Experience the thrill of baking your favorite pizza recipes outdoors with no hassle! If you’re looking for a quality pizza oven that bakes like a wood-fired stove, the Camp Chef Italia Artisan Pizza Oven is an affordable solution.
Based on the following criteria, the Camp Chef Italia Artisan Pizza Oven is our pick for Best Value Pizza Oven:
Amazon Rating: 4.5 / 5 Stars
Fire Food Chef Rating Chart
Review Criteria | Score (out of 5) |
|---|---|
Assembly | N/A |
Construction Quality | 4 |
Temperature Control | 3 |
BTU Output | 4 |
Cleaning & Maintenance | 5 |
Camp Chef, a leading brand in outdoor cooking appliances (eg gas grills, smokers, pellet grills), can always be relied on for balancing quality and affordability. Read the full Camp Chef Italia Artisan Pizza Oven review for all the details and specs on this highly rated pizza oven.
Key Features
- Dimensions: 30 x 19.5 x 18” inches
- Weight: 47 pounds
- 17,000 BTU/hr
- Double Layered Construction
- Built-in Valve Ignition
- Micro-Adjust Valve
- Ventilated Oven Door
- Stainless steel Construction
Best Suited For:
- Outdoor Baking
- Campsite
- Backyard Patio
Camp Chef Italia Artisan Pizza Oven Review (Full)
When it comes to outdoor cooking, few brands are as popular as Camp Chef. Economically priced and built for ease of use, the Camp Chef Italia Artisan Pizza Oven is a much less costly alternative to a commercial grade woodfire stove. Easy to set up and portable, this pizza oven is a workhorse that can turn out as many as 200 pizzas over the course of 4 hours.
Assembly: N/A
The Camp Chef Italia Artisan Pizza Oven comes pre-assembled. It includes a regulator and hose for connecting to any standard propane cylinder. You can either use a 1 pound cylinder or bulk-size 5 gallon propane tank using the regulator and 5 ft hose.
Construction Quality: 4/5
Housed entirely in stainless steel, the exterior looks great and features a very polished finish. You can be sure this durable, weather resistant construction will provide you with many years of use.
To preserve its finish, you should cover the pizza oven or keep it stored in a dry place when not in use.
Temperature Control: 3/5
Since the Italia Artisan Pizza Oven is engineered to replicate a woodfire stove, this is where the oven really demonstrates its quality. With a maximum temperature of 700 degrees fahrenheit, you can achieve that perfect golden brown crust layered with melted cheese with ease.
The built-in valve ignition allows you to quickly turn on or off the burners, but the precision control is extremely helpful. Raising the temperature by micro degrees gives you the ultimate in control so you can manage the powerful BTU output and avoid burning your precious pizza creations.
For some, the lack of a closing, pull-down door might make it more challenging to maintain a consistent temperature. Heat can escape out the front, causing some temperature variance between the oven gauge and the deck reading.
BTU Output: 5/5
The Camp Chef Italia Artisan Pizza Oven has a total BTU output of 17,000/hr. At a preheated temperature of 450 degrees fahrenheit, the average artisan pizza takes anywhere from 5 - 20 minutes to bake through completely [1]. In other words, you can easily bake several pizzas over the course of an hour while maintaining a consistent baking temperature.
A pizza oven generates more BTU’s than a convection oven because higher temperatures are needed to bake the pizza through [2]. The ventilation on the door, along the sides and back of the Italia Artisan Pizza Oven are specially designed to maintain a consistent temperature inside the oven.Cleaning & Maintenance: 5/5
With no cooking grates or grill grates to clean, you’ll find the Italia Artisan Pizza Oven is much easier to maintain than your BBQ grill. It will literally take you 5 minutes to clean this pizza oven thanks to its portable, compact design.
A damp cloth and some dishwashing soap is all you need to keep the stainless steel exterior looking new and spotless. Use a deck brush with a scraper to clean off cheese spills more easily.
Keeping the ventilation intakes clear of debris is easy because they are wide enough for you to brush them or vacuum them clean.
Lastly, store the oven in a cool dry place when not in use, and it should last you several years.
What we like...
Drawbacks...
Overall, the Camp Chef Italia Artisan Pizza Oven performs admirably well for the price. You’ll need to turn the pizza regularly for the best results, but it’s reliable in a pinch and can perform for several hours with great results.
If you’re looking for an affordable way to enjoy legendary artisan pizza in the great outdoors, this is definitely a worthy investment.
What Type Of Oven Is Best For Pizza?
Personal hobby or competition cooking? Family gathering or intimate dinner for 2? Your cooking needs will largely determine the type you need.
Brick Oven
Brick ovens are one of the oldest, most universal types of oven found in use around the world. Made primarily for outdoor baking, a brick oven offers the ultimate in authentic pizza making. Wood is the most common fuel, but you can also find gas-fueled brick ovens.
Plenty of space, clearance, and ventilation for smoke is necessary if you plan to use a brick oven. They are also more difficult to clean and maintain than a conventional oven because they are constantly exposed to the outdoors, as well as soot and ash from wood.
Once the brick oven is sufficiently preheated, your pizza can be baked to crispiness in literally seconds because of the high heat.
- Most preferred type for taste
- Can be either gas or wood-fired
- Retains heat and distributes evenly across surface area
- Outdoor or indoor use
Baking Pizza In A Brick Oven (Jamie Oliver)
Pizza Deck Oven
You’ll most likely see a pizza deck oven in most commercial pizza restaurants. Heavy duty and energy efficient, they generate high BTU’s and are great for baking pizzas, bread, pies, casseroles, or just about anything with a crust.
Using conduction heat rather than convection, a pizza deck oven achieves high temperatures suitable for baking a range of pastries, desserts, bread and pizza. They are literally the work horses of the restaurant industry, and are the most commonly found in the restaurant industry.
Conveyor Pizza Oven
A conveyor oven uses a conveyor belt to convey food through a heated chamber. The food is then cooked using forced air impingement, radiant heat, or infrared heat. Commercial grade conveyor ovens can bake several pizzas in succession for a rapid turnover.
The advantage of a conveyor oven is the time you save loading and unloading pizza. You simply load the pizza onto the conveyor, and let the belt do the rest.
A typical conveyor oven can cost anywhere between $5000 - $30,000, making them a significant investment. They’re best suited for commercial purposes.
- Most useful for commercial purposes
- Can be costly to repair due to moving parts
- Not suitable for residential use
- Indoor use, electricity required
Pizza Convection Oven
Similar in design to a pizza deck oven, a convection oven is significantly less costly and more accessible than conveyor oven or brick oven type. They’re designed to heat the air inside the cooking chamber, with a maximum temperature of 500 - 600 degrees Fahrenheit.
A convection oven is great for heating a frozen pizza, frozen pie, or other frozen baked goods. They tend to be smaller in surface area than brick oven, for instance, but are very easy to use. Often, a timer is included so you can load your frozen pizza, set the timer, and walk away.
Since convection ovens are electric, they are most often available as counter top models for indoor kitchens.
- Energy efficient and easy to use
- Indoor use, electrical supply required
- Ideal for frozen pizzas and other frozen baked goods
How To Bake Pizza In A Convection Oven
Why BTU’s Matter In A Quality Pizza Oven
- BTUs measure heat energy, so they are a critical factor in choosing a quality pizza oven, grill or stove.
- The higher the BTU, the more heat it can generate. Your cooking needs will largely determine the BTU’s you need. For baking pizzas, cakes, and pies, you’ll want a minimum of 15,000 BTU’s.
- Higher BTUs also means you can cook food faster. You’ll be able to serve more people in less time, but it may also mean burning through your propane faster. Be sure to always have a sufficient supply of propane for your baking needs when using a pizza oven in the outdoors.
Final Thoughts...
Whether you decide on a brick oven for the flavor and taste, or a conveyor oven for convenience and efficiency, the right type of oven makes all the difference. If you’re new to the world of pizza baking or you don’t want to break the bank learning, the Camp Chef Italia Artisan Pizza Oven is an affordable way to get started.