.
Come in a Wide Range of Sizes
Something people might not know is how versatile pizza ovens are, not only in their cooking capabilities but their sizes as well.
Not all outdoor pizza ovens come in the giant sizes people are used to seeing in restaurants and pizzerias. While you can definitely own one of these for yourselves, one reason they’re so worthwhile is that they come in a wide range of sizes, allowing you to choose the one that suits your needs best.
If you have an exceptionally large family, having an oven that’s near industrial-sized might be extremely helpful in feeding everyone quickly and efficiently. These ovens are substantially sized, allowing you to cook multiple pizzas and even other dishes at the same time.
Of course, most of us don’t need outdoor pizza ovens that big. Thankfully, that doesn’t mean you have to miss out on them altogether. You can easily buy an outdoor pizza oven that simply sits on top of an outdoor counter or table and cooks 12″ pizza at a time.
For those of you living alone or with one other person, this is the ideal option. Even better, you can buy a high-quality wood-burning outdoor pizza oven of this size for a mere $150-$200. If you want a swankier stainless-steel oven, it’ll be $250-$300.
There are even outdoor pizza ovens that are so small and easy to use that they’re considered portable, so you can bring them with you to your next camping trip, family barbecue, and trip to the park.
An Eco-Friendly Way to Cook
The last point we’d like to make on how outdoor pizza ovens are worthwhile focuses less on what these ovens can do for you and more on what you can do for the world by purchasing and using them frequently.
When it comes to the environment, outdoor pizza ovens, more specifically wood-fired ovens, are much more eco-friendly than other popular outdoor cooking tools, such as grills and outdoor stoves.
While we understand this won’t be the first reason anyone purchases an outdoor pizza oven, it’s definitely a factor we’d like you to consider.
Most outdoor cooking appliances and pieces of equipment are fueled by propane and other harmful gases that negatively affect the environment. Wood-fired pizza ovens, on the other hand, use a natural source of fuel, and therefore, do not emit the same harmful gases.
Combine that with the fact that these ovens can essentially do anything an outdoor grill or oven can. So, if you’re thinking about creating the outdoor kitchen of your dreams, or you’re eyeing your first outdoor grill (or even a replacement), consider opting for an outdoor pizza oven instead. Most will cost about the same, if not cheaper, than these other appliances but are much more eco-friendly comparatively.
