If you've heard of Solo Stove, it's because of their smokeless, stainless steel fire pits. This makes their transition to high-heat pizza ovens a seamless one. Instead of the conventional elongated design, the Pi oven's fuel attachments are long and slim and hug the back of the oven. This allows Solo Stove to keep their signature round, symmetrical design.

I love how compact the oven is. The cooking surface is large enough to accommodate my biggest Lodge cast-iron pan, but I can leave the handle sticking out—a boon to anyone who has ever burned their hands through heat-resistant gloves. The top's flat surface is a convenient storage space. And the stove doesn't sacrifice any of its heating capabilities for these details. Only two pieces of chopped wood from my hardware store fit in the hopper at a time, but it still heated up from o to 500 degrees in a matter of minutes. 

Bakes with wood or gas

Ooni makes pizza ovens in a variety of sizes and styles, but its Karu 16 (9/10, WIRED Recommends) is the most versatile and easy-to-use oven I've tried. You can buy a separate gas attachment, but it's designed to be used with charcoal or wood. Lighting the oven is fast and easy—simply drop a lit fire starter and a few oak sticks on the fuel tray and it'll get hot within 10 minutes. Unlike previous iterations, the Karu 16 has a door that hooks closed to retain heat and a helpful integrated digital thermometer to measure the temperature. 

Like all of Ooni's ovens, the Karu is attractive, light, portable, and easy to clean. You do have to constantly add fuel to maintain the temperature, but not any more so than other ovens that I've tried. The best indicator that it's a great oven? I can't stop using it, and everyone who has seen me use it wants one too. 

Bakes with wood or charcoal

Does fiddling about with different attachments, chimneys, and griddles sound stressful and off-putting? This is another one from Ooni that might be for you (8/10, WIRED Recommends). At around 21 pounds, it's light and portable. The thin, powder-coated steel shell insulates well enough that it remains cool to the touch, even when the fire is burning. Just slide in the baking stone, screw on the propane tank, and you're ready to go. The door fits both 12-inch pizza peels and 10-inch cast-iron skillets. However, unlike the Pro, you should not store it outside.

Bakes with gas

My fondness for the Cuisinart 3-in-1 is not wholly justified. It doesn't get as hot as our other picks. In my testing, it topped out at around 600 degrees. The door to the pizza oven is only 13 inches wide, so I can't use my bigger pizza peels. It's just not as attractive as our other picks. The handle feels cheap. The legs don't fold down. What can I say, pizza chefs are very sensitive to aesthetics.

But this is the oven that my family uses the most often. Open the door to use it as a pizza oven. When people come over for unexpected burgers or hot dogs, flip up the lid and use it as a gas grill. Kids want pancakes for breakfast? No problem, let me pop on the griddle top. It even has a space underneath the cooking surface to store the different attachments. This is the best oven if you're not sure if you want a dedicated pizza oven or if you have limited outdoor space. The fact that it's cheaper than most of our other picks doesn't hurt, either. 

Bakes with gas

I was heartbroken when I had to send back Breville's Pizzaiolo (8/10, WIRED Recommends) after testing. Three heating elements (one under the pizza stone, two on top), an optimized interior heat shield, and two temperature sensors ensure that your pizza comes out perfect every time, whether you set it to toast a frozen pizza or crisp up your pepperoni, Neapolitan-style. It insulates well enough that I can sit in front of it while it's baking, and it takes up the same space as my microwave. 

It's expensive, and it's not as exciting as an outdoor oven with live flames. However, if you wanted to splurge on a built-in wood-burning oven but don't have access to outdoor space, it's way more convenient.

Bakes using electricity

OK, if we thought Gozney’s Roccbox was “nearly a commercial-grade oven”, the new Dome most definitely is, and then some. At 128 pounds, it is nearly three times the weight of its smaller sibling and so is in no way portable (two people are required to lift it). Also, at 26 inches high and 28.8 inches across, you’re going to need to carve out a dedicated place for it. 

Underneath the UV and weatherproof ceramic-bonded outer coating sits a 30mm double-layer stone floor with “dense cavity insulation.” It gets hotter faster (the Dome zipped up to 400 degrees and beyond quite nicely) and also retains this heat longer. Thanks to a capacious oven mouth that is 5.1 inches tall and a shade over 16 inches wide, you can get most burnable things inside. 

The Dome will pump out pizzas almost as fast as you can slam them inside it. The hybrid fuel system means you can also cheat, relying on the convenience of gas but the added ability to shove in a couple of mini logs and, bingo, you’ve got that wood-fired taste. I have used old authentic bread and pizza ovens built into in barns in Tuscany. This was easier. The built-in digital thermometer allowed for precise temperature readings, which meant that I didn’t even need the integrated meat probes when I cooked the best rib joint of beef I have ever managed. —Jeremy White

Like Isak Dinesen, my favorite thing to do is drag civilization deep into the wilderness, where they do not belong. If you ever want to make wood-fired pizza deep in the backcountry, Ooni's Fyra is the perfect pick. The legs fold down and the chimney packs perfectly into the cooking space for travel. It even has with its own carry cover, with handles!

Wood pellets are a lot easier and lighter to transport than an enormous propane tank, so my family and I recently put the Fyra and some pellets on a paddleboard to camp in the middle of the lake, as it weighs only 22 pounds. The hopper is tall and thin; it doesn't have a diffuse tray that lets the heat out quickly, and the loading chute doesn't have a bend in it, making it easy to load. You may come across videos that purport to be instructional, tell you to load the hopper up to the brim. Do not do this. It might be annoying to have to continuously feed pellets into the fire, but it will keep the fire burning more consistently and hotter than constantly peering in the back and wondering why the flames have gone out. 

Bakes with wood

Is your patio already occupied by a giant Traeger or Weber? A ceramic pizza stone can't precisely replicate the experience of baking or roasting in a high-heat, insulated oven. But it does retain a lot of heat and absorb enough moisture to give you a nice, crisp crust. 

Several of our favorite grill and pizza oven manufacturers make ceramic pizza stones, like Ooni, Kamado, and Weber. Ceramic stones are fragile and can crack with sudden temperature changes. Do not place a cold stone in a hot oven or on a hot grill. Let it heat gradually, for at least an hour, and make sure your pizza dough is room temperature, not chilled (you should be doing this anyway!) 

You can also add attachments to your charcoal grill to turn it into a pizza oven. Check out our guide to the Best Portable Grills and Grill Accessories for more. 

Many pizza ovens, like the Roccbox and the Ooni, provide you with proprietary accessories to set you on your pizza path. But I've also found a few extras to be helpful along the way:

• A handheld infrared thermometer for $28: Even if your oven has a built-in thermometer, I usually use a handheld to check the temperature on different areas of the pizza stone. It's also important to make sure the stone has time to reheat after each pizza.
• A wooden pizza peel for $27: If you own multiple peels, it's quick and easy to pre-make one pizza while another is baking. I own several, including this useful small turning peel, but dough is much less likely to stick on a wooden peel, especially if you sprinkle semolina or flour on it first.
• A cast-iron skillet for $20: You can also use a cast-iron pan in your pizza oven to sear steaks or pan-roast broccoli. Lodge's pans work just as well as much more expensive options.
• Heat-resistant gloves for $15: That cast-iron gets extremely hot, so you'll also need a good pair of mitts. (Even these won't protect your hands for long, so you'll need a place near the oven to set the pan down.)
• Fire starters for $20: If you've ever been intimidated by the idea of cooking with wood, don't be! These fire starters make it quick and simple. I just light the end with a match, drop it in the fuel tray, and line up a few oak sticks on top. Be sure to keep your wood dry if you don't want to create a smoke stack in your backyard, though.

Baking a Neapolitan-style pie looks easy in a restaurant. But the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana, the world authority on Neapolitan pizzas, has very strict standards! (The Karu is the only oven here that the AVPN recommends.) 

If you're not up for sourcing all your ingredients from Naples, a few tips can help you make your first pie taste as much like it as possible. When you're making your own dough, reach for 00 flour, which is milled specifically for pizza and pasta. If you've refrigerated it beforehand, bring it to room temperature first. Torn mozzarella will make your pizza damp; mixing in shredded, low-moisture cheese for the cheesiest, meltiest pie. Sprinkle flour or cornmeal generously on the peel before you assemble your pizza, and make sure it's not stuck to the bottom before you head out to the oven. 

Pizza ovens are also more versatile than you might think—I cook everything from salmon to steak to chicken thighs in mine by preheating a cast iron pan in a hot oven and popping the food right in. For more guidance, Ooni has its own cookbook; I've also found chef Francis Mallman's books to be a good source of inspiration.