Solo Stove Pi Pizza Oven review

The lowdown on the Solo Stove Pi Pizza Oven

Good pizza is wonderful, but there are so many disappointing pies out there. If you're sick of wasting money on subpar pizza, you might be considering making your own at home. With the Solo Stove Pi Pizza Oven, you can sling dough to create the pizzas you've been dreaming of — if you're willing to put in some time to learn. 

Solo Stove claims this oven uses less fuel than others due to even heat distribution. It says that it's easy to maneuver your pizza while it's cooking. What's more, it contends that the Pi is easy to use, long-lasting and conveniently portable. 

If you want to learn more about the Solo Stove Pi Pizza Oven, the BestReviews Testing Lab tried it out to check these claims. 

Testing the Solo Stove Pi Pizza Oven

The BestReviews Testing Lab aims to investigate all the claims manufacturers make about their products. Testing is done in real-world conditions over a long time period, so it's easier to find quirks and get to know the product. For this article, the Testing Lab took the Pi home to make a number of pizzas over the course of several weeks. It looked at how easy it was to use, its portability, how good the pizzas it turned out were and its overall quality. 

What is the Solo Stove Pi Pizza Oven?

The Pi is an outdoor pizza oven that's capable of cooking pizzas up to 12 inches in diameter. It runs on either wood only or wood and gas, depending on which model you choose. Reaching temperatures of up to 900 degrees, you can make professional-quality pies in this pizza oven. 

To see how it compares to other products in its space, check out our reviews for the best outdoor pizza ovens.

Solo Stove Pi Pizza Oven price and where to buy

The Solo Stove Pi costs roughly $450 without a gas burner or around $650-$700 without one and is available from Amazon or Solo Stove. 

How to use the Solo Stove Pi Pizza Oven

This pizza oven is simple to set up. The main body of the unit is just one large piece, which you can set down on a table or stand. The pizza stone comes in two pieces, which you simply set inside the oven. It's worth noting that the Solo Stove Pi is only suitable for outdoor use. It isn't safe for use indoors, including in garages or outbuildings. 

Exactly how you use it depends on whether you're cooking with gas or wood. If you're using the gas burner attachment, it comes with a hose and regulator that attaches to a standard home propane tank. If you're using wood, you fill the rear hopper with wood, light it and keep feeding it. 

Once it's reached the desired temperature (you'll need an infrared thermometer to check it), you put your uncooked pizza in the oven using a pizza peel and turn it occasionally while it cooks. 

Solo Stove Pi Pizza Oven benefits

Easy to use

Although it takes practice to make exceptional pizzas, it's quite easy to make good ones in this oven. It's easy to light and get to temperature and produces solid results with minimal effort. This could be said for most decent pizza ovens, but there are cheap ones around that are much harder to use. 

Choice of wood or gas fuels

Although you can buy a wood-only model, the wood-and-gas model lets you use both types of fuel, making this oven a versatile one. If you buy the wood-only version, it's possible to upgrade it by purchasing the gas burner attachment separately. 

While some people like the flavor imparted by wood, gas is undoubtedly easier to work with. It's also simple to switch between the wood burner and the gas burner. You can find some other dual-fuel pizza ovens, but most focus on one or the other. 

Compact and easily transportable

With a 21-inch diameter, this is a fairly compact pizza oven. It's small enough that you can set it up on a table and still have plenty of room to make pizzas down the other end. It's also small and light enough to be portable. So, if you want to take it with you to the beach or on a camping trip, you easily can. 

Spacious opening

The 13-inch opening and domed design make it easy to maneuver the pizza when putting it in the oven, turning it and getting it out. This makes the pizza-making process smooth and means you're less likely to burn your pizza or get frustrated while cooking it. Some other pizza ovens have smaller openings that make them tricky to work with. 

Reaches high temperatures

The Pi reaches temperatures of up to 900 degrees. This is significantly hotter than home ovens, which tend to reach 500 to 550 degrees. It's even hot enough to cook decent Neapolitan pizzas, which need oven temperatures of 800 to 1,000 degrees. 

Cooks pizzas quickly

Once the oven is hot enough, you can cook a pizza in 2 to 3 minutes. Of course, the same can be said for any pizza oven that reaches the same temperatures, but it's still nice to have such a quick turnaround, especially when making multiple pies for a group. 

Solo Stove Pi Pizza Oven drawbacks

Doesn't come with a carry case

A carry case would make the Pi much easier to transport, but you don't get one with this oven. Some similar compact outdoor pizza ovens come with cases. 

There's a learning curve to making great pizza

While it isn't the fault of the oven, making truly great pizza isn't easy. You'll need to put time into perfecting your dough and sauce, not to mention practicing your cooking technique to get the best results. Many people find this a fun part of making pizza, but others find it frustrating. 

Exterior gets hot while cooking

The outside of this oven gets extremely hot while you're cooking. This is normal for any pizza oven, but it means you need to be careful around kids and pets. 

Should you get the Solo Stove Pi Pizza Oven?

The Solo Stove Pi Pizza Oven is a quality option that lives up to most of Solo Stove's claims. While it wasn't possible to test its level of fuel consumption relative to other ovens, it's portable, easy to use, durable (and likely long-lasting). Maneuvering pizzas inside it is easy and — most importantly — it produces delicious pies.